Metal Halide Lights

[Marlin]

Hi all,

- I am thinking of getting a Metal Halide light (For a 3 Ft. Tank) suspended from the Tank (With the 2 holders) and not the ceiling hanging ones.

- My budget is less than $1K. Anybody got any recommendations to give ? Foe eg. where to get and which brand is good ?

- I heard the AZoo brand cost > $1K, any other good recommendations ?

Thanks
Marlin

[loupgarou]

you can go bioplast and check, but its fairly expensive.

on the other hand. pendants can be 'diy' for 160 + 50 (bulb)

[kelstorm]

yup.. can consider DIY.. it is cheaper by a fair bit..

[Phang]

What's the depth of your Reef???

Many would recommend 250W if depth is 2 ft..

I'm using Iwasakis 250W... 6500ks.
A little on the yellowish side... but can be supplemented with actinics.
Bulbs with ballast and capacitors cost around $130.


Check out your reef in the My Tank section....
Dun recommend that you get MH without a chiller....
It's gonna be real hot!!!....

[Killerwhale]

Hi,

I got a 2ft hood cover and would like to modified it into a MH. Can someone kindly help or guide me to do it or is there a place that do modification ?

[bawater]

fitting a MH into a 2ft hood will boil your water(not to mention danger of splashes cracking the bulb)- either need a chiller or raise MH high, which in that case go for pendants-abt 17cm above water level for heat not to affect tank too much.
i think kelantan sells 150w ready made ones.

[ZeRoC00l]

IMO, for a 2 ft tank go for PLs will do.

I am using a 150W MH for my marine 2.5ft tank. The temp really shoot up even though it is already 1 ft above the water.

I have to install a fan blowing across the water surface, and my chiller is too weak to control the temp...

[Phang]

Hi Guys,

For those who are going for MHs...
BUY A GOOD CHILLER....

Actually 2 ft tanks can use MHs...
There are reefers overseas that does it....
Of course that would depends on what you are planning to keep... for eg. if going for SPS... then a MH is definitely recommended... in fact at least 250W ... as they don't colour up properly with 150s....

I modified a canopy holding 2 X 250W Iwasakis... gonna get a additional 400W Radium soon... if I can find it....

Placed my bulbs 10 inches away from water surface to prevent water splashes and remove the requirement to place a protective glass in between surface of water and lights...
Do take note that the bulbs used are screwed on single ended that already have a protective glass limiting UV rays ... Double ended bulbs don't have this feature so would require a piece of glass (tempered) to shut off the rays...

[mv3i]

phang ,

wat happen to your tank ... no sound no picts ... waiting patiently

[Phang]

No Camera.... and no SPS....

SO no pics.

[Killerwhale]

bawater, you mean kelatan in Malaysia selling 2ft MH with cover hood ? [:0]

[bawater]

i meant kelantan lane in SG, pendant sort so u have to do away with your hood. unless u DIY parts into the hood yourself- which will be very close to water surface. Too close for comfort.

It seems nowadays, a lot of newly renovated shops are using MH for display lighting- but i think they 70w.(bulbs were quite small double ended)
walked into a diamond shop in Tampines mall was nearly blinded cause i looked up at the lights!!. the bossini outlet using them too. []

[Killerwhale]

sorry, can i ask what is pendant sort ?

[kelstorm]

phang, perhaps u can enlighten me abit, i never used 250W b4.. coz to me,i used a 150W MH and if 150W with 10,000 kelvins is enuff to do the job, why waste the electricity to use a 250W when u can make do with a 150W? this is because in marine, we dun measure in watts but in the spectrum of lights intensity, kelvins.. perhaps i might be wrong, kindly enlighten me.[]

[kelstorm]

killerwhale,
those pendent types that looks like a inverted bottle as compared to that of a full housing... err.. dun know how to explain.. i think mv3i has it, the pendent... look under his post, u might find his tank and his MH.[]

[Phang]

