MH Lighting ?'s

[Nano_Steve]

hey all,

well i think ive made up my mind: the 30 gallon is too big for my dorm so i want to go smaller but i want to get a more "powerful" reef tank set up in its place. by that i mean more flow and lighting than i have now.

i just got 2 lifetech 290 gph powerheads so the flow is taken kare of but i want to go into mh lights. im thinking of getting a 20 tall and putting most of my zoos and sps in it and selling or trading the other corals off.

my question is what sort of mh should i look into? i really want a pendant not unlike the geissmans but preferably something that wont end up costing me 500 bux. tim, i know u had told me about some things but with my glorious memory i have forgotten everything u told me to look into, what were some of the things again? also if anyone has anything they would suggest i look into please lemme know.

thanks all, steve

[brewercm]

You could get a pendant like this style that could run a little less, are you looking at 175 or 250 watt?

You could find one of these possibly cheaper if someone is selling used.

http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/shop/index.php?shop=1&cart=68649&cat=16&PHPSESSID=ac8b8 65c317745750e1dfa441d2a9375

[Nano_Steve]

im wanting to get into some major monti growth so probably 175 would be fine, yeah??? i dont know if im gonna go crazy over acros just yet but im sure ill want to get some a little bit later after the tank has been set up for a bit. what sorts of setups are better for ceiling hanging pendants: screw in type bulbs or double ended?

thanks, steve

[DeletedAccount]

My 250W PFO Mini-Pendant is great. http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code =PFO-HQI250SYS&Category_Code=PFOp

They also have a 150 W. These are DE HQI. Love them.

[Nano_Steve]

yeah! something like that is exactly what i had in mind. so hqi is something to look into eh? alright, and this comes with ballast and everything for a plug and play setup yeah? does anyone know of anyone with anything like this for sale or trade? ill post a new thread in the wanted section.

thanks brewercm and misti! steve

[DeletedAccount]

Plug and play with a more focused light than traditional pendants. Puts the light into the small tank versus all over the table.

[mharris7]

You can do a diy 70 watt halide for less than $100 - depending on what brand bulb you put into it. Very easy to do too. 70 watt halide would probably be plenty......

[Nano_Steve]

well ive got a spiffy idea i want to try out. id like to set 2 20 gallon talls back to back and use both for their own refugiums keeping mostly macroalgaes and other denitrafiers and lion fish in one side and the other a reef tank with more docile fish so id need the light to be able to light up both sides. nothing final as to tank plans but i thought this would be kinda neat to setup.

id definitely like to know more about this 70 watt mh setup for less than 100 deal. where do i find out some more info?

thanks again, steve

[mharris7]

you can convert a 500 watt halogen work light to 70 watt mh pretty easy. The bulbs are the same length - you just have to attach a 70 watt ballast. There's some good threads on it at nano-reefs.com in the diy section. I have one over my 10 gal (I have a thread with pics somewhere on our forums) and it works flawlessly.

-Mike

[mharris7]

-couse the price of the project will vary depending on the bulb you use. The under $100 price would be with using catalina brand bulbs. Ushio bulbs will drive the price up considerably as they are $60 ea.

[Nano_Steve]

ur kidding! that actually will run a mh bulb in it? thats crazy! what sort of wattage bulb should u buy, or do they make 70 watt bulbs? im brand new to mh scene so forgive any newbie-esque questions. i really appreciate the responses though!

thanks, steve

[mharris7]

you have to buy a 70 watt MH ballast and a 70 watt mh bulb. You want to wire the light fixture to the ballast. You don't want to pop a bulb in and plug it directly into the wall - that'd be a bad thing. If you guys are interested I strongly suggest doing a search on nano-reefs.com in the diy section. They have real good instructions. I might try to find the link and post it here later... but it should be easy to turn up.

[javajaws]

Yes, they make 70w metal halide bulbs. Should be around $60-70. 70w metal halide ballasts can be found for around $50-$70, try eBay (NAIS, Advance, etc.). As mentioned before you could use the halogan light fixture from HD for your reflector or you can make your own reasonably cheap. Check out nano-reef.com and search for 70w MH.

[mharris7]

catalina makes a 70watt bulb you can buy for $25.