Need MH Owners Thoughts

[ags]

I am setting up a tank for a friend and found a dual 175 watt MH with two 48 inch VHO's system used for $250. It is a Hamilton ballast and the ballast is fricking enormous. The only downside I see so far is that the bulbs need replacing but that is where I need ya'lls help. I bought it on condition that if it did not work out I could return it. The store had not run it for over a year. The system has its own hood with glass cover. The tank is a 125 and is used as a wall of sorts in my friend's living room. Will he need a chiller and will this produce too much heat for a living room? When I got it back to my friend's house the vho's kicked on but the MH did not. I am assuming the bulbs are shot. I was hoping that they would at least fire up so that we could get a feel for how hot they run. Now I have to decide whether to return it, buy new bulbs or try to resell it for a profit. What do ya'll think? Thanks, Ags

 

[jacksonpt]

If you hook up a few decent cooling fans to pull some of the MH heat away from the tank, you won't need a chiller. That assumes that your friend doesn't keep his living room 85+ degrees. I used to run two 250w MH over my 44g tank and I never needed a chiller.

 

[ags]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that on either end of the hood there are 6 inch cooling fans. The guy I bought it from said I would not have a problem but he also ran it inside his store. Do you know anything about Hamilton products? I have heard the name but since I run VHO I know nothing about MH ballasts. The ballast itself is HUGE. Bigger than a VCR. Is that normal or does that mean it is magnetic and not electronic? Thanks, Ags

 

[jacksonpt]

I don't know anything about them. I bought my setup used... not even sure what brand my balasts are... but they sure as heck ain't that big. Mine are probably 5" wide x 5" tall x 2.5" deep.

 

[ags]

^

 

[mal]

Here is their web site. You can e-mail them or call the toll free number on the site.
http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/

 

[jim672]

Ags,
I have the next smaller size Hamilton hood on my 45.....it's 36" long with one 175W MH and two 95W actinics. I have the full hood with 2 4" fans. My tank is in my family room which is probably the coolest room in the house. In summer I keep the central air at about 72 degrees. There were a few days where the tank temp got to 82. I have bought another small fan which I'm going to connect to the outside of the hood to blow across the water surface .
My ballast is like the one you described. It's very large and very heavy. It fills half of the cabinet under the tank. It also gets very hot when the halide is on but is far enough away from the tank to not effect the temp.
My hood was about $500. Getting the bigger one you got with 2 MH's for $250 sounds like a really good deal to me!!
BTW, I've had mine about 4 months. The tank looks great and my corals love the light!
Jim

 

[coral boy]

Ags
I have the same hood with the hamilton ballest except mine has 4-175 watt MH and 4-165 watt vho and it is over a 125 gal tank i have no problem with the heat as long as the fans are on. make sure one fan is blowing air in the hood and the other is sucking air out of the hood. Also make sure the hood is at least 12" above the tank. AS far as the ballest yes they are magnetic this is an old system but works good i have had good luck with mine and corals are doing geat. not sure if 48" is going to be long enough it might be a little dark on the ends.

 

[ags]

yeah I knew the 48 incher would be short but everytime I walked in this particular LFS I saw this MH/VHO setup and it was never on. One day I asked why and they said they just don't use it anymore. That is when the wheels started turning in my head. Anyway, the 125 has about 180 watts of NO light right now and I figured I would just supplement the outsides with that for the time being. Is it possible to replace the two VHO's with 72 inch lamps? I don't want to start messing with the hood but that was an area of concern. Thanks.

 

[ags]

Coral Boy & Jim672
Coral Boy you said to keep it 12 inches above the tank which makes since to me but what if I only have about 6-7 inches? The hood has the plexiglass cover/splash guard to protect the lights but the one thing my friend does not want to do is hang the light from the ceiling. Could I pull off 6-7 inches safely or does the hood get that hot? Also the hood will be sitting on top of a store bought hood with the top modified. I warned my friend of the heat and said we might have to modify his hood to run it safely. The hood is huge and as such has support bars splitting the hood width wise into quarters. Perfect to sit the hood on top of if the heat is not an issue. I am seriously concerned about the heat but my friend is not (because LFS told him it would be ok). Thanks.

 

[jim672]

Ags,
I also have the glass covering the hood. I haven't had any problem with moisture getting near the lamps. I do get a little salt creep from the occasional splash but I just wipe it with a damp paper towel. Enough housekeeping....
I have the hood sitting on top of a 2" x 4" frame that I built to keep the hood above the water. With that, the water being about an inch from the tank top and the bulbs being an inch or two from the glass cover, I'd say I have about 6" to 7" between the bulbs and the water. With that spacing, I have little, if any, water temperature issues.....as I explained in my prior post.
Only my opinion, but I'd think keeping the lights 12" above the water would be pretty safe to avoid serious temp problems. (your friends house does have A/C, right? )
Jim

 

[kennynj]

WHY DON'T YOU EXPLAIN THIS PROBLEM TO THE LFS
YOU BROUGHT IT FROM. MAYBE THEY'LL LET YOU
TEST THE BALAST WITH A NEW MH.
IF NOT BUY A CORRECT WATTAGE MH BULB FROM
HOME DEPOT THEN RETURN THE BULB AND GO OUT
AND BUY THE CORRECT TEMP. BULB FOR YOUR NEEDS.
10000K IS NICE

 

[coral boy]

Ags
6-7 " might work but you should start out as high as you can and work your way down to 6-7" MH is a lot more powerfull then NO lighting and you could damage your corals if you can't start out high enough put some egg creates on top of your tank to sheild it.
if your water gets to hot you can always get some small fans and point them to the top of the water

 

[jim672]

coral boy,
I read this as starting up a new system. If Ags' friend already has coral in his tank, I agree with you. There needs to be an acclimation period.
When I upgraded my lights, I reduced my lighting period to 3 hours with the MH and VHO's. I increased the light period and hour or so every three or four days until I was back at 9 hours for the MH and and 11 for the VHO's.
I didn't think about your way......raising the lights then lowering them slowly. That should work just as well, I'd guess.
Jim

 

[ags]

Kennynj, just yesterday I told my friend to go to home depot and buy a MH bulb and then return it. Good idea, great minds think alike. The LFS I bought it from has no need to for lights now so they don't have any bulbs on hand. Prior to messing around with the hood I did not know whether it was the bulbs or ballast sinse the VHO's kicked on and the MH did not. Right now I don't think it is the bulbs because the fans would not turn on either. I have spoken with the LFS and I am bringing it back to him to see what he can do.
Jim672, yeah my buddy's has AC and his house never is hotter than 75 and his house is very shaded so I don't anticipate any problems with non-tank related heat issues.
CoralBoy, my friend's tank does not have any corals yet so acclimating them to the new light is not an issue but thanks for the advice. From hood to water level he has appx. 7 inches of space. With the way he runs his AC and the space in his hood I think installing more cooling vans is the right way to go.
Thanks for all ya'lls help. Anything else you might think of please let me know. Ags