stupid lighting question

[drewster]

Ok, i've been reading a lot of notes and people are always talking about the wattage of their lights. I bought this setup from a guy and i have no clue what kind of wattage i'm dealing with here. I have two 48 inch fixtures, each with two bulbs over my tank. 3 bulbs are URI Actinic White's and the other bulb is a Super Actinic White. I don't see anything on the unit that would tell me anything about the wattage. Any ideas on what i have here?

 

[chuck]

Is your ballast seperate from the lights?
Or is each light in an enclosed covering?
And is the light emitting from the lights really bright, almost so that you need sunglasses to look at them?
On more bit of advice, go to the URI site and compare model numbers from the bulbs and you might find what you are looking for. http://mall15.register.com/salt01/uri_lamps.htm
[This message has been edited by chuck (edited 05-10-2000).]

 

[drewster]

hmm....i wish i knew what a ballast even was. The bulbs are basically right next to each other. They are not seperate from one another. I'll look at the site you gave me and try to determine what i've got. Thanks
[This message has been edited by Drewster (edited 05-10-2000).]

 

[drewster]

well, i went to that link you gave me and came up with two conclusions. I either have a 160W total system; 4 bulbs * 40W each bulb. Or i have a 440W system; 4 bulbs * 110W each. I can't match up any serial #'s or item #'s with the ones on the web site you gave me. I honestly don't think my system is the higher wattage one. If I do have the 160W system, is this pretty low for a 55G tank with some reef and fish?

 

[tattooedlife]

Yes, this is considered low lighting for a 55 gallon. But i,m running the same wattage on my 55 reef. My live rock and coral are doing great. Just make sure you stick with the corals that don,t require intense lighting. (Mushrooms, Button Polyps, Bubble coral, and maybe even colt and some leather corals.) Good Luck!!!

 

[drewster]

so what would i need to do to increase the lighting in my tank? Would i have to go with that whole IceCap thingy? I honestly don't have that much money to invest in a lighting system like that. Any other cheap ways?

 

[reptilicus]

Hi,
check out the following link: http://aquaticlight.com/mhretro.htm
This gives very resonable prices on MH lights which would enable you to keep almost any coral you wanted. For a standard 4' tank, 2x150 or 175-watt Metal Halides would be fine. I do know people who use up to 2x400-watt bulbs on a standard 4', but this is unnecessary. Beleive me, it is worth buying good bulbs now because if you stay in the hobby for any length of time you will eventually anyway. Keep your current fluorescent lights and put actinic tubes in them for added blue and a dawn/dusk effect. Beleive me, it looks so much better and dramatically increases your options in terms of livestock. Also, 3 Metal Halides give off a shimmering effect just like natural sunlight, the fish actually fluoresce.
Regards,
Tom

 

[lar]

Reptilias, the Unit you link to has no ground plug, Is that a problem, Do you have this ballast?

 

[reptilicus]

Hi,
to answer your question, I don't have this ballast as I live in Australia and our country isn't advanced enough to have anything decent in the way of aquarium lighting. Due to this fact, I was looking at US stuff and that page seemed very resonably priced. There is another excellent site at www.***********.com which actually seems even better, I read posts of people who have bought from here and have been very pleased.
Where I am, if I want anything over 250-watts or over I have to order in bulbs from the US or elsewhere...this country sucks when it comes to these sort of things....it gets very frustrating when you see everything available in the US and Europe.
I currently have 3x150-watt 10 000K Dalbarb MH's which are an Australian company. I am moving up to either 250 or 400-watt, not sure what's available yet.
Anyway, if your in a country with these sort of thigns available GO FOR IT!!!! and get the MH's straight away because your always going to do it eventually anyway.....like I am now

Regards,
Tom