Been using some NO's with my icecaps for over a year, seems to work fine. The Phillips 40 watt $5.00 daylight delux puts out light at 6500 Kelvin a little yellowish but somewhat similar in color to a 65K halide. By using a mix of 3 daylight deluxes and 1 expensive blue bulb you get a nice white light if you like a little blue tinge to your water add a 2nd actinic or blue tube of your choice. Since there's not a lot of difference in price I usually make the blue tube a VHO and I tend to run it torwards the front of the tank to enhance human perception of the tank. Belive the NO's may put out a little less light than if you run VHO's but I don't think its much of a difference and I haven't taken the time to test it.
All VHO users must read this
- Thread starter chris_h
- Start date
Steve,
They use the same T-12 termination endcaps as VHOs.
Jason,
No; NO bulbs do not promote undesirable algae ... at least not anymore so VHOs.
Here's my thoughts: VHO bulbs supposedly utilize more phosphor then NO bulbs. Even if driven with the same amperage (hence, same wattage), VHO bulbs should be marginally (if not substantailly) brighter. Visual quantification is wholly inaccurate (eg "NOs look just as bright to me") and I wish someone would subjectively test fluorscent bulbs under a spectrometer. Also, because of the difference in phosphor quantity content, one would reason VHOs last longer then NOs.
[ January 21, 2002: Message edited by: Leonard ]</p>
They use the same T-12 termination endcaps as VHOs.
Jason,
No; NO bulbs do not promote undesirable algae ... at least not anymore so VHOs.
Here's my thoughts: VHO bulbs supposedly utilize more phosphor then NO bulbs. Even if driven with the same amperage (hence, same wattage), VHO bulbs should be marginally (if not substantailly) brighter. Visual quantification is wholly inaccurate (eg "NOs look just as bright to me") and I wish someone would subjectively test fluorscent bulbs under a spectrometer. Also, because of the difference in phosphor quantity content, one would reason VHOs last longer then NOs.
[ January 21, 2002: Message edited by: Leonard ]</p>
I bet it does but with the same intensity I dont know. Email [email protected] ...he will reply quickly
j
j
The follow-up article to 1999 appears in a 2001 FAMA. I can’t remember what issue......But he continues to have excellent growth. I currently pay right at 100/year for 4 URI bulbs. I could change every 90 days and still spend 20 bucks less a year…
Rhodes
Rhodes
I sent Sandy Cohen an email, she is the person responsible for writing article. Sandy emailed me back saying, "the experiment lasted 3 years, and the bulbs were still doing well at the end of it. SC"
This does pose a very good situation for low cost lighting. But still what happens to the light spectrum over time using NO bulbs?
This does pose a very good situation for low cost lighting. But still what happens to the light spectrum over time using NO bulbs?
IME, bulb choice is very important. I have used NO Home Depot bulbs as a stopgap replacement for 50/50 VHOs, and found that they definitley increased the growth of hair algae in my system. Got the proper replacement for the bulb, and watched the hair fade out again. YMMV.
I am already fighting a losing battle with hair algae. It is also time to change my bulbs. If I used two vho actinic bulbs and 2 no GE bulbs, would this contribute to my problem. I guess what I am asking, is this a good combination or should I stick to all vho?
If you want to take it a step further, compare an NO t8 bulb to any vho. They start up about as bright as a pc but at six months it is barely an HO. The ideal situation here would be to find a well priced quantity supplier of quality T8 nos and switch them up regularly. Zoomed seems to have the best candidate but i have no experience w/ their lamps. From what i understand, the LN and coralife VHO kits are repackaged Icecaps.
For what its worth:
I tried 18" NO bulbs (in my ICECAP driven VHO set-up on my mud filter) as a temporary replacement, while I decided whether to re-order VHOs or to use Iceap in another sysem and replace it w/ a PC.
The 2 "Home Depot cheapie" bulbs lasted less than 3 weeks combined (1 was cool-white, the other some type of gro-lite).
(The URI VHOs had been running a little over 2 years, 24x7, when the first bulb failed.)
DonK
[ February 04, 2002: Message edited by: DonK ]</p>
I tried 18" NO bulbs (in my ICECAP driven VHO set-up on my mud filter) as a temporary replacement, while I decided whether to re-order VHOs or to use Iceap in another sysem and replace it w/ a PC.
The 2 "Home Depot cheapie" bulbs lasted less than 3 weeks combined (1 was cool-white, the other some type of gro-lite).
(The URI VHOs had been running a little over 2 years, 24x7, when the first bulb failed.)
DonK
[ February 04, 2002: Message edited by: DonK ]</p>
I have not experienced any algae in my tanks with Wall-Mart bulbs. I put two systems next to each others and devided my corals between them 50/50 and both of them use the same sump. I Had VHO bulbs on one system and when it came the time to change the bulbs I changed one tanks' bulbs with VHO and other with %50 VHO and %50 Wall Mart and the wall mart tank seems to be more happy and corals open more (bigger). I also realized the some corals in the Wall-Mart grow faster than the other tank within a month. This is my experience and I wanted to share with you guys.
PS>>I used Corallife VHO ballast Kit with both systems.
columbusreefs: thank you for the credit.
PS>>I used Corallife VHO ballast Kit with both systems.
columbusreefs: thank you for the credit.
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