What kind of actinics to run with my Radiums?

[markl]

Thinking about running 2 48" t5's or vho's .What kind of ballast should I run and what bulbs?My tank is a 120g with dual 250w radiums lme reflectors and tank is 48x24x24.

 

[jaustin]

don't run t-5's, run t12 VHO for actinics....they are brighter. Try the 454 actinic in the front and super actinic in the rear, that's what i run with my 400w radium and love it. I've been through many types of supplimentation lighting and that's what i'm content with now.

 

[grouper therapy]

What is their purpose Mark, color altering or dusk/dawn ?

 

[markl]

JAustin;461840 wrote: don't run t-5's, run t12 VHO for actinics....they are brighter. Try the 454 actinic in the front and super actinic in the rear, that's what i run with my 400w radium and love it. I've been through many types of supplimentation lighting and that's what i'm content with now.

What kind of ballast and bulb are you running?Yours does look nice.

 

[markl]

grouper therapy;461841 wrote: What is their purpose Mark, color altering or dusk/dawn ?

Both.

 

[jaustin]

icecap and UV super actinic and UV 454

 

[weaglereefer]

You can run them on a Workhorse 7 ballast. Should be able to find one of those for $30-$40.

I had 2 Actinic Whites, now running one Super Actinic and one Actinic White. I'd like to get the 454 when I get a chance. Right now the color is purple and I want more blue, but there is definite 'pop', even when the halides are on.

 

[smoothie]

Vho's. I have always loved them and am only now going away from them because of the depth of the 180

 

[glxtrix]

VHO in my opinion have THE BEST color for actinics. You can run many types of ballasts from workhorse (cheaper), ARO to ICECAP (most expensive). They run the bulb pretty much the same, just some ballasts are a tab more efficient with power and some will run more length of bulbs. I personally run ARO ballasts, not only for actinic, but for my hallides....they are an amazing ballast, and hellolights.com has some pretty good deals on VHO kits. T5 actinic is "meh" IMO. If I ran T5's, I'd stay away from their actinic bulb and just use a blue+....still decent blue color and the added benefit, you get PAR! VHO actinics produce very little PAR, if any at all. So the question to ask yourself, do you want it purely for aesthetic purpose (add VHO) or do you want to add some more PAR to the system (go T5).

Oh and not to mention, you don't need a reflector with the VHO's....the Super Actinic R bulbs com e with an internal reflector