metal halides?

dwinzent

Reefing newb
sorry about all the posts recently but those last lights i was going to buy sold quick! heres some more of them i was wondering if i got a 1000W one if it would fry my fish or somethig also if i get a 1000W one could i only have one for my 4ft tank i have heard you need one for every 2ft.

400w
400 watt metal halide, bulb + reflector & ballast
and 1000w
http://denver.craigslist.org/grd/1256271461.html

they are both the same guy so i figured i could look at both but i wanted to ask here first.
 
if you have a 55g, i wouldn't suggest anything more than 250W.

a 1000W MH is for extremely deep tank... we're talking like 3 or 4 feet DEEP.

you will need one MH for every 2 feet. that is how wide their spread is, any wider and you're going to get dark spots and all that.....
 
Not only will 1000 watts of MH boil that 120,you'll have to take out a second mortage,sale your first born,AND hit the lottery to pay the light bill.
250s would be perfect.So would a good set of T-5s.
 
so even 400 would be to much? i was thinking with how wide those are i would probably only use one and the t5s i have because those are 18 in wide and the built in overflow on my tank is about 6 in wide so the light would actually only need to shine 3ft plus because of the wierd dimentions of the actual tank it is not really 4ft it is 44in and the glass is over an inch thick.
 
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400 watts,will probably be alright.But your still going to need 2 of em.With just one,you'll end up with one side of tank looking totally different than the other.
 
alright thanks yote im thinking of mounting it two to three ft off of the water so i can still access the tank easily. plus if it comes to it my tank has a built in chiller.
 
400W you will be fine.... and honestly a 400W setup will only be a few bucks more than a 250W setup.

HOWEVER with energy costs how they are only going to get higher.... i would invest in a nice 250W setup.

spend a bit more money getting great reflectors such as lumenbright mini wides for that tank, and better bulbs. in the long run it will pay for itself in lower energy costs, and i guarantee you won't regret it.
 
Parking lot halides will work on a SW tank?
I've never heard of this before.
Aren't the wavelengths of the visible light wrong for reefs?
I thought the commercial halides are too yellow to do any real good in our tanks.

I'm a T5 or CF user....not into the halides....someone clear this up for us.

Thanks,
 
parking lot MH bulbs will not work, they're designed to light things up not make them grow and put out great colors.

plus they're not designed to be run horizontally like aquarium MH's. or so i've heard.

but whatever way.... it doesn't work. if it did... then aquarium brands such as XM and Radium wouldn't exist and we'd all be using parking lot lights.
 
Well, you could always change the bulbs to the proper wave lengths. A MH 400W ballast shouldnt have any problem running a 10,000K 400W bulb. As for opperating horizontally, parking lot lights are horizontal. Should work as long as you can find a bulb with the same base as the lamp holder in the light.

This is just my understanding of things. I do not have MH on my tank. I have t5's

Brian
 
thanks for the feedback on the lights guys it does make sense your theory on why nobody uses these and why the big companies can make money like that but the using the parkinglot balast with a aquarium light bulb. anyway I bought one of the 400 w ones so I will keep you updated on the lights I am not sure if the lights are yellow or white so I might post pics when I get it wired.
 
Good luck on making everything work!!!!
If it happens to not work for the aquarium, you will have one hell of a back porch light!!!
LOL!!!!!!!

that is awesome i already have a sodium light for my porchlight so it is already pretty serious.

anywho i have one more question about the light i got it and it worked for a little while and the guy said the bulb has already been run for a year so i think it is time for a new one. does it matter what shape it is? cause mine is like a regular straight tube with a bump in the middle but i found some bulbe on ebay that are 400w bulbs in 10kor14k but they are just straight tubes will they work? if so what colors are best the 10k or 14k i have heard that the 14k is for deeper water stuff.
 
nevermind i asked the guy at my lfs and he said it doesnt matter what shape so i figured i would post it incase anyone else was wondering.
 
i would think that so long as the fixture and the bulb match up wattage and shape wise, and will make connection, then it should work. but then again i've never messed with MH so i dunno....

so let me understand what you've done, you got a "parking lot fixture" and your gonna put a 10k or 14k bulb in it?

did i get that right, or did i miss sometihng?
 
yup im not really sure of the bulb thats in it but it is long overdue for a change anyway so i am going to buy probably actually a 14k or a 20k because i have heard that the bluer you get them the better not really sure on that though so if anyone could clarify? but i really think the reason no one uses parking lot fixtures is because some of them are loud (mines not but some are) also i already tested it on my tank and from about 2ft it will light my whole tank so i only need one (seems how they are meant to light a whole parking lot the reflector is really wide) but i am going to just hang it from the celing. i will post pics of it soon!
 
I would just make sure that the base of the bulb and the bulb socket match up. You shouldnt have a problem with the physical shape otherwise. Show us some pics of it we love pics on this site:mrgreen:
 
sorry guys im just emailing the guy i bought it from to see how i need to wire it because it got screwed up but anyway it seems to be a great find i will post pics as soon as i get it hanging above my tank bu i have compared the ends at my LFS and it does look promising!

(by the way how do you post pics?)
 
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