DIY lighting upgrade on exising ballast, please help

[FDeLoncker]

Okay i have a 72g bowfront, with a "smartlight" 48"ballast with 2-65w bulbs, this is clearly not enough light. I want to use the main unit if possible to hold the new equipment as i do not have a hood to hide the lighting. i would like to be able to hold sps corals and clams, i have been told i need around 4-6w per gallon!? if you could please tell me what would be the best components for the price that will be effective and affordable to meet this goal. i have looked on reefgeeks.com and they have parts but i do not know what the difference in these pieces are. I do not have a chiller, will i need one of these? which bulbs do you recommend? how many, etc... thank you in advance

 

[tangir1]

Maybe a 250W MH? Did you look into that? As for the heating issue, I think you will have a problem in the summer in Chicago due the the high humidity there... try to do as much as possible with fan via evaporative cooling, and see if you can pull it off without a chiller. Good luck.

 

[FDeLoncker]

thank you for your reply, after i posted this im thinking of getting two 175w MH bulbs for either side and keeping my existing two 65w smartlights (possibly upgrade them to the 96w versions depending. im going to be building a hood for the lights so space and fans shouldnt be a problem, the tank is in the basement with no sunlight so it shouldnt get too hot in there.

any other suggestions, please and thank you

Frank

do you have any recommendations as far as where to buy the parts needed?

 

[tangir1]

I was worrying about the heat from the bulbs, not from the sun. Basement is slightly cooler, but it is the humidity that will get you.