Can I get this at work??

dotheevolution

dotheevolution

New Member
I am really new to salt water tanks and don't completely understand lighting or know what type of lighting I should use. I plan to keep a reef/fish tank, but I'm not sure what type of coral I want yet (Hard or soft). Anyway my real question is if I can build a lighting system with Philips bulbs/ Advance Ballast? I work for Philips and I can get just about any bulb or ballast (Advance Ballast, Philips owns Advance) at a great price, I have seen huge Metal Halide bulbs there, HO, VHO ... everything, but can these bulbs be used for aqauriums? I even saw these there the other day
http://www.buylighting.com/25-Watt-P...d-p/a35888.htm
... could I just set up a rack without four of these over the tank? I have a 36" long 50 gallon tank.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
As far as the advance ballast go, if their metal halide, yes you can use those. There as good IMO as a lot of the magnetic ballasts out there. Better than many. Advance makes a good reliable ballast. You can use mogul base sockets and then you need to look for some bulbs in the right color temp. Anything 6500 kelvin and upwards to 20,000 kelvin will be fine. As mentioned that's the factor. A 3000k or 4200k bulb will be of no use to you. One, 250w MH job would be sufficient if you don't have a center brace. If so, 2 175watters would be good. You can buy a quality metal halide(ice cap) retro with bulb for 219.00 shipped though. Something to chew on while your looking at spending 60+ on just a bulb. Plus you'll want some kind of reflector, the socket, the ballast kit, some wiring. I've personally found that even with ballasts at my price, it's not too much more to just buy the dang retro kit, and be done. Then you know you've got the right stuff and don't always have doubt in the back of your mind. BTW, I dont think philips makes a MH bulb in these temps, If they do I'd like to know about it.
 
dotheevolution

dotheevolution

New Member
Thanks guys, youve been really helpful. I was looking through our inventory and it doesnt look like we have anything in the 6,500K to 20,000K range. I think I will just go with a retro kit. Thanks again, I have a pretty good idea of what I should get as far as lighting now.
 
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