thinking about upgrading to MH's
- Thread starter alyssia
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hot883
Active Member
Originally Posted by alyssia
Can someone point me in the direction of some decent MH's that are on the cheaper side? I'm clueless. I'm looking for something that can set on the top of the tank (like my PC's).
There are plenty out there, thats for sure. I personally look for warranty on the fixture, warranty on the ballast. Adding pc's or vho along with the mh will give a wonderful mix. What size of tank? Depth has alot to do with the power ie. 150, 175, 250, 400. I was told that 250watts with a 14,000 bulb was the best. There are alot of opinions. The famous auction site has a ton.
Can someone point me in the direction of some decent MH's that are on the cheaper side? I'm clueless. I'm looking for something that can set on the top of the tank (like my PC's).
There are plenty out there, thats for sure. I personally look for warranty on the fixture, warranty on the ballast. Adding pc's or vho along with the mh will give a wonderful mix. What size of tank? Depth has alot to do with the power ie. 150, 175, 250, 400. I was told that 250watts with a 14,000 bulb was the best. There are alot of opinions. The famous auction site has a ton.
hot883
Active Member
Originally Posted by alyssia
Okay, I just reread your post. What's a ballast?
A ballast powers the light. read my thread:https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/217324/go-with-magnetic-or-electronic-ballast
Okay, I just reread your post. What's a ballast?
A ballast powers the light. read my thread:https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/217324/go-with-magnetic-or-electronic-ballast
thangbom
Active Member
Originally Posted by alyssia
My tank is 75 gallons. I was hoping to move the PC's to my 55 though. Are MH's pretty good on their own?
that depends on what you you like, i have personally seen a 15k and a 20 k MH on a 90 gal and it's nice. it have a nice blue tint to it. colors glow some just as it would with accetenics buut not as vibrant.
My tank is 75 gallons. I was hoping to move the PC's to my 55 though. Are MH's pretty good on their own?
that depends on what you you like, i have personally seen a 15k and a 20 k MH on a 90 gal and it's nice. it have a nice blue tint to it. colors glow some just as it would with accetenics buut not as vibrant.
gtiguy
Member
depends on what you are going for imo, if you wanna do hard corals and clams than MH is the way to go, if you wanna just do softies (leathers, mushrooms etc, some LPS's) than you can do any PC setup as long as you have about 220+ watts...
I am running 250+ watts running with PC's and have a tank full of softies, and LPS"s thriving!!! Only difference i believe is that under MH you get more growth in your corals faster...but on the flip side the heat generated by them is alot worse esp if you are not running a chiller....a fan just wont do with MH's.....
Why dont you do what i did, i have a complete jebo fixture and i had a friend from a local contruction union retrofit the whole thing for me into a canopy, with add on moonlights and all, the cool thing is i kept the ballasts from the pc unit in the original now 75% smaller housing hidden beneight my tank....
I am running 250+ watts running with PC's and have a tank full of softies, and LPS"s thriving!!! Only difference i believe is that under MH you get more growth in your corals faster...but on the flip side the heat generated by them is alot worse esp if you are not running a chiller....a fan just wont do with MH's.....
Why dont you do what i did, i have a complete jebo fixture and i had a friend from a local contruction union retrofit the whole thing for me into a canopy, with add on moonlights and all, the cool thing is i kept the ballasts from the pc unit in the original now 75% smaller housing hidden beneight my tank....
alyssia
Active Member
Originally Posted by hot883
A ballast powers the light. read my thread:https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/217324/go-with-magnetic-or-electronic-ballast
So, is the ballast what you screw the lightbulb into?
A ballast powers the light. read my thread:https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/217324/go-with-magnetic-or-electronic-ballast
So, is the ballast what you screw the lightbulb into?
zman1
Active Member
The ballast powers the bulb. The bulb is screwed or plugged in to a lamp socket (depending on type).
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words AntonymsNoun 1. light ballast - an electrical device for starting and regulating fluorescent and discharge lamps
ballast
electrical device - a device that produces or is powered by electricity
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words AntonymsNoun 1. light ballast - an electrical device for starting and regulating fluorescent and discharge lamps
ballast
electrical device - a device that produces or is powered by electricity
mikeyjer
Active Member
The only thing that would help with the price is retrofit kits, but then you have to get some type of hosing for it so it just adds up. It all depends on how you want it to look. You can go to cooltouch and purchase one of their canopy kits. I've got one and it works great. You really need to do some research on each type of ballast....I'm running 2-175w SE MH 14k with Electronic Ballast and 2-110w VHO Actinics with built in ballast, canopy from cooltouch on my 55 reef. I'm gonna be running retros for my 90g bowfront, just need to install them. Gonna be running 2-250w SE MH with XM-20k bulbs with no supplement lighting as it is not needed. :happyfish
zman1
Active Member
Mikeyjer,
I am real curious to know once you get the 20K going without the Actinics, if you still get the glow view or colors from the coral. I am running MH 250W 10000k HQIs with VHO Actinics and the colors glow as you know with your current setup. I want to change the MH K next time around. However, I am not convinced you get the same glow with 20K MH alone. I'd like to use the VHOs else where. Please let us know your impression since you will have both configurations.
alyssia, sorry
Didn't mean to hijack your thread.
I am real curious to know once you get the 20K going without the Actinics, if you still get the glow view or colors from the coral. I am running MH 250W 10000k HQIs with VHO Actinics and the colors glow as you know with your current setup. I want to change the MH K next time around. However, I am not convinced you get the same glow with 20K MH alone. I'd like to use the VHOs else where. Please let us know your impression since you will have both configurations.
alyssia, sorry
Didn't mean to hijack your thread.
mikeyjer
Active Member
Originally Posted by zman1
Mikeyjer,
I am real curious to know once you get the 20K going without the Actinics, if you still get the glow view or colors from the coral. I am running MH 250W 10000k HQIs with VHO Actinics and the colors glow as you know with your current setup. I want to change the MH K next time around. However, I am not convinced you get the same glow with 20K MH alone. I'd like to use the VHOs else where. Please let us know your impression since you will have both configurations.
alyssia, sorry
Didn't mean to hijack your thread.
I will post pictures once I get it up and going. I was at a local reefer's house when he hosted a reef club meeting a couple of months ago. He was running XM-20k's without any supplement lighting. His tank's coloring looks great!!! It was because of that, it helped me make my choice of lighting for the new tank. He's been running it for quite sometime and his corals look great!! :happyfish
Mikeyjer,
I am real curious to know once you get the 20K going without the Actinics, if you still get the glow view or colors from the coral. I am running MH 250W 10000k HQIs with VHO Actinics and the colors glow as you know with your current setup. I want to change the MH K next time around. However, I am not convinced you get the same glow with 20K MH alone. I'd like to use the VHOs else where. Please let us know your impression since you will have both configurations.
alyssia, sorry
Didn't mean to hijack your thread.
I will post pictures once I get it up and going. I was at a local reefer's house when he hosted a reef club meeting a couple of months ago. He was running XM-20k's without any supplement lighting. His tank's coloring looks great!!! It was because of that, it helped me make my choice of lighting for the new tank. He's been running it for quite sometime and his corals look great!! :happyfish