lighting for dummies 101
Hello,
The main difference between VHO, HO and NO (i.e. Very High Ouput (110W), High Output (80W) and Normal ouput (40W)) are the filaments at the end of the tubes. The VHO tubes have heavy duty filaments to handle the extra power. Everything else is the same (phosphor, glass tube and etc). However, VHO/HO/NO are designed to work for about 10000 hours. We only use them for ~2000 hours (i.e. 12 hours a day, for 6 months) - due to spectral output shifts. So, overstressing the NO filaments by 2x does not damage the tubes beyond repair since we only use 20% of the designed lifetime. In addition, their soft start mechanism in Icecap reduces stress on the filaments.
Difference between NO vs VHO....about double the light power (lumens) -- according to manufacturer's specs. 40W NO are around 4000-5000 lumens and VHO are around 9000 to 10000 lumens. 250W MH are around 20000 to 28000 lumens.
I didn't realize that a 10000K MH costs so much. Sorry....recommend 6500K MH only.
Any who...have fun shopping. Any of the ideas mentioned above will work and keep your corals happy (even just using MH 6500K and no actinics). Since you are using 250Wx2 lighting, whether to go with actinics/icecap/10000K/HD ballast is mostly visual impact. So, you can decide which direction to go at a future date.
- Victor.
[ 28 September 2001: Message edited by: reefburnaby ]
|