mokick3 Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I was told that adding a metal halide to my 15 gallon tank would "boil" it by a reef salesman. I am thinking of putting the lamp 15 inches above the tank (hanging from the celing). My questions are: 1- setup like this, will heat be an issue. I want to to avoid adding any fans if at all possible. 2- how will running this lamp 8 or 9 hours a day affect my electric bill? Link to comment
Samc Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 We need more information. Specifically, what type and what wattage of Metal Halide bulb! Also, in order to determine your electric bill, specific specifications on the ballast need to be known, as well as the price of electricity up there-per kilowatt hour-what your total is doen't help any! Concerning heat, placing a Metal Halide 15" away from the water surface is a tad far-it can and should be used intially to acclimate your specimens to the MUCH increased light, but should be lowered to more like 8" over time. Also, concerning heat, one needs to run the tank open top otherwise heat buildup will become a serious problem (think greenhouse effect). Even then, adding a fan or two may become neccesary. This all depends on the ambient air temperature inside the room-if it is in the lower 70's in the summer, you should be ok but might want to add a fan. Of course, this all depends on the wattage of bulb, but many people have put Metal Halides over much smaller (<5 gallons). Sam Link to comment
mokick3 Posted June 13, 2004 Author Share Posted June 13, 2004 It is a ReefSun pendant from Hamilton Technology. A 175 watt 14k bulb. My electric bill is 765 kwh@ 4.42700 cents. Hope that helps. As of right now, I have no corals in the tank. I would like to replace my 24 watt pc with this pendant. I am not sure if I will have more heating problems with this hanging 8-12 inches above the tank, or adding more pc's (2x28) sitting atop the tank itself. Link to comment
corey0613 Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 i agree that we would need more info., but even with the lack of all the specifics, i owuld think that you would be fine. who ever made the comment to you is not credible and probably has no PERSONAL experience running halides. while they do produce mroe heat than PC's, etc. alot of times it is highly overrated. i run a 250W HQI over my 25 gal, it sits about 8" over the water. never a problem with heat. my tank is in the wall and tons of people of every board said i would have heat problems. so, i ran a $10 dollar home depot fan blowing across the water for 2 weeks or so and then realized that it wasnt needed. you really just need to buy the MH and run it over your tank and see how it goes. @ most i think you might need to run a fan or 2, but shouldnt need a chiller. as far as the MH goes, they usually increase your bill on average by about $7-$11/month depending on the factors in the previous message. i can ever really notice a difference on my bill. i would suggest a magnetic ballast for best results on your bill. Link to comment
corey0613 Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 ahh, just saw the specs, you'll be fine. Link to comment
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