TheLadyDragon Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 im moving my tank back upstairs after parents made me stuff it in the furnace room. im upgrading to a 29 gallon. my old tank was a 20 gallon standard with 2 55 watt power compacts on it. i was thinking of doing a metal halide on the tank with the power compacts, so my question is waht wattage of mh do i need if i have the PCs on as well? i dont awnt to spend more then $100 if i dont have to, but could if i must. also how many fans would i need to keep the whole set up cool, and how much space must there be betweent he pcs and the MH thanx ashley Link to comment
surfy Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Originally posted by TheLadyDragon im moving my tank back upstairs after parents made me stuff it in the furnace room. LOL, I'm sorry but that made me laugh pretty hard. Why'd they make you stuff it in the furnace room? Sounds like my parents when I kept setting up new tanks around the house. Anyways back to your question's. MH is exspensive so I doubt you will get a setup for $100, you may if you really shop around for used ones. Since DE (double ended) came down in price more people are switching to them so you may be able to get a decent SE (single ended) for around $130-150 with bulb. I wouldn't even waste your money on the 70w MH setup's for that size tank. The biggest thing is, will your parents care about you running up the electric bill some? 175w SE retro would work and if you really want to upgrade I would go with a 150w DE pendant or 250w incase you upgrade to a larger tank later on. You really don't need PC's when running MH. Just get a color temp you like i.e. 10k, 20k etc. With a SE retro you will have to run a canopy so you will need to build it atleast 9" tall. Leave the back open and put two fans in the sides and you should be fine. You may evaporate more with this setup so keep that in mind. If you have a sump you can even put a fan blowing over it for evaporative cooling. Link to comment
The_Barbe-Hatten_Project Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 tip: a fan blowing at the water will cause more evaporation... Link to comment
surfy Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 If you go with somthing like this you won't need a canopy and it will help keep your tank cooler, http://diyreef.com/shop/product_info.php?p...products_id=169 Link to comment
KrackerG Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 The_Barbe-Hatten_Project is right...fan blowing = more evaporation surfy-- have you ever seen 70w DE MH? It's far from a waste of money...as in electricity bill as well. They say 250w DE is equal to 500w SE so 70w DE can prob be compared to 150w SE MH. Also, SE gets hotter than DE...again causing more evap. Plus that light you linked has to hung from above...:| Plus it's prob a old school, power hog tar ballast...yuk! I am running 2 70w MH and 2 55w PC on my 20L and think its too much! Don't forget TheLadyDragon said she'll be running 110 PC also...so I would say it should be plenty. Link to comment
surfy Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Yeah I've seen the 70w DE. If you compared to a 150w they would seem weak, both PAR and Intensity. A 250w DE dosn't put out that much light. I run a 250w DE AB bulb in the new PFO pendants off a PFO HQI ballast on my 35g. I know the 70w dosn't put out too much PAR and not enough intensity to really punch through a deeper tank. It's more than PC's though. Plus most of these DIY 70w DE reflectors arn't very efficient at getting the light output to the corals i.e. PAR/intensity and light spread as the new reflectors made for the DE MH bulbs do. The 70w DE's are fine for nano's but when you get into larger tanks they just don't work well. It really depends on what you want to keep though. Yes a fan blowing makes more evap thats why you get evap cooling from it. This is cheaper than running the AC or a chiller. Pendants will help keep the tank cooler thats why I linked her to that. She could always piece the setup together to get a good ballast. Even if she ran a 70w DE plus 110w PC's thats 180w of light. Might as well get a 150w DE and be more efficient with the output. Most 70w DE use about 1.9-2.5 amps depending on ballasts, most 150w DE run around 2.5-3.5amps depending on ballasts. Not much more for better light output. Plus take into account the PC's you will be running to make up for the lost light. Plus there are more bulb choices with the 150w/250w DE. I'm not argueing, just stateing my opinion. Link to comment
