Vho Lighting

[dirtyfishtank]

quick question... I have a 72 gallon tank with 2 48" 40W fluro lights. This is very low I am establishing a planted tank with plants already in the tank. I need to kick up the lighting to atleast 2W per gallon. So can I buy a VHO bulb with 110W and use it in my hood I have now? Do I need any special fixtures/additions to use a VHO? Thanks!

 

[Themuleous]

What's VHO? On the face of it, I wouldn't think so. The lighting over the tank drives the whole plant growth process, so it needs to be good and of a type the plants can use, dont scrimp on it.

Sam

 

[dirtyfishtank]

What's VHO? On the face of it, I wouldn't think so. The lighting over the tank drives the whole plant growth process, so it needs to be good and of a type the plants can use, dont scrimp on it.

Sam

vho = ver high output.. i guess they only have them here in the states?

 

[Themuleous]

Oh right, no think you get those over here. The important thing with tank lighting is to get fluorescent, full spectrum (sometime called triphosphor) tubes. Don't know what the difference between VHO and fluorescent is or even if there is one.

Sam

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

Is your tank a bowfront and approx. 23 inches tall? That's what I have and I'm using two fixtures. One is a compact fluorescent at 130 watts (2 65 watt bulbs) and the other is a T5 unit with 56 watts. The 56 watt unit is for the front of the tank. Having two fixtures helps to light the "bow" part of the tank. Also the bulbs are 6700K except one of them is a colormax full spectrum.

I have plants with high lighting needs and they are doing well.

It's also nice to have two fixtures because you can graduate the lighting in the tank in the AM and PM so it's not such a shock to the fish every day.

But now that I read your question again, that's really not what you are asking! I don't think you can put a VHO bulb in a regular fixture like that. But you could probably rip out the guts and fit it with VHO hardware. I really don't know though. I'm not handy like that. Plus, once you buy the upgraded hardware and tubes -- it might not cost much more to just buy a new light fixture. You can buy a 48" Coralife freshwater, 130 watt fixture for approx. $100.

Sorry for rambling. Hope you got something helpful out of it...

 

[dirtyfishtank]

Is your tank a bowfront and approx. 23 inches tall? That's what I have and I'm using two fixtures. One is a compact fluorescent at 130 watts (2 65 watt bulbs) and the other is a T5 unit with 56 watts. The 56 watt unit is for the front of the tank. Having two fixtures helps to light the "bow" part of the tank. Also the bulbs are 6700K except one of them is a colormax full spectrum.

I have plants with high lighting needs and they are doing well.

It's also nice to have two fixtures because you can graduate the lighting in the tank in the AM and PM so it's not such a shock to the fish every day.

But now that I read your question again, that's really not what you are asking! I don't think you can put a VHO bulb in a regular fixture like that. But you could probably rip out the guts and fit it with VHO hardware. I really don't know though. I'm not handy like that. Plus, once you buy the upgraded hardware and tubes -- it might not cost much more to just buy a new light fixture. You can buy a 48" Coralife freshwater, 130 watt fixture for approx. $100.

Sorry for rambling. Hope you got something helpful out of it...

It was helpful thank you. Where do you recomend I buy from? Thanks.