Overdrive NO or go with VHO

[nm]

Have icecap 660, from what i read you can almost get vho light from NO bulb. Is it worth the extra cost for vho?

 

[mkdema]

Possibly, I've heard that using the VHO bulbs with a VHO ballast increases bulb life. If you're using an NO bulb with your 660, the bulb life is reduced so you'll be replacing more bulbs, more often, therefor defeating the purpose of saving money.

But that's just my opinion.

 

[FishDaddy]

nm,
You can use NO bulbs, such as GE Ultra Daylight, at considerable savings, but if you want lights of proper spectrum or desired color for your tank, quality NO bulbs cost almost as much as VHO bulbs. A quick sample from one MO supplier showed the savings difference in NO and VHO 50/50 bulbs to be $3.00.

The option of using NO bulbs is a nice plus when you need a bulb short-term, or in cash challenged moments.
Ice Cap's info on the subject is here:
http://www.icecapinc.com/

Proper lighting is one of the most critical components for coral health. I stick with URI VHO bulbs with my Ice Cap 660.
Dick

 

[Big R]

When I ran VHO, I used only NO bulbs and did not notice any decrease in lamp life. The main reason I used NO was for the spectrum. I much prefer Coralife 10,000K over the yellowish URI bulbs.

R

 

[liquid]

FYI: you *could* use the $5 GE Daylight NO's from Home Depot. Their spectrum is 6500 K which would equate out to be similar to the AquaSun's. That's cost savings... I've emailed IceCap about their use of NO's on their VHO ballasts and the NO's run to *near* VHO bulb output (the NO's put out like 80% of VHO's). They told me via email that they have been running NO's on VHO ballasts for 2 years w/ no problems. Now I don't know how much the intensity dropped off but it's not like the bulb is going to explode on your or anything. $20 for one VHO AquaSun could buy 4 GE Daylight bulbs... If you do go to Home Depot looking for the GE Daylights, the kelvin rating should be listed on the bulb or the packaging somewhere...

Shane
aka 'liquid' on #reefs

 

[Hammer]

I used a 6500k bulb made by Phillips over a FOWLR tank driven by an Icecap, and they work excellent.
But if you want anything bluer then a 6500k bulb, money is better spent on VHO bulbs.
My local HD didn't have the GE version, and two Phillips bulbs only cost me $5.87
So I had even better savings.
I not found any evidence of overdriving NO bulbs shortening their life. Now if you did that with a magnetic ballast I could easily see that happening, but Icecap does not harm bulbs in the same manner. I have been running other NO bulbs overdriven because I had them laying around, and after quite a few months now, I see no black on the ends, or any other signs of degradation.