Metal Halide Purchase.. wise?

[damselsrck]

Hello. I am looking at a Metal Halide lighting fixture. It comes with a 250 watt hqi metal halide bulb and 2 x 96 watt power compact bulbs. My tank is a forty six gallon bow, roughly 24 inches high. Would this suffice? It comes with moonlights also. This unit would supply 9.6 watts per gallon. Also, the retailer is giving me the option of 10k, 15k, or 20k. From what I have seen, I prefer the 10k. However, is this not a beneficial to coral? Finally, the unit is selling for $399.99 without shipping.. is this worth it?

 

[fedukeford]

IMO thats too much light for a 46 gallon, if you get it you will most likly need a good chiller, try and see if you can find one with 150, or 175 watt halides

 

[damselsrck]

Ok, I found another one.. alot cheaper too...
253 WATTS (5.5 watts per gallon)
THE CLOSEST LIGHT out there to natural sunlight
UNITS INCLUDE FREE:
1 X 175 WATT METAL HQI HALIDE HQI 20,000K BULB
2 X 39WATT T5 10000k BULBS
1-Ceiling hanging kit
1-non corrosive powder coated aluminum housing
1-tempered glass splash guard to block uv rays
2 intense clusters of LED Moonlights Included!
I'm sure some of that stuff might be exageration, but when it comes to the actual numbers, how does this look? Also.. it says it includes hanging kit... I would prefer legs on it. But.. that's beside the point. Which is better? Legs or a hanging kit? I would definitely prefer the legs, becuase they are easier, but just knowing this hobby, I doubted the easier choice was better.

 

[teen]

i think the first one is fine, not too much imo, youll be able to keep anything you want without question. ive got 250 watts mh over a 30 gallon, so it should be fine imo over a 46 gallon.

 

[salty cheese]

Neither of those setups will work because they will melt your center brace. :scared:

 

[damselsrck]

Ahh.. thank you so much! That's the kind of stuff I need, the obvious. But.. what light should I use that won't melt it?

 

[squishy]

have 2 250watt HQI over my tank and have a plastic brace. Never melted it . Lights are 8 inchs above the tank. Would defently go for the 250 you will be able to have anything in your tank that loves light.

PS contact the company that is shipping the light and ask them if they guarantee the bulb works upon reciveing the unit. The HQI bulbs do not like to be shaken.

 

[salty cheese]

The problem with one lamp setups like the ones you listed is the halide lamp is in the center of the light fixture and thus is directly over the center brace of your tank.
If you want to use halides, you will have to use 2 pendants to avoid melting the center brace.

 

[zanski]

Originally Posted by damselsrck
Hello. I am looking at a Metal Halide lighting fixture. It comes with a 250 watt hqi metal halide bulb and 2 x 96 watt power compact bulbs. My tank is a forty six gallon bow, roughly 24 inches high. Would this suffice? It comes with moonlights also. This unit would supply 9.6 watts per gallon. Also, the retailer is giving me the option of 10k, 15k, or 20k. From what I have seen, I prefer the 10k. However, is this not a beneficial to coral? Finally, the unit is selling for $399.99 without shipping.. is this worth it?
UHHHHH yeah you will definately get some growth with that lol

 

[king4345]

I have a 180 and I know it's a bit larger but, I have 1000 watts of MH and it has a plastic brace.... I have never had it melt and the lights ar about 8 inches off the top.

 

[ibew]

the only way you will melt that center brace is if the bulb is real close to or on top of it if your fixture has legs you will be fine that is a bunch of BS (melt the center brace) before making statements of that igorance make sure you test it yourself or futher more have knowledge in wattage verse distance of light bulb to hard plastic material if you have had any experience at all in the electrical industry you will not make that statement.

 

[hatessushi]

Ibew wrote;
the only way you will melt that center brace is if the bulb is real close to or on top of it if your fixture has legs you will be fine that is a bunch of BS (melt the center brace) before making statements of that igorance make sure you test it yourself or futher more have knowledge in wattage verse distance of light bulb to hard plastic material if you have had any experience at all in the electrical industry you will not make that statement.

Not much for grammar are you Ibew, however you are correct once I followed what you were saying.

I have and acrylic tank with halides right over the tank on both sides and it gets pretty close to the surface. The lights are about 6 inches up and the surface barely gets warm. i never had a doubt.

 

[oceanblue1]

Originally Posted by damselsrck
Hello. I am looking at a Metal Halide lighting fixture. It comes with a 250 watt hqi metal halide bulb and 2 x 96 watt power compact bulbs. My tank is a forty six gallon bow, roughly 24 inches high. Would this suffice? It comes with moonlights also. This unit would supply 9.6 watts per gallon. Also, the retailer is giving me the option of 10k, 15k, or 20k. From what I have seen, I prefer the 10k. However, is this not a beneficial to coral? Finally, the unit is selling for $399.99 without shipping.. is this worth it?

