MH retrofit for a 28w coralife pc fixture???

[ynotynot123]

I'm pretty new to this thing. When i started i went with and underpowered 20" 28w coralife pc fixture. As soon as i get my tax return back, i want to go metal halide. I don't know if it's possible for me to use my coralife fixture and retrofit a 70w mh bulb and ballast into it. The only real problem i can see is that there's no fans on this fixture, and probably no room for a fan, i'm worried about heat build-up. What do you think? My other option would be to buy a canopy and put an mh bulb in there along with the ballast and socket from the coralife fixture with an actinic bulb.

[ynotynot123]

i'd like to keep some sps corals and maybe a clam. I was thinking about the 96w powerquad, but i don't know if that's enough light either.

[qfour20]

Your best bet is really going to be building a hood with the metal halide in it, with an actinic bulb. Clams would not fare as well under a 96w powerquad as they would under a 70w mh with actinic supplement.

 

Before anyone goes off that 96w should be almost the same as 28+70, wattage is not all that there is to the equation. The spectrum put out by a metal halide light is more useful to light loving specimens than the few spikes provided by PC lights.

 

I would not trust the fixture that you already have if it has plastic endcaps on it, but if you want to give it a shot, please be careful about it. Ventilation will be *critical*. Not just a muffin fan inside the fixture, either. You need to be sure that you have airflow in the room, so that the fan in the fixture can cool more efficiently.

 

If you want some ideas about making a fixture like you're talking about, jmt is trying that right now (with a slightly smaller fixture):

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=27385

 

-q