MH Lights for $195

**roy** · 29th Dec 2002, 02:10

Went window shopping for MH lights at Balestier this afternoon and found a shop selling false ceiling and ceiling mounted MH lights suitable for aquarium usage. Don't know the price of false ceiling mounted but the ceiling mounted "pendant" style is going for $195 with 6500K daylight bulb. The unit takes 70 as well as 150 watts MH blub.

I'll be ordering 2 on Sunday after I've done my measuremets. Will post address and phone no. from the car.

Roy

**David** · 29th Dec 2002, 04:02

roy...you sure that the light hood for a 150watts takes a 70watts?...that is because the 70 watts bulb is a whole lot shorter than the 150watts

**roy** · 29th Dec 2002, 20:28

David,

I should have made myself clearer. The unit takes 70 watts but the shop will modify the unit to accept 150 watts.

I haven't place an order yet because still a little undecided. Presently, my tank has about 1.8 wpg of lights and it looks quite bright. I'm not planting demanding plants, I think, so I'm wondering whether 1.8 wpg is sufficient. What do you think David?

If I decide to go for MH then my tank will achieve 2.6 wpg of lights. Don't know whether that will be too bright for my discus liking. In addition to discus, I'll be keeping cardinal and rummy nose tetras, apistos, and the usaul plants and ground maintenance crew.

Would appreciate very much your advise, opinion and recommendation on MH lights.

Thanks,
Roy

**DEA** · 29th Dec 2002, 21:05

moved to equipment

**David** · 29th Dec 2002, 23:15

hi roy

i am a little uncomfortable at 1.8 wpg. no doubt it may seem bright for now, shading will be involved when your plants grow taller and your shorter plants are going to suffer.

between 2 to 2.5 sounds good to be. MH intensity may cause your discus some stress in the beginning but after awhile they will get used to it. It take a bit of planning by means of plant choice and arrangement to create shaded areas for your discus because MH light cast hard shadows....this means that plants just below tall or even out of water plants need to be able to accept low light..(ie crypto).

**sherchoo** · 29th Dec 2002, 23:57

Does the 70W and 150W tubes differ in length? I was under the impression that it was the same size. Will check it up with the catalog when I get back to office.... or someone experienced could verify this please.

**roy** · 30th Dec 2002, 00:51

The size of the tubes are definitely different by at least 1-2'. For me, I was expecting MH tube to resemble conventional light bulb but, of course, it doesn't. Well... something new to learn everyday.

Cheers,
Roy

**roy** · 30th Dec 2002, 00:56

David, a big THANK YOU to you. My mind is made up! I'll order my MH lights first thing in the morning and, hopefully, ready for collection in the evening.

Geez, the new 5' tank is draining my bank account faster than I can replenish it. Well...

Thanks,
Roy

**David** · 30th Dec 2002, 01:29

hi sherwin....i am pretty sure that the 70Watt MH bulb is much shorter than the 150 watts

hi roy....no problem....i know its going to drain your bank account but trust me, for what you need to power a 5ft tank, its better to do it once and get it right....as for me....i originally started out with 2x4 PL tube light set and now got to change to 2x150MH light....
so it has cost me more because of the change over.

**roy** · 31st Dec 2002, 22:03

David, are you gonna ceiling hang your Bioplast bought MH lights or use some sort of brackets? If ceiling hung, have you got any problem drilling the holes or not? I need someone to drill 2 holes for me. If you know anyone who would do it for a fee, please let me know.

My apartment has got really solid ceiling and drilling is always a problem. Most of the time I can't even reach depth of 2 cm.

Thanks,
Roy

**william quek** · 31st Dec 2002, 23:04

Do you have the address &amp; telephone of the lighting shop mentioned.

**mv3i** · 31st Dec 2002, 23:12

juz for info .... if you use MH , be prepared that the temperature will sky rocket when you turn the lights on ... so you will need cooling equipment .... either lots of Fans or chiller ... it's true in both fresh osr salt water !!

juz my 2 cents worth !![

]

**roy** · 1st Jan 2003, 12:15

The details of the shop that sells MH lights at Balestier:

Lumiere The Lighting Showcase
355 Balestier Road #01-359
Singapore 329782
Tel: 6353 3188

Look for Remy or Boris - Boris is familiar with MH lights application for planted aquarium.

Cheers,
Roy

**roy** · 1st Jan 2003, 21:03

After a long and tiring drilling process, the holes are finally done! It's bloody &quot;siong&quot; process. Not something I'm looking forward to doing for a long, long time. Another good news is the ceiling doesn't resemble swiss cheese.

Anyway, the MH lights are up and running now. I'm quite please with the end-result except it's glaring to look at the tank when my eyes are lower than the MH units. Will lower the units closer to the water surface to minimise the glare to a point where it doesn't heat up the water significantly. Also, one of the bulb is yellowish while the other is white. Will exchange the yellowish bulb tomorrow.

Btw, the unit holds single-ended screw-on bulb with build-in UV filter NOT the double-ended tube that was demo-ed at the showroom. Anyone familiar with the Pheonix MH bulb? Is it any good and is it rated for 6500K?

Anyhow, thanks for all those who replied. The end justifies the means and that's what counts.

Cheers,
Roy

**DEA** · 2nd Jan 2003, 03:42

is there going to be a problem finding the screw on bulbs?
double ended bulbs seem to be the status quo around here
as for the spectrum etc
i wouldn't worry about it
my philips MH bulb is doing just fine
and i really don't think it's plant optimised blah blah blah

**roy** · 4th Jan 2003, 15:14

Apparently, the screw-on bulbs aren't too difficult to find. Most shops don't have the screw-on in their showrooms but will bring them when orders are placed.

EYE Lighting at 21 Kaki Bukit Place carries a wide range of MH screw-on and double-ended MH bulbs. The screw-on bulbs are more expensive than double-ended but well worth it because they've build-in UV filter. It's extra money well spent since my little niece and nephew like to look at my tank.

Anyway, I bought 2 MH bulbs from EYE Lighting couple days back and they'll give you a few nice glossy catalogs detailing the specs of all their MH light bulbs.

**sherchoo** · 5th Jan 2003, 02:37

Roy,
Is your bulb brand 'Iwasaki'?

**roy** · 5th Jan 2003, 03:19

Yes, Sherwin - it's Iwasaki.

**DEA** · 5th Jan 2003, 04:38

----------------
On 1/4/2003 3:14:00 PM

The screw-on bulbs are more expensive than double-ended but well worth it because they've build-in UV filter.
----------------

quite a few double ended ones have uv protection too roy
just look out for the words UV-P on the package

**william quek** · 5th Jan 2003, 09:42

Some brands will have it as UVS - Ultra Violet Stop.

Thread: MH Lights for $195

Thread Tools

MH Lights for $195

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions