power compact/vho watts comparision to MH

[SuRFeR BoY]

i was wondering what the watt comparision on vho and pc was to mh. i know that there is a rule of thumb but wasnt able to find a formula. i know that there is a difference in intensity as well.

ok so i have a 10k 110 watt vho and a 110 watt true blue artinic vho. for the pc i have 2x110 watt pc bulbs and ballast. one pc is a 12k and the other is a true blue artinic. i have a total of 440 watts when they are ran all together. what is 400 watts of pc and vho equal to MH? another question.... does blue ARTINICS equal up to less watts because the lighting isn't as intense?

thanks

 

[nanoreefer22]

I'm not sure about the rule of thumb you're talking about, but if its Watts Per Gallon, then it's as close to useless as you can get.

With a MH the light is definately much more intense, as well as being light from a single point. Where as VHO and PC's have their light spread out over almost the entire bulb. MH will almost indefinately penetrate the water more than either of the other two. T-5's with the right reflectors/ballasts are probably more comparable.

I guess it's going to be really hard to compare the intensity of your lighting to that of a single MH unless you have one of those meters that measures PAR at various depths underneath the water.

(Sorry if I confused you, but I myself a little)
-Kris

 

[DRZL]

Kris,

you really know your chit nowadays! GOOD JOB! He's dead on, the watts per gallon is a garbage measurement. There are factors like PAR, efficiency, spectrums. Way too many variables, but point source MH usually reigns supreme over fluoro's