Your Metal Halide Questions Answered

[nick1912]

For a 10g a 150 would be overkill. On the other hand a 70watt has poor bulb choice.

[Pilg0re]

For a 10g a 150 would be overkill. On the other hand a 70watt has poor bulb choice.

 

That's also another the dilemma I'm having with choosing in between the two. But I guess with the 70w, would that be sufficient in keeping clams and sps wherever I want in my tank?

[Maddevil1]

So I'm in between 2 choices of lighting for my 10g. The fishneedit 70w or 150w in 20k. I'll eventually want clams and maybe a few sps. I have an ATO and cooling fans. I'd have to use the mounting legs and not be able to hang it from the ceiling. Which fixture would you go with?

 

Not sure if I can answer your question, but will tell you I am in the same situation. I have a BC14, with roughly 9 gallons of water. I have gathered that a 70MH might not be enough (to keep clams and SPS) and 150MH might be too much. I have decided to go with the 150W because there are better bulb selections for the 150 and I can raise it so it does not provide too much light and lessen the heat transfer (building my own stand so I dont have to hang it from the ceiling). And if I want to get a bigger tank later, I can use this light as well. Hope this helped!

[Pilg0re]

I'm going to go with the 150W and if it's too close to the water I'll figure a way to raise it up a bit. Thanks!

[nick1912]

You chose your best bet. I would get an ushio 20k. Try to keep your par down with such a shallow tank. Do not get a phoenix or radium. Get what will work for your tank. Ushio 20k in my experince will work best. The color was dim purple/blue.

[Rocket]

Could this be a practical application of the XM 15k? It has the lowest par rating of just about any 150w bulb.

[nick1912]

I guess it can.

 

What does the xm look like?

[reefer123]

can someone explain to me what aspects of a bulb having different ballasts will affect? does it really make a signifigant difference if i buy a mediocre ballast or a high performance one. i wont buy a crappy one. thanks, this is for a 70 watt halide

[Small Frag]

From what I've read there's very little difference between ok ballast and the best.... Although the amount of power the unit actually uses does have a little difference though IceCap did utilize the power better but only by a little. Get electronic over tar or f-can they have lots more heat compared to the electronic.

[redfishsc]

What 10K bulb would you guys recommend for a 250DE fixture? I have a Phoenix right now, but am thinking in a few months of changing the bulb (Phoenix is kinda old). I have a TON of blue supplementation from my LED's.

 

The reason I am considering a 10K is because I have a lot of SPS in the 25g this is over that I want to grow, and the colors seem a bit washed out with the Phoenix. I want something that provides more vibrant colors.

 

And unfortunately Radium doesn't make a 250DE

[redfishsc]

dah.... anyone????

[gregsreef28]

I have a 250w pendant fixture I am going to be hanging over my 24x24x18tall cube. 2 ?'s. How high to hang it and what bulb to go with. At first I will have no actinic supplementation, so will a phoenix 14k be good? Or what else would you all suggest? Don't want it TOO blue

[redfishsc]

If you're looking for a balance, the Phoenix is a good bulb and a GOOD PAR producer, not to mention a reasonable cost. Only available as a DE bulb so I assume that's what you're getting.

 

One most electronic ballasts, the 250 doesn't appear as blue on my system. However the bulb can look quite blue when it's brand new. It will take a few months for the color to shift to less blue, but mine is definitely NOT yellow.

 

With your tank I'd start with it about 10" over the tank. I've had mine as close as 6" but some of my LPS really didn't like it, was way too bright. SPS were good though.

 

My tank is 1/2 the size of yours (24X12X20) though. Your tank is actually more appropriately sized for this bulb. It's kinda overkill on my tank.

[gregsreef28]

If you're looking for a balance, the Phoenix is a good bulb and a GOOD PAR producer, not to mention a reasonable cost. Only available as a DE bulb so I assume that's what you're getting.

 

One most electronic ballasts, the 250 doesn't appear as blue on my system. However the bulb can look quite blue when it's brand new. It will take a few months for the color to shift to less blue, but mine is definitely NOT yellow.

 

With your tank I'd start with it about 10" over the tank. I've had mine as close as 6" but some of my LPS really didn't like it, was way too bright. SPS were good though.

 

My tank is 1/2 the size of yours (24X12X20) though. Your tank is actually more appropriately sized for this bulb. It's kinda overkill on my tank.

Big help. Thanks a lot!!

[tjbreezer]

i have a 56 gallon tank that i want to turn into a salt water it is a tall tank at 24 inchs high what would be the best Metal Halide set up for it. one 250 watt bulb or would there be a better way to go.

[Mr. Fosi]

What do you want to keep in it?

[tjbreezer]

well soft corals on the bottom acons as well zeos and acros pritty much alittle of everything..

[Mr. Fosi]

250W might do that for you if you have the acros up fairly high in the tank.

[Benaminh]

I have another thread going that's deteriorated into alternative LED options instead of answering my MH questions so I'm posting here. 150w HQI IceCap Elec Ballast, Hellolights Retro HQI pendant, & 20K DE Radium bulb... how high up do I have to hang it from a shallow 10" 6 gallon tank? Is a foot adequate? Heat issues are more of a concern than lost PAR since it's already overlit. I am keeping high light Acropora only. Also, can I use any cheapo timer or it must be the IceCap Timer? Thank you for your help.

[Mr. Fosi]

150w HQI IceCap Elec Ballast, Hellolights Retro HQI pendant, & 20K DE Radium bulb... how high up do I have to hang it from a shallow 10" 6 gallon tank? Is a foot adequate?

 

What is the temperature of the room the tank is in? My feeling is you might need a little more height.

 

Also, can I use any cheapo timer or it must be the IceCap Timer?

 

I can't think of why you would need a special timer.

[Benaminh]

What is the temperature of the room the tank is in? My feeling is you might need a little more height.

 

I can't think of why you would need a special timer.

 

With the lights off and all equipment running the tank water is a solid 75F most of the year. Heat gets hairy for two weeks in spring and two weeks of Indian summer in autumn when im forced to do a reverse photoperiod with multiple house fans running. I asked about the timer b/c I wasn't sure if MH ballasts needed special start/stop settings. Glad to hear they don't

[Mr. Fosi]

I say go for 1' to start with and if you can't keep it under 84F, bump it up higher.

 

I used a cheapie timer for my 150W Sunpod for just short of 2 years and had no issues.

[Benaminh]

I say go for 1' to start with and if you can't keep it under 84F, bump it up higher.

 

I used a cheapie timer for my 150W Sunpod for just short of 2 years and had no issues.

 

Sounds great thank you so much for the info.

Edited June 29, 2010 by Benaminh

[Benaminh]

BTW, what's the life expectancy of an icecap hqi e-ballast?

[aquariumdude]

I recently setup my 29 BioCube. I want to have all SPS and clams in the tank. I'm torn between a 150w or 250w. I want to run a 14K phoenix bulb. Seems like everybody is really happy with that bulb. Back about 9-10 years ago I used to run 400w 20K XM bulbs and really loved the color and response I got from SPS.

 

What watt HQI would you suggest for a 29 Biocube?