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On 12/20/2002 7:29:37 PM

phang, perhaps u can enlighten me abit, i never used 250W b4.. coz to me,i used a 150W MH and if 150W with 10,000 kelvins is enuff to do the job, why waste the electricity to use a 250W when u can make do with a 150W? this is because in marine, we dun measure in watts but in the spectrum of lights intensity, kelvins.. perhaps i might be wrong, kindly enlighten me.[]
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I think there's some mis communication here....
Wattage does affect the intensity....
Temperature or what was mentioned here as kelvin is the colour or spectrums...eg... 20kk lots of blue spectrum.... 10kks some blues and 6500k more to yellow and greens....(of course this depends on the manufacturer of bulbs)...
whereas watt affaects the intensity and in Marine, what is impt is actually the PAR (Photosynthesis Available Radiation)... which actually affects growth..
Take note that PAR are different in different Kelvins type of lamps...
eg a 400W Radium 20kk has higher PAR than a 250W Radium 20kk... however a 400W Iwasaki 6500k has much more PAR than a 400W Radiums... Make sense...
Iwasakis 6500k are known to be one of the best PAR distributor... compared to other lamps but definiely a good buy if you want good growth...only setback causes the reef to look a little yellow....
THat's why many reefers subplement Actinics or add a Radiums to even out the yellows...

Any if you are keen in SPS..... 150 Ws don't work... they don't colour up nicely under them....

[Cedric]

Maybe I can chip in here with an example.

Assuming both the 150w and 250w are 10k. Besides having better penetration due to higher intensity of the 250w, a 250 is better suited for keeping corals like Acros as it has higher UV. The higher UV will cause a "UV" burn on the tip of the acros resulting in better colouration.

[kelstorm]

[quote]
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On 12/25/2002 12:30:35 PM

Maybe I can chip in here with an example.

Assuming both the 150w and 250w are 10k. Besides having better penetration due to higher intensity of the 250w, a 250 is better suited for keeping corals like Acros as it has higher UV. The higher UV will cause a "UV" burn on the tip of the acros resulting in better colouration.
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ok.. from what i gather is that, more wattage = more PAR. ok.. am i right?

if i were to lower the height of the MH that has a 150w 10kk bulb or 150W with 20kK(if there is any) instead of a 250w with either 10kK or 20kK bulb, theoritically, i should be able to get the same penetration or result as that of a 250w bulb due to the closer proximity right?? pls ignore the heat factor and the water splashing issue here.

i can also position the acros higher up in the reef structure right to make up for the lack in wattage intensity in this case. am i right?

ok, i'm trying to work out the method to lower the cost of maintaining a tank now. i know that with hard corals, a MH would be good to have but with softies? i really doubt so that i need such strong intensity in lights for soft corals.

perhaps phang and cedric can share your examples..and the difference in coral effect coz personally, i have not tried using a MH with such a high wattage or kelvins (20kk) only tried with 150W with 10kk.

[Phang]

Kel,

I'm currently with Iwasakis 250Ws for my 5 footer... they got the best PARs under this league... good for growth but for colouration wise.... temperature is a important factor...
Placed the lamps about 10inches above water surface... no glass in between... intensity drops tremendously with barriers.....
Do take note however that Iwasakis 250Ws are single ended in nature with a UV protective glass... DE bulbs do not have this feature....

150Ws are good only for tanks less than 18 inches depth, anything from 2 ft onwards, 250Ws are recommended.... that is if you are keeping SPS....

Actually no one has really verified that the colouration of SPS is due to the UV rays...
Many of these SPS have great colouration even when bulbs have coverings with UV shielded glass ..

[kelstorm]

Placed the lamps about 10inches above water surface... no glass in between... intensity drops tremendously with barriers.....
Do take note however that Iwasakis 250Ws are single ended in nature with a UV protective glass... DE bulbs do not have this feature....

150Ws are good only for tanks less than 18 inches depth, anything from 2 ft onwards, 250Ws are recommended.... that is if you are keeping SPS....

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alright.. if i were to go for 2.5ft in height, and keep softies, i dun need such high wattage bulbs (250W)right.. can just go for 150w right with the height of just 20cm above water level?

another thing, if i were to get a frag from my friend, i just have to leave the frag high up in the reef and prob solve right?