1fish2fish Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 I'm considering putting a bell style MH pendant over my round 4 gallon tank. I figure it would look pretty decent keeping with the whole round theme and all. I found this 150 watt HQI pendant at Aquatic Ecosystems. Does it look like a decent deal? http://www.aquaticeco.com/pdfs/SpringFlyer...pring_Flyer.pdf Oh, and it's on page 8 Link to comment
onthefly Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 That is a smokin deal! Waves (in Tualitin) has the same one for $259. It is an awesome pendant with a 10K bulb (which is actually more like 14K) and totally adjustable height....go there and check it out! I'm thinking about them for a 20L I'm planning Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted April 25, 2004 Author Share Posted April 25, 2004 I find myself wondering what the kelvin rateing on the one from AE is though. They don't make mention of it. I may have to call them on monday to find out. hmmmm payday is comming up. Do you think 150 watts on 4 gallons would be pushing my luck a little. That's 37.5 watts MH per gallon. LOL Oh yeah, I should mention that hte tank itself is only 12" diameter. hehe Link to comment
onthefly Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 The great thing about this pendant is the adjustable hieght......it has an internal ratchet......so you want it lower, just pull........you want it higher, just lift......really cool! I think the 150W up like 12-14" from the tank would be fine.....you wouldn't have the heat issues, as if it (or a 70W) was mounted in a hood. Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted April 25, 2004 Author Share Posted April 25, 2004 True, I guess I would just hate to upset my current corals too much. They are currently under a 27 watt 7100k and 9watt actinic. Kinda lowlighting IMO. I transferred some of my zoos over to my 1 gallon desk tank, which has 2 x 13 watt 50/50 pc's and have found that htey don't open up as much as the ones in my 4 gallon. The ones in the 4 are about 8 inches fromt he surface andthe ones in the 1 gal are about 3 inches fromt he surface. I guess it would take a gradual breaking in time. start with 1 hour a day and work my way up by an hour every three or fouor days. Link to comment
onthefly Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 Everyone I've talked to said the best way isn't to mess with the photoperiod, but the intensity (either by increasing hieght or be screening with window screen) Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted April 25, 2004 Author Share Posted April 25, 2004 That's good to know. I have access to lots of agricultural shade cloth through work. I could just go half intensity for hte first little while. Link to comment
Kelpie Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Did you find the Kelvin rating for that pendant bulb? Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 I phoned them yesterday. It's a 10k. That would work just fine I think. After it burned out I could just move to a 14k or 20k. I think I'll just use my 9 watt actinic until then. Link to comment
Kelpie Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 That's cool (no pun) - do you know if it's horizontally mounted -- I guess it almost has to be though being double-ended. I don't guess it is an electronic ballast. Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 It is horizontally mounted and the ballast as guessed is magnetic. I recently saw the same system for sale at a store in Portland for $300. It actually looks pretty nice. Link to comment
onthefly Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 1-2, if that is the same set up that waves had, the ballast is really small (like 4"x4"x12") if it is magnetic....and the guy at waves said the bulbs, although they say 10k, actually burn more like 14k Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 I saw it at Upscales. Ya, the ballast box is pretty small, but I'm guessing that at that price it must be magnetic. Link to comment
ReefinReefer Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 when hung on the ceiling, how bad is the glare when u look at the tank from a low angle? thats the only issue i have in getting a ceiling mount as opposed to having it on a hood or canopy. Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 True, glare could be an issue. It is actually one of my greater concerns as the tank sits beside my sofas. Trying to watch TV with 150 watts screaming in my eyes could get a tad offensive. The best thing about the ceiling mount is that it allows for lots of air movement, which helps keep heat issues minimized. I also think that it would be more aesthetically pleasing than my current setup, but then beauty is in the eye of , well, the owner hehe. Link to comment
just dave Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 Just ordered the Macros from AES as well. We'll see how it goes. I've not heard too much good about the quality/reliability but at 135 per unit..what the hey. The HQI bulb pictured in the cataloge says AZOO on it,we'll see. They did confirm that it was a 10 k bulb. Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted May 9, 2004 Author Share Posted May 9, 2004 Just Dave, I guess the other question is tht if you haven't heard too uch good about them... Have you heard anything bad? Link to comment
just dave Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 That the fixture had a high failure rate when they were marketed under another name. You have to wonder why it is so inexpensive but I'm willing to give 'em a go for the price ( I ordered four of 'em.) Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted May 9, 2004 Author Share Posted May 9, 2004 Was it just the ballast giving out, or just blowing through the bulbs? Perhaps the fact that the bulb is sealed in with little or no ventilation might be a problem. One could possibly find a way to ventilate or hook up a small laptop sized fan. Link to comment
just dave Posted May 10, 2004 Share Posted May 10, 2004 The way it was explained to me was that HQI bulbs need to operate in a hotter environment. They will not function optimally if too cool. Link to comment
Clownfish9 Posted May 10, 2004 Share Posted May 10, 2004 Has anyone got one of these yet?I was thinking of doing a 70 watt but this might be more versatile. Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted May 10, 2004 Author Share Posted May 10, 2004 I have to order a few 2500 watt Ti heaters from them for work tomorrow so there is a pretty decent chance that I'll break down and buy the light at the same time and have them ship them all together. Link to comment
just dave Posted May 10, 2004 Share Posted May 10, 2004 I'll probably have mine Monday. If you want,I'll post my initial impressions and see if all four fire up. One the complaints was that many didn't even work out of the box ( if these are in fact the same units just remarketed under a different name.) Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted May 10, 2004 Author Share Posted May 10, 2004 Cool, keep us posted. I'm not too worried about them not firing up. It comes witha 1 year warrantee so that should cover ya. I think I'm going to jsut go ahead and order mind today. If it lasts a year or even two it will be worth it. The most likely thing to go wrong would be the ballast and that can always be replaced with an electronic ballast later on. Link to comment
just dave Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Got 'em in. They all worked but two had to be sent back because the pendants were bent really bad. The bulb has a real nice color and says MACRO on it but I understand they are OSRAM bulbs. Get a screwdriver and go over all the screws. All of the reflectors were loose and had to be tightened as were many of the other screws. Link to comment
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