TheLadyDragon Posted July 12, 2004 Author Share Posted July 12, 2004 Surfy- It got stuffed in the furnace room because the bakpak skimmer overflowed and put a gallon of water on the floor, my falt it overflowed but oh well. (gramps was paranoid it would turn out just like my 90 gallon fresh water, but thats another story) why do you think a 70 watt is not worth it? with the other lights i would think it enough, but then again i dont know much about mh... heh KrackerG- wow just saw your lights very nice! how much did it cost to do what you did? im almost tempted to try it my self ^_^ thanx all ashley Link to comment
KrackerG Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Originally posted by TheLadyDragon KrackerG- wow just saw your lights very nice! how much did it cost to do what you did? im almost tempted to try it my self ^_^ thanx all ashley ashley---i love my light! its awesome...fregan lights up my whole basement! it was pretty painless to do...somewhat costly (70w x2), but well worth it overall, imo. 1 70w could of worked, but my tank is longer so i used 2. one thing is true, if my tank was too deep (20L = only 12" deep), then yes, some of my inhabs. down below wont be getting much light. but then again, just 2x65w PCs was fine for me when i had just that... and i've seen my same CSL hood on a deeper tank using just PC and that was ummm, ok?!? I guess it really depends on what your planning to keep. Regardless tho, I believe...with this light I have.... I could keep ANYTHING (YES, even clams) that's why for the life of me, i can't figure out what surfy is talking about when he says its not enough intensity. Link to comment
flyboy01 Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Keep a lookout on eBay. I scored on of the new Coralife 150w HQI Pendants that had been used for two months for $100 yesterday on a buy it now auction. If you keep looking, you will find a good deal on used. On the other hand the 70w and 250w kits that you get here are a very good deal if you are a do-it-yoursefer. For $130-140 new, you cant beat that! Link to comment
surfy Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 I guess it really depends on what your planning to keep. Regardless tho, I believe...with this light I have.... I could keep ANYTHING (YES, even clams) that's why for the life of me, i can't figure out what surfy is talking about when he says its not enough intensity. [/b] Sure in a 12" deep tank plus your sand depth.... yeah that could keep most stuff. There's more to keeping things healthy than lighting. The intensity is just not there with the 70w DE for a larger deeper tank other than a nano i.e. 12" or less in depth. I have seen many PC setups keep nice stuff. Heck I had a crocea clam under a 96w powerquad for a year or so. It was right under the bulb at the top though. Even then it wasn't as responsive like it is now under a 250w DE at the bottom of a 25" deep tank. But honestly, look at the costs of bulb replacement running both PC's and a 70w MH. You might as well go with a 175w SE or 150-250DE, DE being more efficient and only replace one bulb a year. The 250w DE only costs like $20 more than the 150w but then you also use more power. I'm just trying to save her some money and any headache's down the road. She wants to go MH so I thought I would give her the best advice so she dosn't decide/need to upgrade again later on. I'm sure your 70w lights have worked great for you but in all honesty, would you really run 70wDE on a larger tank? Link to comment
KrackerG Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 actually...I would not recommend 70w MH over anything more than 2' deep. this one guy here modded his CSL to go over his Oceanic cube.. i have one over my 10g which is 18" tall my yearly bulb replacements costs $88 total. I've been thinking about upgrading to 75w VHO URI Super Actinic along with my MH...and those bulbs are $18 each Link to comment
TheLadyDragon Posted July 13, 2004 Author Share Posted July 13, 2004 thank you all for all the input. i think im going to go for a 150 watt maybe go higher, im not sure yet. im going to spend up grading the tank its self with a sump then come christmas up grade the lights ^_^ thanx again ashley Link to comment
just dave Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Originally posted by flyboy01 Keep a lookout on eBay. I scored on of the new Coralife 150w HQI Pendants that had been used for two months for $100 yesterday on a buy it now auction. If you keep looking, you will find a good deal on used. On the other hand the 70w and 250w kits that you get here are a very good deal if you are a do-it-yoursefer. For $130-140 new, you cant beat that! Can't tell without seing the side of the pendant but that looks just like the Macro 150 w units units I have. Link to comment
flyboy01 Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 I just got it today. Awesome! I'm not sure of the brand, I thought it was a Coralife, but the pendant is sort of bell shaped, retractable cord, and a soft-start ballast, very nice quality, but I'm unsure of the brand. Link to comment
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