250W MH's Cheap!!!

[dustint21]

Why are these so cheap? Does anyone have them? I plan on doing two 250W MH's or should i go with 400w? I have a standard 90 gallon RR!

http://www.aquariumhardware.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=317

[BIGBIRD123]

I would stay away from the 400's unless you got one good chiller. They do look like a pretty good deal, though. Let us know how they are after you purchase them, lol. J/K

Steve

[CoryDude]

Bigbird's right, 400W is a little overkill and too much heat to handle. Those 250W's should light up your tank just fine. Got 250's on my 90 gal and they look great.

Cory

[dustint21]

hanks for the replies! So with the 250's Can i keep pretty much anything as far as sps and such?

[CoryDude]

I don't see why you couldn't keep most anything you want w/250's. You'll have some argue for 400w, but I haven't run across too much that required more than a 250W bulb. Plus they're cheaper to replace than 400W bulbs.

[Bigun]

I use 250w on my 240g as well as on my 75g the 250w is a great all around bulb as for as I can tell from using them on my tanks.

[dustint21]

I just built my canopy and the top of the canopy where the lights will be mounted is 16'' from the top of the water! Is this ok or should i lower them? I painted the inside with kils primer and plan on getting the inside covered in a reflective surface some time in the future!
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/dustint21/001-1.jpg
This is the canopy i built!

[hobogato]

very nice! you may want the lights closer than 16" tho.

[Kyle46N]

I keep my double 250's about 6 inches from the surface of my 75 gallon and my tank never gets over 80 degrees. Thats with no added fans either. Just the standard built in computer fans.

[dustint21]

So 6'' is where I should mount the lights off the top of the water?

[princer7]

If you went with something like lumenbrights you would be fine mounting them that high.

[dustint21]

Where can I get the best price on these? Do I need the big ones or can i use the smaller ones? I planned on HQI's but would it be better to use HID's with the lumenbrights?:lightbulb:

[princer7]

Here is a review of the reflectors


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-06/review/index.php


Aquacave has them for $99 on their website. If you do some searching on ReefCentral there is a coupon for 5% off.


http://www.aquacave.com/lumenbright-3-mini-mogul-brbase-reflector-by-coralvue-1938.html


Looks like they are for mogul sockets but you would have more variety and possibly cheaper bulbs. You would use the minis.

[dustint21]

These look very nice! Thanks for the info! The only problem i see with these is they would take up my whole canopy and i would not hav much room for my actinic lighting! I will have to sit down and play with the numbers a bit!

[TinyTanker]

its a skin test. If your hand can be that close than so can your tank lol