cheap MH

[spicey]

Hey has anyone gone on ----? i see all these cheap metal halide penants that appear to hold the same mogul bulbs as the expensive setups. do these work? they have like high bay mh's their called i think from like gyms and grow lights for plants arent too high in price either. thanks!

 

[rubberduck]

i would like to know too

 

[thegrog]

In my experience, with aquatic systems you get what you pay for. You buy "cheap" things, you get a "cheap" item.
this is not to say that all ---- sellers have poor quality items. I bought a pair of MH pendants from one of them relatively inexpensively and am very happy with them. Some sellers can keep their costs down by buying the raw materials in bulk and keeping their operation small.
The bulbs themselves may be a lower quality than others out there. I will be replacing mine after 6 months rather than a year to be on the safe side.
All in all, buyer beware. Check the sellers feedback carefully. If they sell tons of different lighting systems, they are probably good to buy from. If I were you, I would not go with the cheapest item there, go a little higher and you may be suprised at the quality.
Good luck!

 

[say]

I'm also curious about those. Are the lights that are ?? "metal halide" grow lights for the plants the same bulbs for reef tanks? I wonder if you can change their full spectrum side out to the actinic bulbs or not? (you see some with full specturm buls and metal halides in the strip lights on the plant catagory on ----... Are these the same lights?

 

[spicey]

thats what i was thinkin, just replace the bulb it comes with with one for a reef tank. i did notice the cheap high bay ones as their called are vertical and most mogul socket marine bulbs say horizontal burn position so im curious to know if they wont work because of that?? but what about penants made for reefs? are those only HQI? thanks everyone

 

[masala4080]

Heres a pic. of one I purchased from ----. Its 2, 400w MH. I havn't gotten it yet, so im not sure how good it will be. The lights were ment for growing coral so I hope for the best.

 

[spicey]

looks nice :yes:

 

[prohopper]

my friend bought a 48 inch vho/metal halide retrofit off of ---- and it is great. It came with everything but the halide bulbs for $350 brand new. The halide ballasts are huge and everything works great.

 

[prohopper]

if i ever get my digital camera over to his house i will try and take a pic of it.

 

[thegrog]

Looks like a good system. A double ballast is a nice idea....saves room. It looks like it has a fan on it so that is a nice feature as well to keep the ballast cooler (longer life).
2x400W....how big is your tank?
If you are doing this yourself, be sure to double check your wiring to make sure all connections are secure and sealed. Also be sure there is plenty of air circulation to keep those bulbs cool.
The "full specturm" plant MH bulbs are most likely 6700K bulbs. Great for plants, but not quite enough for corals. I would go with 10,000K minimum for marine systems. The setup is the same, just a different bulb.

 

[say]

Masala4080. do you know which user you bought your lights from off ----? if not, what's your username on ---- so that I can check them out and find out if they sell more of them.

 

[masala4080]

TheGrog - My tank is a 90 gallon (not set up yet). As far as circulation, I bought 4, 4" IceCap fans, that have a probe that adjust themselves to the temp (2 blowing in from the top, 1 blowing in on each sde), as well as having an open back on the canopy. both my bulbs are 10K, Coral bulbs so I am good there.
Say - I bought it off of a company called aquariumlights. Great customer service, and even let you chose between 10K and 20K bulbs! They have a number of different wattages and whatnot. my username is birdies29. Feel free to do whatever.
I am planning on doing a DIY canopy on here within a week or 2, so feel free to check it out!

 

[bigtyguyy]

masala im interested in the pics

 

[gold strip]

The setup pictured above is by "aquarium lights" which is an ---- store. I have a 3x250 on my 180 and it works great.

 

[masala4080]

Gold strip, did you do a DIY stand / canopy online? If that is yours, it definitly looks awsome. I hope you dont mind "rebuilding it" on a 90 gal!

 

[msd2]

I have the same lights, cept 250wt, pretty good setups, the lights werent that great and I put in xm's in instead. I got the 10k and they were really yellow. Other than that they have been great, cheap setups.

 

[masala4080]

msd2, how did you mount them? do they come with mounting holes, or do you have to make those yourself?
Im getting all the wood today but probably wont start working on the canopy until saturday. Ill keep all of ya posted!

 

[msd2]

Originally posted by Masala4080
msd2, how did you mount them? do they come with mounting holes, or do you have to make those yourself?
Im getting all the wood today but probably wont start working on the canopy until saturday. Ill keep all of ya posted!
pretty much whats in the pic is what u get. I retro'd it into my existing hood and just used my existing reflector. If I recall it has four holes at the alum. base of the mogul socket if you remove the small reflectors it comes with.