Another lighting question

[roncgizmo]

I have 4 2' VHO lights and a Ice cap 660 and I was thinking about running two or three of them. at first I thought about making a switching setup so I can run 4-3 or 2 off the one ballast but I'm also feeling a bit lazy about it. now I'm thinking 2 maybe 3 lights on a timer and 1 55w PC on a switch for when I need to get in the tank and the lights are off.

I have a 37 gallon tank with mostly softies, zoos, and a few SPS and LPS that are not heavy on light demand. in fact I'm running 2x55 PC's now one is a 50/50 and the other is a 10k that's much to yellow for my liking but all my coral seems to like it so far..

 

[House of Laughter]

Ron,

I searched and read this 3x and dont' see a question - are you asking if you should go to 4,3 or 2 lights? and if the IC660 wil handle it? or if the animals will?

Wondering what you're looking to have answered - trying to help ya out.

house

 

[roncgizmo]

Sorry Jim, I got off track...lol I was on the phone and posted it before I was done...

I know the 660 will do 2,3 or 4 lights. I was going to make something to switch between
the 2,3 or 4 light setup but I really don't feel like wasting my time finding the parts I need to do it.. (maybe some day)

so what I was thinking is to run only 2 or 3 VHO lights.

My livestock is mainly soft corals, I have a few SPS frags but nothing that needs
mega light..In fact I see my sps growing with the PC's I have now. I'm not a big fan
of SPS so I'm basically at my limit.

Will two 2' VHO's work better then the two 55w PC's or is using 3 or 4 a must?

 

[bad coffee]

Two 55w pc's will be more wattage than two VHO's.

check with icecap, but I believe that different lamp configurations need different wirings. So if you want to switch from 2 to 3 or 4 bulbs you have to change the wiring. It's not as simple as putting a switch in.

B

 

[roncgizmo]

Thanks B, I should of said they are T12 75w each.I know I just cant use a switch they are wired in series so I would need a few relays to put this thing together.

Or, I was thinking about 2 T12's and 2 T5's the IC will overdrive the T5's to 40 watts each instead of the rated 24 watts...I'm just not 100% sold on the t5's yet, I remember when the PC's came out and we all thought it was so great...lol