MH in FOWLR

[IcantTHINKofONE]

I have 6 NO 48" flourescant tubes over my 230 gallon FOWLR but I'm not crazy about the artificial look. I love the way MH makes the sand glimmer. A couple questions....

1) How many 150watt MH bulbs would it take to make the nice "sunlight effect"?

2) How cheap can I get one of these used or DIY?

3) If I decide to go 150 watt MH, should I get rid of the NO flourescents? Will they cancel out the natural sunlight look?

THANX!

 

[tanzy]

I'm still fiddling around with my new lights at the moment, but yes fluorescent lamps will cancel out a lot of the glitter lines from MH. I use 2 400watters and when I switch on 3 110w VHO, the glitter lines disappear and the tank gets uniformly lit. Perhaps it's because my tank is too shallow.
Maybe if the fluorescent were actinics only, it wouldn't be so bad.
Since for the glitter effect, its best to get MH and I don't suppose you will be throwing away your NO so soon, why don't you just try it out for yourself?

 

[Bill2]

You can get glitter lines from any point light source it really doesn't HAVE to be MH

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

Bill, any cheap suggestions? Halogens?

 

[Brvheart5]

I think the only way to get glimmer is from MH. I've had NO flourescent, VHO, PC, and now MH. The only glimmering I have ever seen is from MH.

 

[Brvheart5]

After a ton of research, I think you can get into MH lighting just as cheaply as PC or VHO. Possibly less. Just remember, it's a little more heat, and you'll need fans for cooling and a little space above the water surface. But I think it's worth it.

I could probably give you some more suggestions if I could remember what tank you are lighting.

But here's a good start: http://aquaticlight.com/retrofit.html . That is a link for a 175w MH retrofit, with a bulb included for $75. All you have to do is put it where you want it. But the bulb is crap. 4300k, which will make the tank look like a parking lot bathed in yellow light. You could get the kit and upgrade to the 12000k bulb. That would look awesome! You could hold on to the flourescent lighting and replace the bulbs with actinic to supplement and for dawn/dusk. MH bulbs in the 10k-14k should be good as stand alone or supplement-ready.

It may be a little overboard for FOWLR, but hey, following your posts, I can see you're determined to get exactly what you want!

Good luck. Let me know if what you're looking for if you want more ideas.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the only way to get glimmer is from MH. I've had NO flourescent, VHO, PC, and now MH. The only glimmering I have ever seen is from MH.

a regular incandescent bulb is also point source-and will produce glitter lines-not close to the effect of halides, though :wink: ...

agitating the surface abit may produce a bit of glitter effect with the flourescents- due to the ripples on the surface changing the refraction of the light by the water....

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

brvheart, Thanx for the advice. I will check out the link. The tank is 72" long 24" wide and 30" high (25" to the sand). I was hoping to go as cheaply MH as I can. It's just for looks not for lighting. I won't have anything dependant on lighting so the cheapest and less wattage (cheaper electrical bill) is what I'm looking for. Vitz, I have two 1" sea swirls each being run by a mag drive 1800. They agitate the surface too much! Thanx for the pointers though :wink:

 

[Brvheart5]

Is there a canopy over the tank? In other words, could you mount the halides in the canopy? If so, then MH would be very cheap to run. Retrofits are cheap. It's when you have to buy a complete hood that it starts getting costly.

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

There is nothing over the tank, just the ceiling about 30" up.

 

[Brvheart5]

So where is the current lighting?

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

There is none. It's an in-the-process system. I was going to hang it from chains off the ceiling.

 

[Brvheart5]

Hmm. To get a pre- assembled MH hood is quite expensive. I would get a dual or triple MH retro kit and mount it in an empty hood. The retro kit's are easy to find. The hoods are usually a bit harder. There is a seller on ebay that only sells empty hoods. They're perfect for MH. I looked just now but didn't see any. You could just research a little for empty hoods. Or you could just find out how much a regular canopy is for your tank. They're usually expensive too.