I have used the AH supply set ups to good effect. I do think for my next tank I am going to try Catalina T5's-heard some very good things about them, and I like the idea of less heat. But I have no complaints abut the AH. I am very unhandy and I was able to install them into a hood. The AH Supply people are very responsive on emails for advice/assistance, etc. Kypros On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 9:31 PM, Paul M. Wallace <pwallace@u.washington.edu>wrote: > Dear Jeff, > > The big difference is that the AH Supply is a retrofit so you must have a > hood or box and enough skill to operate a wire cap where the others you list > are fixtures. In the world a fixtures, slim is in so you may have a lot of > bulbs crammed into a very attractive enclosure but there is just not enough > room to get the photons pointed up back into the tank. In the club, I know > of a 4X96W fixture over 180 gal. Great results with CO2 and an FX5! > > On my own 180 gal tank I have the same problem of finding a light that > allows good growth and covers 6'. I was thinking VHO (yes, that VHO) as 6' > bulbs from UVL now are available with 180* reflectors (VHO AquaSun Bulb). > I found a Icecap 660 on the reef forum that will drive this $25 bulb at 160 > W. These bulbs also drive 4' T8 at 80W (20W/ft) which is where the tank is > now (2XT8 Mbuna tank. Now UVL is selling T5 V-HO lamps. I think 4X 3' > bulbs (with clip on reflectors) will be the next upgrade. > > Now, a random snippet from internet suggests "The two major causes of > Blue-Green Algae is poor water quality (nutrient rich water), or dim (low) > lighting. " > > Perhaps the 4 bulb would actually be ok. > > -Paul > > On Wed, 11 Nov 2009, Jeff wrote: > > > Thanks for a great meeting and auction last night; I have a 6' long 125g > > planted tank which I have been lighting with two GE "Plant and Aquarium" > > bulbs for about a year now; The plants do ok but I want better; Algae > growth > > has been controlled by switching to a ten hour light cycle (when I had > four > > 48" bulbs in the tank the algae was out of control ie entire bottom of > > aquarium had thick dark green algae); My question is this: Are the AH > supply > > setups that much better than say the aquaticlife or marineland setups? AH > > makes some pretty bold claims on their website ie "2.5 times more light"; > > Are metal halide lights really necessary or are they overkill? It is a > > community aquarium so I want my fish to look their best as well as the > > plants; > > > > > > > > Has anyone done a talk on Freshwater stingrays at a meeting? Is there > anyone > > in the club whom raises stingrays that would be willing to give a talk? > I've > > been fascinated with them for quite some time but have been holding out > till > > I get a much larger aquarium to house them; > > > > > > > > Thanks for all your help, Jeff. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > GSAS-Member mailing list > > GSAS-Member@thekrib.com > > http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member > > > > > _______________________________________________ > GSAS-Member mailing list > GSAS-Member@thekrib.com > http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member > _______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member