MH Goodness

[demodiki]

My brother in law is an electrician and has decided that he wants to build us a MH setup. What he wants to know is...what do we want.

I do not know.

He says he has alot of different types of ballasts and he has a variety of MH bulbs or he can get them at wholsale prices. He also wants to build us a metal frame to go over the MH ( I am assuming I would then get Pete to make a wooden frame over it!).

We have a standard 55 gallon tank with 100 pounds of LR and a couple of low light corals to jazz things up. I never really thought about seriously keeping corals because of the lighting expense but in walks this offer...

So..what do I tell him? What kind of wattage/ballasts should I be asking for...I just have no idea about this lighting issue.

TIA!

[::pete::]

It would depend on what you wanted to keep, but on a 100gal 2-250W should be plenty for anything.

[greasemonkey]

2 175 w M57 ballasts with mogul sockets. I usually had these on standby, in my truck for parking lot light replacments. Cool Brother-in-law.

[demodiki]

Can these 175's be mounted in a hood? You see..I am not getting this pendant vs hood thing. How high would these MH's have to be over the tank to not fry the critters? Also, if we use MH would we automatically have to have a chiller?

[Andrew]

You shouldn't need a chiller with two 175's provided that the hood is vented (may need a few cooling fans)

Andrew

[pilot_bell777]

Never thought about it but won't the light spectrum be too yellow in a standard verses reef MH bulb?

[jaded]

You really should look into the bulbs more carefully... pilot is right, you cant use just any bulb IMO.

[demodiki]

Yikes! I did not think of that. I will have to check with him this weekend about the spectrum.

[Polkster13]

Make sure it is not a sodium vapor light. There are a lot of MH light bulbs used to light parking lots at night that are not appropriate for reef tanks. Unless you like seeing a lot of yellow. :lol

Have you checked with Greg at 360Reef. He is still selling lights the last time I checked and he can probably hook you up with a sweet setup.

[jaded]

on a side note, I made the desision to go with 250w instead of 175w and Im very happy I did... the price is nearly, if not exactly the same and I still have many options for low light, mid light and high light critters. The tanks I've seen with 175's always seem to be "dark" to me.

just my 2¢

[demodiki]

I just asked for an AR-15 for Father's Day...think she'll go large for a new light setup as well? ;)

[pilot_bell777]

175s should be enough on a 55 gal. How deep is the tank?

[Tim Marvin]

I'd do 2 of the 250w DE halides.

[demodiki]

OK I have been doing some research on MH and I am still lost :) Can anyone tell me the characteristics of a Reef MH vs a MH that is used for an industrial/commercial setting? I just read an 8 page artilce and all I came away with is that MH are good to bring out color. No kidding? :)

Depth of tank: I think it's about 18 inches. It's a standard looking 55...probably 48 x 12 x 18.

[Polkster13]

The color temperture is determined by the gas in the bulb. The intensity is determined by many things, including the number of watts. So if all other things are equal, a 400 watt bulb is brighter than a 250 watt bulb. The 400 watt bulb also uses a lot more electricty. The color temperture, defined in Kelvins, determines the color of the bulb. If you are looking for growth, use a 10K bulb. If you want a lot of color, go for a 20K bulb. A good compromise for color and growth is a 14K bulb. Most street lights are around 5k or less. Not very good for reef tanks.

So you need to know what the color temperture is (usually based on gas content) and how many watts it uses.

[Polkster13]

Do you remember the 150 gallon system I have the 2 MH on? Those are 250 watt 10K DE (double-ended) bulbs. If you want to come over and check them out, please give me a call to schedule an appointment.

[jaded]

this is a great page for seeing a side by side comparison (http://metricksystem.com/chris/250wcolour/) of some of the reef bulbs... notice that the higher the number the blue'r the light. Most MH bulbs that are available through common sources are designed for industrial usage. They last long and are bright but dont have the "color" that you will want in your tank. Image the orange yellow color of the cement factory glowing at night, then put that in your fish tank... YUK

Unless you've found something I've never heard of industrial bulbs dont have the spectums that corals need to thrive. You may be able to keep some corals alive with a cheap bulb from Homey D but they will not make it in the long run.

[alton]

Most commercial Mh Lamps are 35 K and with age get yellower, 41 K are available. Below 65 K Algae will go crazy. Most people who run 10K MH add VHO to get a blue look. To compare lamp brightness 1 - 96 watt Power Quad is 10% brighter than 175 watt MH 10 K. If you want the look of MH than go with nothing less than 250 w MH. If all you have to purchase is the lamps get the color you want. Good luck on what ever you choose.

[demodiki]

At the end of the day all I may have to purchase is the bulbs and they don't seem that expensive (comparatively speaking). I will have to get with my brother in law and see exactly what he is talking about. Armed with all this great information I can now answer his question....what do you want?

[jaded]

is he making an electronic or magnetic ballast?

[demodiki]

He said whichever I wanted. Like I told him...I don't know the difference.

[jaded]

Im a big fan of the electronic... your bulbs will last much longer since the mag ballasts overworks the bulb... of course this also means less intensity but in that sized tank I dont think thats a big deal IMO