DIY 70watt or 150w MH HQI pendant

[LiQuiD]

First off, merry Christmas, or should I be politically correct and say Happy Hollidays.

 

A classified link led me back to this thread. For those wanting an update, here it is, all is still working fine on my $20 plus bulb cost lighting systems.

 

yarguint: Never go with the watts per gallon thing. Imagine a tank that is 1" wide by 1" deep by say 36" tall, yes, a 70 watt bulb would be around 70 watts per gallon (assuming the tank is around a gallon). A single mushroom 3 feet down in this tank would end up dieing due to not enough light. Now imagine a tank 18" wide by 18" deep by 1" tall. The same 70 watt per gallon scenario would keep many shrooms, even 1" tall SPS happy, only being an inch from the light.

 

A 55 is basically the same length as a 90 or 120 gallon tank and just slightly shorther (top to bottom), just different in front to back length. You need to go with the spread of the light and how deep the tank is (top to bottom). I would go with (2) 150's over a 55 even for just shrooms.

 

I'm out.

[yarquint]

Thanks Liquid- the Watts/gal is akin to the inches of fish/gallon, i know its' bs, but a lot of people claim it as bible and I'd rather hear from someone like you that knows what they're doing rather than 50 who just spout out the lines...at the public aquarium i worked at, they'd just put as many lights as they could fit over the top of the 800gal, coral tank...hot and bright? you bet. thanks for the input- may just go fish only, depending on if i can find those ballasts-

[KrackerG]

I have 2 70w's over my 20g and since it's only 12" deep, I get tons of light at the bottom. 70w bulbs, I wouldnt go any deeper than 18"...maybe 20" at most. For your 55g, I would do at least 150w or maybe even 250w hqi...def not 70's.

 

BTW, I can get you an Aromat M7012CK-5euf ballasts for $75. Since your in DC too, I can bring it to ya...no prob! I'll PM you with details.

[jojabis]

Okay so I have my regent fixtures, the ballasts and bulbs are on thier way is there anything else I need? What about Power cords? I am thinking I need one for each ballast or can I get away with 2 ballasts on one?

 

tia,

mj

[jmt]

Newbie love.

 

150w MH Regent built pendant.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...ighlight=regent

[kbxiong67]

Wow...just bought a ballast for $34 bucks!!!!

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...bayphotohosting

 

Is that good?

[jmt]

Should work.

[ravenmore7]

thanks to vyger, I figured out how to mount one on a desk lamp:

 

 

[mik]

hey ravenmore what did you do to modify your regent in order to fit the 70 mh bulb i have the same model as you but am unsure what to do to it?

[kbxiong67]

Why can't I use this just get a bulb?

 

 

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US...dgjj.0&MID=9876

[ravenmore7]

That link just took me to HD's web site, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. Most of the HD bulbs are the wrong color temp. Usually they'll work but they look like crap., and they also don't emit as much light in a "useable" spectrum for the corals.

 

mik - I just followed the steps in the beginning of this thread. I just wired the light to my 70w ballast and chipped out the ceramic around the socket a little bit so the bulb would fit. It was easy and only took me about half an hour to put it all together.

[JT_smp]

thats a real cheap way for lighting but i got a question.Iv got a 45 gal hex and i really dont want to spend more than $200 on lights but can i put a 150 w bulb in that pendant or will i have to get some endcaps for it and will those fit in the pendant if i take the other endcaps out?I dont really want to cut the endcaps the pendant comes with but i will if i have to.

 

bump-Since i got a 45 hex wich is 24"deep should i use a 200+w if i want to keep any kind of coral ,clams, etc or will 1 150w work fine?

[JT_smp]

whats a good bulb?im thinkin about the aqualing 13 or 20k,but if i get a 20k do i have to leave it on all the so the corals can get antic light?also i have a floresent 18w zoo med 420nm light will that work for the antic light?

[Samc]

Man you have some research to do. Basically, you can do the regent thing w/ chipping away at the stock caps and cutting them and moving them outward, but for $10 at hellolights.com you can avoid all the cutting (Have to redrill one hole, very easy), and mount it in a regent (I used the new one, a GP500WL). The Aqualine 20k will work, you only have the main tank lighting on 12hrs a day whatever lighting you have. And that should provide enough actinic; the strip you have won't be able to provide enough light to add actinic to a mh light. You can keep pretty much whatever you want in the top 1/3 of the tank w/ this light; If you want a bright clam it will have to go here, but some drabbier browns (also bigger, and probably will outgrow your tank) can go on the bottom. If you want to keep anything in that tank, a 250 watt de would be better (If I had your tank that is what I would get, but I am also very intrested in Acropora Spp.-the hardest kind of sps to keep, basically the hardest type of coral (some are more demanding, but won't get into that here)). So, for the most options, go w/ a 250 watter. I have looked into a 250 watt regent, but don't think the endcaps will fit (haven't actually tried the caps, but the measurments haven't worked out).

 

Sam

[EF9sleeper]

hi i was wondering if this would work also along the lights you guys have suggested i dont know if this a MH or not though it could also HPS but im off to the store tommorow to find out by the way its 77$ Canadian

[ravenmore7]

actually I think there are some suitable MH bulbs that would fit that socket. You just need to wire up a ballast. The bulbs I'm thinking of are Iwasaki I think..... You could also remove the socket and put in a DE socket for either 70watt or 150 watt. Would probably be cheaper at that point to simply get the regent though.....

[JT_smp]

ty samc,if i got a 13k or 14k or even 16k would those be enough for the actinic lighting bc i dont want the par to be to low?

[EF9sleeper]

ya i can get the regent at walmart for like 7$ and the 150watt 10k HQI at my LFS

[smokez01]

anyone know if there is a DIY for a 250w, or if this DIY will suport a 250w MH bulb>

[ravenmore7]

All I gotta say is be carefull of the wire clippings you make. I found a little piece of copper wire on top of one of my HOB filters. I have no idea if any made it in to the tank but obviously that's bad news if they did. In the future I'll probably clean in and around the housing with a vacum, blow it out with an air gun, ect.....

[Samc]

The 500 watt regent won't support a 250 watt bulb-the endcaps are to long to fit in the fixture.

 

Sam

[EF9sleeper]

do you know what you would have to use in order to make a 250 diy pendant.

[cj_basser]

has anyone tried to make a pendant out of the spotlight fixture for a 175w SE bulb?

 

CJ

[jmt]

EF9: http://www.hellolights.com/25hqisopaw.html

 

But no garuntee that it will fit in the fixture. It was pretty tight in the 500w Model for just the 150w bulb.

 

Here's a pic of the 500w Regent with a 150w bulb:

 

[Samc]

I will pretty much guarentee you that it won't work...I ordered a pair of deluxe 150 watt endcaps since they supposedly make the bulb go in easier....

A) they won't fit the regent, so I'm sure the 250 watt ones won't-plus, according to my measurments, we need another 1+ inches

B)they look more beefy, but it appears to me to make it harder for the bulb to go in but is more secure once in place (more manly springs)

 

So, if I go w/ 250, I will just buy a retro kit (the one advertised here, like $220 for everything) or weld up a pendant out of aluminum. If anyone finds a larger fixture, let us know.

 

Sam