:happyfish Hi Your in luck I have a 46gal. tank Ive had it for about 5 years Ive put a lot of types of lighting on my 46gal. right now I have a 150watt HQI Metal Halide, and 4, 65watt blue, purple actinics power compacts and 4, night LED's Ive bin useing them on my 46 gal. BowFront for allmost 2 years now with NO MELTING problems ever the lights came with 2 hanging metal cabels I did not use them I use the 3inch legs that allso came with the lighting that was really designed for a 29gal. rec. shaped tank if you put the legs in the right possison it works out real well by slideing the legs inward a little and resting the legs on the very top of the rim of the tank this also giveing a little more spaceing from the water My tank has the center braceing it has never melted at all my lights do have 2 COOLING FANS built in to cool the lighting and by useing the 3inch legs the lighting stands about 4 inch's off of the water and 2,1/4 inch off of the plastic this provides plenty of space for air to displace most of the heat produced by the lighting!!! My Metal Halide light bulb placement is centered in my light fixture it still does not melt...
As far as lighting I would most defanitly recomend 150 watt Metal Halide or more on a 46 gal. BowFront tank you mite as well look at it as 50gal.when it comes to lighting better more than not a nuff the SUN is not exactly dim if you no what I meen. Blue, Purple Actinic are just as important as 10,000K to 20,000K Metal Halide lightng the Blue, Purple Actinic lighting if what promotes photosinthasis reproduceing for most Corl and allso important for

live PHOTOPLANKTON and a lot of other microscopic org's to exsist in the tank!!!
The MOON lighting will help your fish to rest EZ at night with less chance of surprises like driffting over to a power head and geting stuck on it or being chased by other tank mates MOON lighting helps with reproduction of inverts, fish, so on Ive loved myn ever since Ive gotten them!!! :happyfish :happyfish :happyfish GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[damselsrck]

Ok, thank you for the long post! I'm so glad someone here has the same tank, so they have had experience.
Oceanblue, I understand you have been succesful regarding... umm, melting, but how are your corals doing? (not that I doubt you.. I just realized that that sounded negative) What corals do you keep?
Well, I have found yet another fixture.. I'm looking for one with the actnics, but in vain. This light is a Current USA Sunpod 36" 300w Halide & Lunar System. The thing that is better about this light is that it is a brand name. Comes with 6 White Lunar Lights, and 6 Blue Lunar Lights, 2 150w 14K Bulb, and fixture with separate wiring for main bulb and lunar lights. Out of the three fixture I have posted, is the first the best? (for my tank, this last fixture has 2 bulbs on either side, so it might avoid any damage (even if it doesn't melt) to the tank.

 

[ninjamini]

Well I don't know if thats the right amount of light but let me tell you that the MH fixture is the way to go. I have never seen my corals look so good and grow so much as they have in the last 6 weeks since I got my new light. WOW is my reaction. It even brought back a leather that was starting to die.
:cheer: :cheer: lets hear it for MH :cheer: :cheer:

 

[stanlalee]

I dont think that is excessive lighting. I'd go with the 250MH set up. the pc should be actinic and they arent going to burn anything. 250w MH is strong lighting but not OMG lighting on a 24" 46 gallon. I wouldn't buy a $399 fixture though. I'd either do a canopy and retro or dual 150w MH sunpod with lunar leds and screw the pc. both are cheaper and one is more versatile.

 

[teen]

Originally Posted by HatesSushi
I have and acrylic tank
speeking of grammar

if you use a single 250w bulb there will be an ugly shadow down the middle of the tank. i would look for 2x 175 mh, that should be plenty of light.

 

[damselsrck]

Mmmkay. I've been looking around and (luckily for me) I'm not on much of a budget, but that doesn't mean I will spend more money than I need to. Is 469 watts (including moonlights) overdose? It's a good light, with every feature you could ask for.. for a very pretty penny. I'm fine with paying that much, only if it's worth it. But, before I say the price, I want to know if 469 watts is an overkill?
2 x 150 HQI 10k Metal Halide, 4 x 39w Actinic T5s (2-420nm 2-460nm)
Lunars: 9 blue, 9 white
Soo..... wadaya y'all think?
:EDIT: (Oh, and the fact that there are two mh's totally eliminates that problem of too much heat on the plastic)

 

[cymbal67]

take a look at the coralife 1 x 150w MH HQI 10k, 2 x 65w actinics, and 2 led moon lights. it comes with either 150w or 250w MH HQI. i have a 30" deep 118g corner and i started with the 150w (retro kit, ballasts are external so i thought i could always change up to the 250w if wanted to), and i dont think i will bump up to the 250w. i have some acro and monopora up top that are doing well and also have a sun coral (lower light) doing well at the bottom of tank. with 250w it might have been tough on the sun coral. with it being HQI (double tipped) it has more par than a single tip 150w. an HQI 250w MH will be great for high light demands EVERYWHERE in the tank. i was wanting the 250w when i was getting mine, and was talked into trying the 150w first (and offered a serious discount on a 250w if i ever wanted to switch out). i will stick with my 150w and thats on 30 inch deep.

 

[damselsrck]

Ok, $200 cheaper is a light that (I think) will satisfy my needs:
Two 150 watt 20,000K double-ended HQI metal halide lamps
External HQI metal halide ballast with on/off switch, 12-foot lamp cord and 6-foot power cord
Sleek, anodized black-aluminum housing
Highly-polished reflector
Built-in cooling fan
Glass HQI lens cover
The Coralife Aqualight Advanced includes a 20,000K 2 double-ended HQI metal halide lamps and external HQI remote ballast with an on/off switch. The 20,000K double-ended HQI metal halide lamp emits the highest light-output-per-watt available. It casts full-spectrum, cool blue-white rays allowing light to penetrate deeper into the aquarium with a realistic blue-ocean glow. The refracted light from the HQI lamp produces shimmering, dappled-lighting effects that simulate properties of natural sunlight in ocean water. It brings out vibrant colors and provides perfectly-balanced lighting for all types of corals and marine life.
Ok, :hilarious: if you can pick all the hard facts out of that, would this be a good light? The only let down is that it has been used for 4 months.. there are pics, and it looks good, but I want to get in contact with the owner.. I really wanna know why he/she is selling it so quickly.