should i buy these mh lights??

norcal

norcal

Member
i have an opportunity to buy the following setup for 150 bucks + 30 dollars shipping.....someone please let me know if this is as good of a deal as i think it is.
- 400w HQI Single PFO Ballast
- PFO parallel reflector and mogul base
- 1 x 10K Coralvue bulb (1 month old) and 1 x Radium (3 months
old)
- The ballast and reflector are in perfect working condition (4
months old)
i really want to put this fixture on my 55 gal fish only and convert it to reef. this lighting plus my coralife 48" dual strip (160W) would allow me to have just about any corals if im not mistaken (im still not totally sure about lighting). please someone give me an opinion asap. thanks a lot
 
vlondi

vlondi

Member
I can't figure it out from what you posted, but does that deal include 2 different MH bulbs and ballasts? I assume that you have a standard 55g (48 inches long); if that is the case then just 1 MH fixture will not be enough to light your tank. That is unless you like the half-lit look.
If it comes with 2 different MH fixtures then I would definately go for it. If it comes with only one then I'd look and see if you can get another for cheap as well. Sometimes buying 2 at once is cheaper than 2 one at a time.
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
Originally Posted by Vlondi
I can't figure it out from what you posted, but does that deal include 2 different MH bulbs and ballasts? I assume that you have a standard 55g (48 inches long); if that is the case then just 1 MH fixture will not be enough to light your tank. That is unless you like the half-lit look.
If it comes with 2 different MH fixtures then I would definately go for it. If it comes with only one then I'd look and see if you can get another for cheap as well. Sometimes buying 2 at once is cheaper than 2 one at a time.

??? One in the center is plenty. That gives a little over 10 watts per gallon. Should be able to keep all SPS with that!!
 
norcal

norcal

Member
yeah its one that would be in the center and its 400 watts! thats a huge amount of lighting for a 55....possibly overkill. it comes with 2 seperate halide bulbs (so basically an extra bulb is thrown in.) i looked up the value online and i think its a very very good deal. the last problem is i dont have a way to mount it. im not a fan of hanging lights and i dont have a hood. im not sure it would fit into a hood along with my coralife 48" fixture either. i guess i could make a custom one...but thats a lot of work, and money....that i dont really have h* . plus it needs to be cooled. any better ideas on how to mount this?
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
Can you attach a piece of plastic from the back of the 48" unit just big enough for the reflector? It would look cheesy from the sides but from the front you wouldn't be able to see it. Just a thought.
 
vlondi

vlondi

Member
I suppose that I may not be completely correct but I believe that MH bulbs only give off "good" light for a 24 inch span. While that one bulb will be very bright anything more than 12 inches away from the bulb won't get much of its output.
If you put just one MH bulb in the center of a 48" tank then the 12" on both ends of the tank will be darker than the center. I use dual 250w MHs on my 55g and when one bulb fires before the other its end of the tank is very noticeably brighter than the other side. Some light reaches, yes, but it doesn't look like it would be enough for anything.
My thoughts, anyway.
 
norcal

norcal

Member
thanks vlondie i will look into that. makes a bit more sense now that you break it down. airforce that sounds like a great idea. i mean yeah it might look bad, but im more concerned about how the inside of my tank looks
 
wwfstyle

wwfstyle

Member
I would still pick that set up and store it till you figure something out. Yeah it will cost money to make a new lid or what ever but think about all the money you are saving yourself by buying this set up now verses down the road and having to buy a new set up which can easily run you over 2x as much as that used set up.
 
norcal

norcal

Member
ok so what if i just put the halide right in the center and put any like sps or anemones or the things i have that need lots of light in the middle section of the tank? and put the other stuff around the edges. i still have 260 watts of pc so i mean the ones on the edge would still have some decent lighting. do you think that could work mudplayer?? i agree wwf its quite a hard deal to pass on....i mean i dont have tons of money to throw around right now so its a tough decision!
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
You could always put the high light corals directly under the lamp, and place lesser lighting corals like shrroms off to the sides.
 
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