tackman Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Anyone do this yet? http://aquarium.union.rpi.edu/articles/DIY_MH.html Link to comment
Von digity Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 A few have been toying around with the idea http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...t=mercury+vapor http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...t=mercury+vapor http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...t=mercury+vapor It costs almost the same to just go MH, if your gunna run Magnetic ballasts. You also get more bulb choices, etc... Link to comment
tackman Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Thanks for the links. Looks like Hellolights is the better choice in the long run. Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 The best metal halide out there is the 6500K 250W Iwasaki Metal Halide i duno where that guy gets his info from. Link to comment
Von digity Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Buddha, Check this out http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=254667 they actual rank pretty high par wise, especially when run on Icecaps and pfo ballasts. I fact, they totally kick A when run on PFO HQI ballasts, really interesting. How do they compare to DE bulbs? Different story... Link to comment
tackman Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Common.. didn't you see the pie chart? I'm looking at a 20 to 30 gallon tank and this is gonna be the only light on it. I know the higher k gives bluer light. I'm looking at that refrofit kit http://www.hellolights.com/25methalretk.html 250W (M58/H37) Metal Halide Retrofit Kit ~Probe Start for $85.00 They list like 8 bulbs. I'm really new to this stuff, which bulb would you recommend? Link to comment
Von digity Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Tackman, it really depends on a few things. What performance are you looking for in your MH? Are you looking for the cheapest set up to get your feet wet? If so, then the hellolights kit is great. If your looking to really fine tune your lighting, then you might want to do some searching and compare ballast/ bulb performance combinations, in order to get the most of what you'd like to achieve (energy savings, intensity, etc...) Link to comment
tackman Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 I guess since I'm totaly new to all this, I would like to get my feet wet as cheap as possible, but get something that is generic enough that I can experiment with a wide range of things in my tank. I orginally started off looking at getting PC lights, but the more I read, it seemed like they were limiting. What do you think? Should I even try MH or just use PC? Link to comment
Von digity Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 MH is a great place to start, the hellolights kit looks like a good "experimental" system. If your ever planning on keeping sps or clams, then MH is definetly the way to go. If your just gunna do softies, then pc's are fine. Link to comment
tackman Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Thats a great link with all the bulb testing. So the higher PAR numbers are better? Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 from what ive read the DE's put out more and at a better PAR range. Duno about the SE bulbs tho.. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.