Lower wattage bulb with a higher wattage ballast
- Thread starter Epos
- Start date
KidJ57
Struggling Reef Addict
250 Watt bulb + 400 Watt ballast = :shocking:
It's not like a normal table lamp where you can just swap out a 100W to a 65W for a dimmer look; Metal Hallide bulbs have a chemical composition that is design to operate at a specific power input. By putting a lower wattage bulb into a higher wattage socket could potentially caust the bulb to burst and cause a fire....no fun :shock:
As for the proper Kelvin Rated Bulb to use for your tank...I don't know the first thing about how to calculate that stuff, but I am pretty sure that if your bulb is too strong you can merely hang it a little higher off the water to prevent it from bleaching your coral.
It's not like a normal table lamp where you can just swap out a 100W to a 65W for a dimmer look; Metal Hallide bulbs have a chemical composition that is design to operate at a specific power input. By putting a lower wattage bulb into a higher wattage socket could potentially caust the bulb to burst and cause a fire....no fun :shock:
As for the proper Kelvin Rated Bulb to use for your tank...I don't know the first thing about how to calculate that stuff, but I am pretty sure that if your bulb is too strong you can merely hang it a little higher off the water to prevent it from bleaching your coral.
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
You can not mix wattages on MH bulbs/ballasts. The bulb and ballast must be the same wattage.
400w is overkill to the max for a 26g tank, regardless of the K temp of the bulb. It will generate way too much heat, use too much electricity and be too intense for a shallow tank like a 26g. If you want to use a MH, get a 150w pendant. The cost of the pendant will be recouped by the savings in electricity over using a 400w bulb.
400w is overkill to the max for a 26g tank, regardless of the K temp of the bulb. It will generate way too much heat, use too much electricity and be too intense for a shallow tank like a 26g. If you want to use a MH, get a 150w pendant. The cost of the pendant will be recouped by the savings in electricity over using a 400w bulb.
dcantucson
Reef pro
+1 Kid & capt
Don't burn your house down!
Don't burn your house down!
KidJ57
Struggling Reef Addict
Good idea; then you could always keep this set-up as a coral only tank and use the 400W on the new/bigger tank
