Ok so I finally found a metal halide system. It's a dual ballast for 2 250 w mogul base and a reflector with 2 mogul bases. Picked it up off kijiji. The ballast is a cool touch ballast. Guy had it running on a 90 gallon. I touched the ballast to see how hot and it wasn't At all. My question is, the reflector is prob just under 48" long with two bulbs evenly spaced. Will this be enough light for a 6 foot 135 gallon tank that is 24" deep? I'm gonna supplement with two actinics. How high should I hang it?
Metal halide question
- Thread starter Krazykarl
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fishit
Guest
yes 48 in will be fine and you will need to put it at least 1ft off the top of your tank they throw allot of heat also you will have to make sure you cover it completely with your canopy or you will go blind lol and get a big fan to cool them at prices auto
What temp bulb r u runnin on your tank? Was it 10k? I don't have a canopy. Gonna be doing a build soon once I finish crazybizzles build. I was thinking About lining the inside of the canopy with a reflective material like Mylar or somethin. Any ideas are great. Thanks
Blob-79
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- Jan 13, 2017
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- Tillsonburg
I think idealy you would want 1 MH per 2' of tank. You will have some low light areas with 2, but depending on what corals your keeping..that could be a good thing.
for bulbs..I dont have mogul base myself, but im fairly sure you will want a higher temp bulb then a 10k
for bulbs..I dont have mogul base myself, but im fairly sure you will want a higher temp bulb then a 10k
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stellarflare
Guest
Hi to you all, In reference to Kyle speaking about Mylar for reflective surface. I came across two different thicknesses of highly reflective Mylar sold by the Square Foot from a roll at:
Northern Lights {Homegrown Hydroponics Inc.} 2690 Ouelette Ave. Windsor Ontario (519) 254-4015
If you live in Tillsonburg then London would be more near to you at:
Ontario Grower's Supply {Homegrown Hydroponics Inc.} 1 Adelaide St. N. Unit 1 London Ontario (519) 451-GROW
Northern Lights {Homegrown Hydroponics Inc.} 2690 Ouelette Ave. Windsor Ontario (519) 254-4015
If you live in Tillsonburg then London would be more near to you at:
Ontario Grower's Supply {Homegrown Hydroponics Inc.} 1 Adelaide St. N. Unit 1 London Ontario (519) 451-GROW
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fishit
Guest
Ya mine are 10k not so nice switching to 14 k but you Don't have to line your canopy just need the canopy to shield yourself I tried mine two inches off the top of my canopy and anywhere you sat in the room you thought you were going to go blind I actually got welders flash just from the light escaping but keep it about a foot off your tank and the light cast will be great you will not have low light areas with 2 mogul halids a mogul covers more area than a 2bl ended halide just look at the bulb size difference a mogul is much larger you will want 14 to 20k suggest 14 k
Ok thanks matt, ya I have 14k bulbs right now. I'm curious what brand is the rave right now as far as price and quality go. I've read alot about xm bulbs. But at 70 a pop it seems a bit steep when I can get bulbs on eBay for about half the price...
To Brian,
Thanks for the input on the Mylar. I'm gonna have to go check out how much it'll cost me to do the canopy. The reflector on my mh is rather cheesy. Def could use a bit better one. But I figure the cost of a new reflector vs the cost of Mylar, I might be better off lining it with the Mylar. Thanks everyone for your help. I can't wait to get them running!!!!!
To Brian,
Thanks for the input on the Mylar. I'm gonna have to go check out how much it'll cost me to do the canopy. The reflector on my mh is rather cheesy. Def could use a bit better one. But I figure the cost of a new reflector vs the cost of Mylar, I might be better off lining it with the Mylar. Thanks everyone for your help. I can't wait to get them running!!!!!
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phi delt reefer
Guest
i would forgo the mylar and save up for a decent reflector. Reef Optix 2 units are are about $50 from J&L and are a good cheap alternative to teh expensive full body reflectors (lumenarc, coralvue bubbles, etc.)
if you are going to spend the money to run halides you might as well make sure you are optimizing the amount of light going into the tank. Too many people are just using more wattage instead of better reflectors and the its a poor decision in my opinion.
As for bulb choice the Pheonix 14K units seem to be quite popular with pretty much everyone - that or the 20k radiums on 400w ballasts 8)
if you are going to spend the money to run halides you might as well make sure you are optimizing the amount of light going into the tank. Too many people are just using more wattage instead of better reflectors and the its a poor decision in my opinion.
As for bulb choice the Pheonix 14K units seem to be quite popular with pretty much everyone - that or the 20k radiums on 400w ballasts 8)
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fishit
Guest
I have 8 reef optic bulbs some 14 some 20k bought them for mine but when I got them found out they were mogul not 2bl end they came from eBay and says they were only used half there rated life of 8000h but I'll take best offer or a trade on something if interested
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fishit
Guest
Thats what the ad said on eBay I can't even try them thow becouse there mogul but ya I'd take the finex for all
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