MH with Center Brace

robn

robn

Member
I have a 125gal that I am setting up for saltwater (it was a freshwater tank)....I am going to build a canopy for it....the tank length is 72" and has the regular glass center brace....if I went with a 3 bulb MH retrofit, would the center brace interfere with the middle bulb? Do I need to get the 2 bulb instead? I will probably have a couple of VHO's on there as well.
I assume I would take my glass tops off? Would it be an OK idea to pull the tops out of their plastic "fold" and use one of the halves underneath the lights to keep any splash from hitting the halides, or would this be a bad idea. If I did that, the middle MH would be going thru 2 layers of glass.
Would 3 250W MH about 10"-12" off the surface create too much heat? I'll go 6 VHO's before I mess with a chiller.
Also, where would I find the best prices on lights?
Thanks!
 
harlequinnut

harlequinnut

Active Member
I see your point about the center brace and I don't know what to tell you. It would definately create a shadow in the middle, maybe if you install the middle mh a little off the center towards the left or right.:thinking: I don't have any thing between the lights and the water, just be reeaallyy careful and make sure the mh are high enough. The glass top would bring the temp in the tank way up. Not a good idea. Look on ---- for cheap MH lights.
 
robn

robn

Member
If I mount the lights about 10" off the water, maybe I can get by with 2 lights instead of 3.....
Here are the ones I'm debating:
MH-2X250W VHO-2X160W 820W/6.56 wpg
MH-2X400W VHO-2X160W 1120W/8.96 wpg
MH-2X250W PC-4X96W 884W/7.072 wpg
I'm wondering if the 400W would be too much heat?
 
harlequinnut

harlequinnut

Active Member
400 watt would be too much in my opinion since you do not have a deep tank. The 250 should serve you well. But if you are going with 2 mh only, then maybe you can get 2 400 watts and place them higher than norm. JMO
 
mobikobeyob

mobikobeyob

Member
My choice would be 2X250 MH @10k, and 4X65 PC Actinic 03.
That would put you at 6 WPG and give excellent color.
Go with the Ushios, they cant be beat. I can give you a link to the cheapest price on the net if you like. lemme know.
 
robn

robn

Member
So you'd prefer PC over VHO?
Do you think 6 WPG is enough though?
Yes, please send me the link....I tried to PM and email you but neither worked.....
Thanks!
 
saltwaterdave

saltwaterdave

Member
I have a center brace in my tank and it does cause a little bit of a shadow,but you get the "ripple" effect going on.Keep the center brace clean and it does'nt present to much of a problem.I would go with 3-250 mh's and use vho's.Pc's just don't last that long and the bulbs need to be changed about every 6 months whereas vho's last alot longer.The 400w MH's would cause you alot of heat issues. hellolights has some decent set-ups you just need to fill in the rest of the blanks like all the w's and the dot com .............if you get the hint:) Make sure you keep that center brace clean though and it won't cause you much problems.All this ofcourse is just my distorted opinion on the subject matter................LMAO:D
HTH
 
robn

robn

Member
Really my main concerns with using MH are the electric bill and the heat generation......I'm not gonna go with halides if I have to buy a chiller also....the MH "ripple effect" is not worth the extra price IMO. We keep our house at 70-74 year-round......if anyone could clue me in as to the heat and electric bill issue, it would be a great help.
 
saltwaterdave

saltwaterdave

Member

Originally posted by robn
Really my main concerns with using MH are the electric bill and the heat generation......I'm not gonna go with halides if I have to buy a chiller also....the MH "ripple effect" is not worth the extra price IMO. We keep our house at 70-74 year-round......if anyone could clue me in as to the heat and electric bill issue, it would be a great help.

The electric bill will increase at least 33% if not more,halides are'nt cheap but they are fun to fry some corals on,especially if you don't have almost a grand to sink into a chiller to cool down that water.Speaking of the electric bill that chiller don't run on air them babies suck up some current.Yep that"ripple effect" is not woth the extra price IMO either!!:rolleyes:
 
bellanavis

bellanavis

Active Member
I just received my 3 X 250 MH, plus 2 X 110 VHO lights.
My tank is also 72 inches long, with a center glass brace. I don't notice a shadow, and the ripple effect is awesome.
Sorry about the bad pic, but it is very bright, even with my black background.
I don't know about heat issues yet, I still have my glass lids on, time will tell.
I keep my house at 70 degrees F all year round.
 
bellanavis

bellanavis

Active Member
Well, I took the hinge part of the tops off, because with the legs of the light, I couldn't open the top. I still have the back part of the glass on, which actually acts like a splash guard for the lights (since they don't have any).
Anyway, 2 days now, I run the 750 watts of MH for 6 hours, and the 220 watts of VHO's for about 12 hours, including with the MH. My water temp hasn't risen at all.
Time will tell I guess...
BTW, I do notice a slight shadow if looking directly at the tank, from the glass center support. However, if looking from an angle, the shadow isn't noticable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top