pushinweit
Member
I was wondering if anyone could give some advice on what type of metal halide lighting I would need for my 46 gallon bowfront. Any suggestions would be very welcome.
"Lighting a 46 Bowfront"
- Thread starter pushinweit
- Start date
pushinweit
Member
First of all, I would like to thank everyone that responded to my other posts. I did get some valuable information. I would like to keep a maxima clam, as well as some SPS, and some soft corals. I have a setup in mind already. I happened to run across it at ***********.com. I was wondering especially if I have to have 1 or 2 bulbs.
pushinweit
Member
2x250 watt? Also do I have to worry about what I place near the top and bottom of my tank? Should I go with the VHO or PC's as a combo? Can I buy VHO's that are actinic?
pushinweit
Member
Just out of curiosity skilos do you know of anyplace that I could find a good deal on a setup like that? Also, I should be fine with the clams and SPS coarls at the bottom right? Thanks for all your help.
pushinweit
Member
Well, I really have no idea what retrofit really means, so I guess I am in the process of getting the whole darn setup. Like I said I would like it to have 2 x 250 watt MH, 2 VHO's (1 actinic 1 white bulb), and two cooling fans. One more thing I was wodering... how strong should I get the VHO's... I have no idea what 10,000k stands for on my PC's now, and what wattage for both bulbs?
attml
Active Member
Thank you for the intro Skilos!
Fortunately pushinweit you came to the right place. 10000K is a measurement of the color intensity that the bulb burns at. When looking in your fireplace flames that are yellow aren't as hot as flames that are blue. Similar principle with tank lighting A 6500K bulb burns at 6500 degrees kelvin (hence the K) which is kind of yellow looking. A 10000K bulb is white and a 20000K bulb burns more blue. Many people run VHO or PC actenics in conjunction with 65K & 10K bulbs to give a more balanced appearance to the overall lighting (not as white or yellow). As far as a retrofit that is just another way of saying unfinished parts that you complete the construction yourself (i.e. -you build a canopy and put in the retrofit reflectors, endcaps etc yourself which saves money). As far as a complete hood, I have a IceCap PFO hood that is an all in one unit as Skilos mentioned. I am extremely happy with it though it took a long time to save for as it wasn't cheap. It is a 2X 250W Metal halide system running on a standard PFO MH ballast with 10000K Ushio MH bulbs. It also has 2 - 110W VHOs running on a IceCap 660 ballast with 2 -110W URI Super Actenic VHO bulbs. It also has 2 - 5 inch fans (one blows air in and one blows air out). If you can afford it it I highly endorse it! Go to Yahoo and do a search on Icecap PFO hoods and you will find a few vendors that sell them. There is a base price for the hood then there will be options for bulbs and ballast etc. which you add onto the base price. If you have any other questions just give a shout! Here is pic. Kind of hard to tell but the unit is coverd by glass which keeps the heat in the fixture and out of the tank. The fans suck in cool air and push out the hot so my tank temp varies very little! Good luck and I hope that helps!!
Fortunately pushinweit you came to the right place. 10000K is a measurement of the color intensity that the bulb burns at. When looking in your fireplace flames that are yellow aren't as hot as flames that are blue. Similar principle with tank lighting A 6500K bulb burns at 6500 degrees kelvin (hence the K) which is kind of yellow looking. A 10000K bulb is white and a 20000K bulb burns more blue. Many people run VHO or PC actenics in conjunction with 65K & 10K bulbs to give a more balanced appearance to the overall lighting (not as white or yellow). As far as a retrofit that is just another way of saying unfinished parts that you complete the construction yourself (i.e. -you build a canopy and put in the retrofit reflectors, endcaps etc yourself which saves money). As far as a complete hood, I have a IceCap PFO hood that is an all in one unit as Skilos mentioned. I am extremely happy with it though it took a long time to save for as it wasn't cheap. It is a 2X 250W Metal halide system running on a standard PFO MH ballast with 10000K Ushio MH bulbs. It also has 2 - 110W VHOs running on a IceCap 660 ballast with 2 -110W URI Super Actenic VHO bulbs. It also has 2 - 5 inch fans (one blows air in and one blows air out). If you can afford it it I highly endorse it! Go to Yahoo and do a search on Icecap PFO hoods and you will find a few vendors that sell them. There is a base price for the hood then there will be options for bulbs and ballast etc. which you add onto the base price. If you have any other questions just give a shout! Here is pic. Kind of hard to tell but the unit is coverd by glass which keeps the heat in the fixture and out of the tank. The fans suck in cool air and push out the hot so my tank temp varies very little! Good luck and I hope that helps!!
pushinweit
Member
ATTML-
Thank you for the explanation and info. on the lights. What size are your lights, and can you tell me approx. how much you spent on them. Now your system was basically custom built right? You told the company what kind of ballasts and lights you wanted to house in the unit... correct? I was wondering if I could purchase the hood separately from the hood?
Thank you for the explanation and info. on the lights. What size are your lights, and can you tell me approx. how much you spent on them. Now your system was basically custom built right? You told the company what kind of ballasts and lights you wanted to house in the unit... correct? I was wondering if I could purchase the hood separately from the hood?
xxvietxjustinxx
Member
attml, I remember you giving me the site for your PFO Balast and your whole inclosed set up. I accidently deleted the site you gave me and emptied out the deleted files. Can you please send me the website again? lilvietxboi@yahoo.com
thanks alot!
thanks alot!
attml
Active Member
pushinweit,
Yes, it is basically a custom order. You choose what options you want and they build it for you. I believe you can buy the hood without all of the ballasts and stuff but am not 100% on sure on that one. My cost when all was said and done probably came to close to $1000 with shiping. I live in MD and it was built in WA. so they had to ship 2 huge boxes all the way accross country which raised my cost a little. I know it seems high but my tank is in my living room and there is no way that my wife would have let me hang some half baked invention I dreamed up in our living room!. This piece is constructed extremely well and looks pretty good to boot - here is a close up to give you a better idea.
XxViEtXjUStiNxX,
You have mail!
Yes, it is basically a custom order. You choose what options you want and they build it for you. I believe you can buy the hood without all of the ballasts and stuff but am not 100% on sure on that one. My cost when all was said and done probably came to close to $1000 with shiping. I live in MD and it was built in WA. so they had to ship 2 huge boxes all the way accross country which raised my cost a little. I know it seems high but my tank is in my living room and there is no way that my wife would have let me hang some half baked invention I dreamed up in our living room!. This piece is constructed extremely well and looks pretty good to boot - here is a close up to give you a better idea.
XxViEtXjUStiNxX,
You have mail!
pushinweit
Member
So what size is your tank ATTML?