Lighting question ASAP!

[alison]

Hi, half my power compact lights just went out due to a bad balast. So I'm only at 110 watts now. So half my tank is dark! I dono how long I have. I'm gonna take this oportunity to go up in wattage, so I'm thinking halides, so what do I do. Please talk to me like a child, because I don't know halides. Is magnetic or electronic better? And is Sunlight supply any good for a brand, and Venture, or Advance for brands too? How often do you have to change the bulbs? And how much more a month would it be than my 220 watts for pc's I was running before? Oh, and I'm thinkin dual 175 watts electronic retro kit, with 10 k bulbs and shovin my 2 - 55 watt pc actinics in the front? Thanks, Alison:notsure:

 

[thegrog]

Ok, lots of questions.
First, your tank should be alright for it least a week, perhaps two. You may want to up your water changes to 10% every 5 days until the new lights come in. There are dark, stormy days in the tropics you know!
Congrats on going with Halides. Good choice.
Magnetic vs electronic. There is some debate on this. Personally I feel that electronic is better. It puts out less heat and is a little quieter (magnetic buzzes a little).
I am not familiar with those brands you listed. Are those ballast brands or bulb brands? Some top ballast brands that I am famaliar with are IceCap, Hamilton and PFO. Bulb brands that I think are good are: Iwasaki, Giesemann Megachrome, Hamilton and Radium.
Bulbs need to be changed every year as a rule of thumb. If your tank does not have any high-light demanding corals (anemones, stony corals, etc) you can stretch that to 15 or 16 months. If you have lots of high light demanding critters, 10 months.
Dual 175 watt MH will actually use slightly less energy than your 220 pc.
10K bulbs with the actinics would work, I think 13,000K or 14,000K with the actinics would work better.
If you are putting these in your hood, be sure that there is plenty of ventilation. MH bulbs get very hot and will transfer this heat to your tank. Plus, when they stay very hot they don't last as long.
Be sure that the bulbs are it least 8 inches from the water surface as well.
Any more questions, I would be happy to help.
Good luck!

 

[alison]

Hi, thanks sooo much for the reply! I know pc's pretty well, but mh's I'm clueless. I know a little more thanks to you.

I also researched until 3 am last night. I found deals on balasts retro kits. The balast brands are: Cool touch and Sunlight supply. I'm leaning sunlight supply, because I've heard of it. But I dono. Cool touch says it is electromagnetic? What is that. Is that electronic or magnetic? God I wish they would make it more clear for people like me, just starting with mh's! I cannot afford icecap or hamilton. And I saw t-5 but I dono what that is? Now you said 8+ inches from the water you wanna keep the bulbs, but my hood will make it 4-5 inches so I'd have to get a new hood right, or modify my hood? What do people do there? Does everyone just make thier hoods? And also I was thinkin about drilling holes in the side each side of the hood and putting 3 inch fans on each side, one blowing in one blowing out, will this work? Or will I ever need a chiller with mh's? One last one: What's the best brand for bulbs? I've heard of them all by now. Ventura is cheaper than Radium, but is ushino better or Iwisaki? Thanks, Alison

Oh, one more sorry: If I went the pc route, and put 2- 96 watt pc's in the back of the hood, thier only 36 inches long, so that would be too short, and thier too long to do side by side, so would it be ok to not have them cover the whole length of the hood, or would that make the tank look shady in the corners if I have the 2 - 55 watters accross the front? Thanks- Alison

 

[reefraff]

Sunlight Supply and PFO bith have good products. Electronic ballasts are quiter and perhaps a bit more energy stingy but watts is watts. If you add 350 watts of metal halide replacing 220 watts of PC expct your power bill to increase a tad.
I don't remember which bulb it was (Iakawi perhaps) that actually performs betterwith a magnetic ballast than electronic but your tank is not all that deep so a decent 175 x 2 system will do what you need and then some.
You might be able to rewire your PC so you have one 55 watter on each end. you could use it for actinic lamps if you get the halides.

 

[alison]

Thanks for your reply. I was just told that I shouldn't do mh's because I don't have an airconditioned house or a chiller. But couldn't I just cut back the light time in the summer, and make them come on early in the morning, and go off around noon or whatever to make it work? He said I would have to do a pendant or a hanging unit. I couldn't use it under my canopy even if I remade my canopy to make my lights 12 inches from the water. Is this true? If so then I researched VHO's and they said thier not as powerful as pc's watt for watt, and not as bright, so maybe for now I'll just go to a higher pc lighting? Thanks in advance, ali:notsure:

 

[reefraff]

Look into T5 fluorescents if you can't make halides work. They are the most powerful fluorescents and run cooler as well. If you gowith them make sure you get the units with individual reflectors for the lamps. There are some people on E bay selling some junk units without good reflectors which is what make T5's so good.

 

[starfishjackedme]

oh, yeah I just realized where you are. It's crazy that houses and apartments do not come standard with AC and it gets into the 90's during the summer. I guess you open the windows in the afternoon/evening. The house probably gets into the 80's by noon? Then it cools off around 7 or 8 at night? It would probably not work to run the MHs without a chiller. VHOs would be fine if you have a fan in the hood. I know some peeps up in Portland that do that and don't run above 84 degrees in the tank (55gal). Although, to some that is rather warm.

 

[alison]

Ya it got up to around 86-88 in the house one day during a rare heat wave, but the tank didn't get up past 84, and I didn't have fans. pc's are hotter than vho's so I might just go ahead and try mh's. Worse comes to worse, and I have to do away with the mh's during summer, or get a ac window unit or something. Hey that'd be a great excuse for a nice ac window unit. the tanks right next to a window, that doesn't get light, so that'd be where I'd put it anyways, and that'd be cheaper than a chiller too. I hadn't thought of that. DUHH. Thanks, ali

 

[thegrog]

Sounds like you are learning a lot.
With making a new hood, still keep the bulbs like 8-9" away from the water. More than that you will loose performance.
Two 3" fans will work good being that your tank is 36" long. If you are worried about heat, you could go with two 150watt HQI bulbs. They will put out a lot of light, run cooler, and use less energy. You could also go with HQI pendants. If you go with 20,000K bulbs, you wont even need to worry about actinics.
As far as the heat goes, a window ac in that room will work fine. That is what I have. When it does get hot, I simply have a small clip on fan near the top of the tank blowing across the water surface and that keeps it at 78 deg. With MH pendants, you keep the top open anyway. With the hood, you want to be sure the fans are blowing lots of air. I would even think of putting them both blowing in from each end and having a few small holes in the top and a large opening in the back for hot air to excape.
Good luck and if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask! Email me if you want more direct questions. thejediray@aol.com

 

[starfishjackedme]

You could have an ac unit in the room where the tank is and get it for $100 at wal-mart, a small basic ac unit. That would suffice i would think. My friends up there were so excited when they got central ac, so ifeel your pain. :yes: