New Coralife 150 watt MH clamp on light.

[phergus_25]

You could always get a small peice of wire and loop it around the fixture and connect it to the wall behind it so if it falls the wire will catch it

[badmatt]

Originally posted by mheiden

True, but the same applies to everything else.  What if the hanging light falls into the tank?  What if water leaks and shorts out and causes a fire?  What if your dog knocks over your tank?  There are always bad things that could happen.

 

I was worried about the same thing.  The light is very secure and there are three screws holding it.  Also, if it did fall, it would actually tip forward and the front edge would simply land on the tank.  I don't think it would actually drop in becuse the front of my tank is below the front edge of the light.  But, like anything else, it could happen....

 

my tanks to big for a dog to knock over.

[DitchPlains]

You can build a 150de n with a better bulb with higher par/lumen for less then a 100 bucks, but its the nano cube of lights, Coral life's new needlw wheel skimmer on the other might be a good thing, havent seen reviews yet.

[alexwbush]

^please elaborate (or PM me)

 

I am looking at building or buying a 150w MH

[bladze]

Originally posted by DitchPlains

You can build a 150de n with a better bulb with higher par/lumen for less then a 100 bucks, but its the nano cube of lights, Coral life's new needlw wheel skimmer on the other might be a good thing, havent seen reviews yet.

 

The better bulb alone costs 100 bucks. Good reflector alone cost 20 bucks at least.

[DitchPlains]

The better bulb alone costs 100 bucks. Good reflector alone cost 20 bucks at least.

 

haha I dont know where you buy your parts, but I got a Phoniex 14k (same as aquaconnect) for unde 60 bucks, and used my exsisting Via Aqua hood, bought cheap uv glass for less then 10 bucks.

[Chronicles]

Can't you turn the bracket around so the screws were on the outside? It would give you more space, and not so much of an eyesore with another thing in the water.

 

Edit so you know what I mean: Unscrew the 2 adjustment things, spin the brack around so the bottom part slopes up and to the back of the tank. That way you can have the light level and not pitched down.

 

Here is my sweet paint fix :

 

[holyherbiness]

Ditchplains

bulb 60 dollars

UV shield <10 dollars

 

so that's 70 dollars

what about the ballast? besides, not everyone has spare hoods to gut

 

anyway i think that it is a very nice light!

[badmatt]

40 bucks for a magnetic balast of a specialty lite store.

[Jazzman]

mheiden - How much light are you getting from the sides of the unit. I have a 30 gallon cube that I would be interested in adding this light too.

 

The one thing I hate about MH is the light lost throught the sides.

[mheiden]

To answer Chronicles above, you can't turn the light around because the screw that attaches the lamp only is on the left. It can't face any other way. Nice try though.

 

To answer Jazzman, the light is certainly concentrated in the middle of the tank because I have the light so close. If it were raised, then you would have more light to the sides. If you tank is wider from front to back, then I'd say you can do some adjustments. I still have quite a bit of light to the sides. It certainly isn't dark, but it isn't quite the even distrubution that PC gives. But, the more I get used to seeing the MH dopple effect and the brillance, I am liking it more and more. Also, I trimmed the metal ventilation grill to allow more light to the sides. I took out about half of the ridges because they were partly blocking the light. I left enough in to still catch the glass cover if it fell from the lamp.

 

I think that overall, the MH is going to be better than the PC (it had better be for ~$250!).

 

I just can't wait to try the 15000K bulb. The 20000K is very cool, but just a bit too blue.

 

Does that answer your question?

[Jazzman]

Yes it does. I purchased a 30 gallon Oceanic cube today and it is 20 inches wide. I am thinking that this may not be good for me.

 

What are the measurements?

[mheiden]

I listed the measurements of the fixture earlier in the thread. It sounds like it would fit your tank well as long as it is as wide (front to back) as mine and as long as you have 6-7 inches of space at the back to clip the light on.

[cadillac]

Why don't you try mounting the like from lets say left to right rather than from the back of the tank. It is wider that way, but I don't think that it would look very pleasing. Just an idea.

[mheiden]

You mean to mount it on the side rather than the back of the tank? That might work for some tanks, but mine is a bowfront that slants outward on the sides towards the front. So, the light wouldn't look right.

 

Honestly, I like the way it looks, and I'm a pretty picky person! I'm not sure why Coralife made the arm so long, but hey, I finally have MH for a good price, so I'm not complaining too much....

[aquaman67]

I haven't got mine yet, it's due in about an hour.

 

Why I chose this over a pendant is because you can "aim" the light, like the way mheiden has it. I sit next to my tank and didn't want to deal with light spill-over from a pendant.

 

mheiden,

 

If you get your 15,000 K bulb soon, I might be interested in your 20,000 K bulb if you want to get rid of it. (at a good price of course!)

[alexwbush]

Wouldn't it would be possible to make this into a pendant?

[diggitydj]

Gee gorge it's a clamp on!, love chronicles paint sceme good job, didn't see a final width from clamp to light? that thing hangs out there geez! Maybe with a c clamp that big you could work around some bak paks

[yoshiod9]

lumenarc reflectors own all mh fixtures/reflectors. they come in mini sizes as well. this coralife looks neat but i'd rather go with a 175se and a mini lumenarc.

[mheiden]

HelloLights is going to send me a 15000K bulb as a trade in for my 20000K bulb. So, I can't sell it to you--if I could, I would though.

[aquaman67]

Originally posted by mheiden

HelloLights is going to send me a 15000K bulb as a trade in for my 20000K bulb.  So, I can't sell it to you--if I could, I would though.

 

That's cool that they're letting you swap. Gotta love the hellolights customer service!

[artarmon42]

How does the thing clamp onto the tank? Does it put stress/pressure on the back wall?

 

I'm sure a commercial product would be safe, but have you checked that the light escaping the side vents are UV filtered? (might want to do that with the light off)

[Gmoney]

Anymore pics for those who already got the light?? Anymore info for us? I am wondering if your tank water temp goes up? I assume for mheiden that it does because its so close to the water...I hope since my tank is a little bigger I wont have to place it so close. Mine should be in April 4th.

 

G

[mheiden]

My water temp normally gets from about 79 degrees to about 81 degrees by the end of the light cycle. So, not too bad. I would think that if you have the light a little further away, then you should have no heat problems. If Coralife had put a better fan in, there would be no heat issues at all. The stock fan is pretty small and weak, but at least it is fairly quiet....

[Gmoney]

I rather have a quiet fan...it does not seem like you have much of a heat issue...going to 81 from 79 is not too bad, as long as it is gradual..plus your tank is smaller than mine, so i would imagine the heat issue will be even less of a problem in my tank. We shall see.

 

I know the mag ballasts usually generate a much bluer light from the bulb than an electronic ballast would...what does the ballast look like? Any chances of converting it to electronic?

 

G