DIY metal halide light fixture.

gregx

gregx

New Member
I am thinking of adding a DIY metal halide light fixture to my aquarium. I see
there are two types of metal halide lights the double ended light and the med.
screw base.
Now the double ended light needs a ballast staring system.
what I would like to know is this the med. screw base metal halide light can
that bulb be wired like a normal light bulb with no starting system?
 
bmkj02

bmkj02

Member
Check out craigslist for local business selling their shop lights. Most of them are 400w metal halides and all you have to do is change the bulbs to what you want. Thats what I did on my setup. I bought mine for $25 a piece and just bought the reflectors and was done
 
gregx

gregx

New Member
I found some 70$ each with everything . Plus there brand new I may go that way im just not sure yet.
 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmkj02 http:///forum/thread/380869/diy-metal-halide-light-fixture#post_3315842
Check out craigslist for local business selling their shop lights. Most of them are 400w metal halides and all you have to do is change the bulbs to what you want. Thats what I did on my setup. I bought mine for $25 a piece and just bought the reflectors and was done
if you have a 400w ballast dont put in a 250w lamp you have to match lamp to ballast
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
you'll most likely have a capicator also, many ballasts are multi watt, meaning there are like 4 wires to power it, if you hook 1 wire it is 250 watt, 2 wires is 400 watt and so on
 
aviator

aviator

Member
I did the same thing - I bought a couple of MH lights on craigs, made the reflector out of stainless and changed the bulb, voila! 400 Watts of metal halide goodness X 2. All for less than $100. There are two types of ballasts as well. There's an electronic ballast and a magnetic ballast. the electronic ballast looks much like a flourescent light ballast. Long and skinny usually. They don't require the starting capacitor. The magnetic ballast looks more like a transformer and needs a capacitor. Most of the lights you will find on craigs will have magnetic ballast. There's nothing wrong with them. they just "hum" a bit. Electronics are more expensive. They will both get quite warm - this is normal. the bulbs will get downright HOT - be VERY careful you don't splash water on them or they WILL shatter and you will spend hours picking the glass out of the aquarium.
as stated above, don't mix bulbs and ballasts. If the ballast is for a 400w bulb, don't put ANYTHING else in the socket. most of the ballasts you will find on craigs are, as mentioned above, multi-VOLTAGE, not multi-AMPERAGE. make sure to use the right leads for your output - which would be 110 I bet. using the other leads doesn't mean you can drop the wattage of the bulb. bad idea.
Good luck!
 
gregx

gregx

New Member
Hi
I'm looking for options in lighting. The lights for $70 are here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110593470484&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT I know the bulbs would need to be changed out as they are not the right color.
Take a look and let me know what your thoughts are. I'm just getting back into salt water and I'm A DIY guy so I love doing my own thing and having it be better and most times saving money...
Another thing I was thinking is this ,would power compaq lights be cheeper to do ? Like 8 over my 125? to give me that magical 4 watts per gallon. I can buy a lot of 12 10,000k bulbs for under $100 buck and the balest are cheep.
Thoughts and options welcome..
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:Originally Posted by Gregx http:///forum/thread/380869/diy-metal-halide-light-fixture#post_3320667
Hi
I'm looking for options in lighting. The lights for $70 are here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110593470484&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT I know the bulbs would need to be changed out as they are not the right color.
Take a look and let me know what your thoughts are. I'm just getting back into salt water and I'm A DIY guy so I love doing my own thing and having it be better and most times saving money...
Another thing I was thinking is this ,would power compaq lights be cheeper to do ? Like 8 over my 125? to give me that magical 4 watts per gallon. I can buy a lot of 12 10,000k bulbs for under $100 buck and the balest are cheep.
Thoughts and options welcome..
What are you planning on keeping in your 125? Honestly PC(power compacts) would be a waste of money spent...bulbs aren't cheap, and what you think your saving your really not. If you want T5's a way better choice any way you look at it.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I see the watts per gallon rule being thrown around quite a bit. But watts are not what are important when it comes to reef tanks. Lumens are more what you're looking for. I can put the same, if not more light into a tank with 288watts of the proper sized LED's than I could with 500watts of Metal Halide. Power Compacts don't put out near as much light as their T5 cousins, nore do they penetrate to the same depths inside the tank as far as coral growth is concerned.
Like, Acrylic51 mentioned or is inquiring about...alot of what your lighting requirments will have to be shall be determined by what you plan on keeping in your tank. If you're planning on doing fish only then Power Compacts are fine. If you want to do mixed reef then look into a good T5 fixture or a T5+Metal Halide combo. LED's are becoming very popular but they are still very expensive for the type of LED's that you need for a reef...but if you can build your own rig then the cost is more comparable to a good T5 or T5/MH combo. Or if you're one of those people who are supper rich and don't mind shelling out multipule thousands of dollars for lighting then I hear some headway is being made in the Plasma arena.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Thanks Corey!!!!! Scary when someone actually knew what I was referring too!!!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/380869/diy-metal-halide-light-fixture#post_3320754
I see the watts per gallon rule being thrown around quite a bit. But watts are not what are important when it comes to reef tanks. Lumens are more what you're looking for. I can put the same, if not more light into a tank with 288watts of the proper sized LED's than I could with 500watts of Metal Halide. Power Compacts don't put out near as much light as their T5 cousins, nor do they penetrate to the same depths inside the tank as far as coral growth is concerned.
Like, Acrylic51 mentioned or is inquiring about...alot of what your lighting requirments will have to be shall be determined by what you plan on keeping in your tank. If you're planning on doing fish only then Power Compacts are fine. If you want to do mixed reef then look into a good T5 fixture or a T5+Metal Halide combo. LED's are becoming very popular but they are still very expensive for the type of LED's that you need for a reef...but if you can build your own rig then the cost is more comparable to a good T5 or T5/MH combo. Or if you're one of those people who are supper rich and don't mind shelling out multipule thousands of dollars for lighting then I hear some headway is being made in the Plasma arena.
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by IBEW41 http:///forum/thread/380869/diy-metal-halide-light-fixture#post_3318596
Quote:
Originally Posted by tank a holic http:///forum/thread/380869/diy-metal-halide-light-fixture#post_3318267
you'll most likely have a capicator also, many ballasts are multi watt, meaning there are like 4 wires to power it, if you hook 1 wire it is 250 watt, 2 wires is 400 watt and so on
they are multi voltage not wattage they can be 250w,but 120v,220v 277v
You're right.... I had it backwards, thats why I had help with the wiring
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
The bad thing about lumens is a tester is so expensive thats why people want to use watts per gallon
its important though to know you cant compare MH watts and PC watts
 
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