DIY 70watt or 150w MH HQI pendant Options

[reefriot]

well i thought i would post this as i had a few people email me asking how to do this. i first did this with a 150w HQI a year and half ago for an 18gal cube i had. the 70watt is easier as there is nothing to buy except your ballast and bulb.


i used a Regent brand 300w or 500w outdoor halogen security light for the pendant. the 70w HQI bulbs will fit right into the endcaps on these. the 150w bulbs will need new ones but they mount up to the existing holes in the pendant for easy mounting.
i called the manufacture of the pendant and the glass in them is tempered and UV so that problem is solved.
i used Regent model QF300 in bronze because it was a bit cooler looking in design and the arm was on the side instead of the top.(makes the light reach out farther over the tank if you have a HOB filter)

[reefriot]

there are many styles to choose from and they all run about 9.99 to 20.00 at my Home Depot or Lowes. heres a pic of it mounted over the tank. it has a screw on the arm that can be loosened to tilt it up and out of the way for maintance.
i didn't think to take pictures when i was wiring but its fairly simple. 2 wires to endcaps and 3 wires for power.

[reefriot]

what i did for cooling as this model wans't vented . i took the glass off. then removed a single screw for the reflector and drilled a bunch of tiny holes where the bulb is mounted in the reflector and in the housing. the next 2 pictures show what i'm talking about

[reefriot]

top of pendant

[reefriot]

heres the ballast that i bought from a guy off ebay. i think i have seen them for sale here as well.

[reefriot]

heres what it looks like lit up over the tank. i removed a 150w HQI PFO pendant i had over this tank because it was bleaching the coraline really bad. my corals loved the 150w so i hope they continue to do as good under a 70w. all told this project cost me 65.00 and about 30 min to retro and install. i like pendants because the solve the heat issue and allow easy access into an already tiny tank. after seeing so many people wanting to goto MH latley i hope this helps somone out.
any other questions let me know
aaron

[fuentes925]

Hi,
I am looking to do the same thing. What is the k rating of your 70 watt bulb? I can't seem to find a 10k 70watt halide bulb any where, where did you get your bulb?
Fuentes925

[reefriot]

heres the link
http://www.petsupplyliquidator.com/htm/rep...lhalide.htm#mh3

[SaltyDawg]

ah man they suck arse! PSL I mean! DO NOT BUY FROM THEM!!

[reefriot]

well dude i've been dealing with them since they opened a online store and have never had any problems with one exception. a bad workhorse ballast with bruce promptly replaced. sorry you had a bad experiance, but no need to slam a vendor and sponsor of this board. there is a feedback forum for that!

[reefriot]

hey salty dog. i just got done reading all the replies in the feedback forum and want to say that sucks about bruce leaving and there service going down hill. i guess i got lucky with my 70w HQI bulb cause it fired right up and has given me no problem.
as far as your question about there 175w bulbs for 39.00. you can use a regular m57 magnetic ballast for it. i wouldn't expect ushio quality though as all there CA bulbs are asian and arent the best quality but the price is cheap. cheack out http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/mercha...tegory_Code=MHB for cheap 175w bulbs. or these guys for a 20k bulb
http://www.lampsnow.com/175watt.html

[MattGecko]

What a great find. This is what I've been looking for, I think. Can you tell me the dimensions of the light are?
Thanks Matt

[reefriot]

the light is 7" long(left to right) X 9" wide(front to back) X 4" tall
with the arm and mounting bracket installed in reaches out 12" from the wall to the front of housing. just enough to get a HOB filter and still have the light clear the filter and be centered over a small tank. they have larger models if thats what you want, i just like the domed top with fins it looks very aerodynamic.

[blk_g20]

so i would need an additional ballast with the regent flood light? please correct me if i'm wrong as i am interested in building one of these in the future.

[reefriot]

yes you would. and make sure its an electronic model or capable of firing DE bulbs. right off hand i can't remember the ansi rating.

[LiQuiD]

Just finished my 70 watt hqi 10,000k Ushio/Regent Pendant for the 2.5 gallon. It is like these $9 regent pendants were made for this. Have the same ballast also. Took like a half hour to do everything. My model came vented so no whole drilling and the bulb is centered in the pendant. These are truely awsome.

[img]http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=134389[/img]

[img]http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=134390[/img]

[msb_1971]

LiQuiD


Several more questions for you. So In the picture, are you using the Ballast the came with the lamp? Also where did you buy the bulb?

Thanks

[LiQuiD]

No, I am using the same ballast that reefriot has (EM85-120-S01 by WPI Electronics). The regent pendant does not come with a ballast, just the bulb, endcaps, and wires to connect to a 120v line hardwired to your house (if to be used as an outside floodlamp). It comes with a 300 watt quartz bulb that is the same dimentions as a HQI 70 watt bulb (length that is) as well as uses the same endcaps so all you do is pop out the quartz bulb and insert the MH bulb. I mean the endcaps alone are at least $12 anywhere else and for 9 bucks you get the caps with a pendant and glass. So to answer the original question, you will need a ballast to put between the endcap wires and your electric.

As far as the bulb goes, I got mine from Crakeur since he had no use for his anymore (what a guy, big props to the Crak Man). I didn't want to try a Catalina bulb and have it crap out on me. The Ushio fired right up for the first 12 hour period on day one and has never had a problem starting to date. I believe they are around $50 for the bulb and are worth it in my opinion as I will be ordering the same when this one gets old.

[blk_g20]

this thread made me realize that MH is highly feasible. but my problem is that i bought a CL 2x65 when i set up my 20H couple months back. the CL light takes up over 1/2 the opening on top. any idea on how to add this pendant and keep the CL light?? any help is appreciated.

[LiQuiD]

Post a pic of the hood/lighting setup. Could you move the 65 toward the rear half and have sort of a "half hood" and use straight actinic bulbs for the PC's and either a 6500k or 10,000k MH toward the front. You could alway build a custom Pendant to hold all the bulbs.