crash course on metal halide lights!

[bboyin4lyf]

i know these questions have been asked a thousand times before but to save myself some time i was wondering if i could just have some questions answered as there seems to be no faqs pertaining to metal halide lights.

what does 10,000k or 20,000k mean? lol simple but i gota find out somehow!

will two 175 w mh allow me to keep clams / sps in a tank thats 18 inches deep? or will i need two 250w?

how far from the surface should they be placed as i've read many differing opinions... but i trust u guyz the most

what in the hell is an "icecap?"

what does a "pendant" refer to? and what other sorts can you get? once again simplistic but i gota know

thanks for putting up with the questions and thanks in advance for the responses.

cheers

 

[WYOReeffreak]

The higher the K rateing the bluer the light, the lower the rateing the redder. As for wattage I wouldn't know but I would say the more intense the better.

 

[mattstewart]

Pendant lights are mounted to some sort of cable that hangs from the ceiling (so you just have your lights hanging on a cord from the ceiling). You can get retrofit kits which you mount into your own hood yourself. Or there are lights that are already mounted and all put together for you but these would be expensive

 

[SnowManSnow]

Hey
Check out the string I started a few days ago here.. It may help you out... Im puttin in MH in the near future... the string is here under GENERAL... and the topic is just MH Lighting.

Also check out this link... http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... etalhalide It's a pretty good primer on MH from www.premiumaquatics.com

GL!
B

 

[Anonymous]

10,000k is a white light with a hint of blue. 20,000k is a bluer white light. I use 3x175 watt 20,000k bulbs on my 125 gallon and I keep LPS, Softies, and a maxima clam.

2x175 watt MH would be okay for clams and SPS if they are kept at mid-depth or higher. like stated above the more wattage the better.

Icecap makes electronic ballasts. They create less heat and use less electricity. They make excellent products IMO.

As stated above pendants are suspended above the tank, as opposed to a hood which covers the whole tank and is usually rested on the lip of the aquarium. Hoods contain more heat(possibly bad because metal halide can cause heat issues if hung too low or are in a hood without a chiller or A/C).

Good luck.

 

[bboyin4lyf]

thansk for the help guyz. im going for 2 175 w 10k lights.
snowmansnow: thanks for the links, the thread was useful

cheers

 

[WYOReeffreak]

Marinedepot has PFO 400w dual ballast for $164.95. Of course you still have to buy the rest of the gear.

 

[Len]

As everyone has mentioned, 10000K is a crisp white (hint of blue) and 20000K is fairly blue. The higher the K rating, the more blue it is. Note that this isn't an exact science with halides. These are correlated color temperatures and highly subjective. Some manufacturers may sell a bulb as 14000K wheras another may sell the same light as a 10000K bulb.

175W should suffice. More, of course, is better

Halide distances will vary depending on the reflector type. Generally, 8-15" is the range, and 12" is most common.

Icecap is the name of a good lighting ballast manufacturer. They make great electronic ballasts, most famous for their VHO ballasts (they run PC lights too), and now MH ballasts as well. Click on our sponsor's page (www.reefs.org/sponsor.html) and there's a link to them.

Pendant is any bulb+reflector assembly that is small and compact, designed to be hung or mounted. Some have the ballast built into the pendant, but most have remote ballasts far from the pendant. PFO, Sunlight, Aqualine, Icecaps, and several others make pendants.

 

[bboyin4lyf]

len: thanks for the time you put into ure response. really appreciate it!

just for clarification, what is a ballast? - im trying my best not to appear like a simpleton!

 

[Anonymous]

A ballast is a device used to "ignite" the bulb..since these are bulbs with vapors (all of them are except incandecent bulbs) they need some sort of "jump" to get going...A ballast, whether it be electronic or core and coil will do the trick..in other words, you need one to run the lights

 

[bboyin4lyf]

is that the box attached to the metal halide lights?

 

[SnowManSnow]

A lot of the time the balast is a REMOTE ballast.. which means it is connected to the light via an extended power cord.. this helps keep temp. down around the bulb as much as possible.

Its really very simple, I know it gets confusing with all the variations of bulbs and so forth though.

 

[Ben1]

Yes it's the box. Electronic ballast save you on electricity but core and coil ballast are cheaper to buy upfront.

 

[bboyin4lyf]

well i bought 2 * 175 w mh 14k , and on top of that i boughta canopy to reduce light flooding the rest of the room- lol its my bedroom and metal halide lights turning on every day at 7am would get quite frustrating.

thanks for all the help!

 

[SnowManSnow]

before you mount your lights make sure they are adequate distance from the water or you'll have a thermoproblem.

Just an afterthought...

 

[reefann]

Also remeber that a MH is normally accepted to light about 2 feet of tank per bulb.

 

[bboyin4lyf]

cheers