MH Lighting recommendations

[dow]

Hey,

I'm currently running a single 175W 10K MH over my 65G tank, and am looking to upgrade my lightning. The tank is about four years old and everything is in good shape. However, I've been given some great stony frags and obviously I don't have enough light for them. Fundage is limited (as always). I'm thinking about a single 250W MH in the 12,000-14,000K range. What are your thoughts, and where would you recommend I go to find a good quality, reasonably priced electronic ballast, socket, and bulb. My current hood and reflector should work fine for this.

Thanks,
Dow

Edited to add: My current set up uses a mogul socket. What would be the pros/cons of going to a double-ended fixture?

 

[mr_X]

if funds are limited i'd search the used equiptment forums. besides used, there's really no dirt-cheap metal halide ballasts and bulbs(except for ebay, but i don't think those bulbs last more than 4 or 5 months before the color changes)

i think the se/hqi choice is personal preference. with the hqi, you'll need to have a glass shield between the lamp and the water. the single ended bulb has that built in.
hellolights is reasonable for bulbs, and they have some reasonable single retros too-
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?Pa ... tegory=559

 

[dow]

Thanks for the response. On the Hello lights webpage, they've got the ARO 250 watt electronic ballast for 99.00. Do you know anything about this ballast?
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=462

Also, do you think that is a suitable solution for growing stonies in my 65g tank?

 

[mr_X]

aro is good. icecap is too.
what are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[Anonymous]

Should I be embarrassed that I would still recommend Iwasakis to peopl?

 

[dow]

aro is good. icecap is too.
what are the dimensions of your tank?

36L x 18W x 24D

 

[mr_X]

do you have any supplement to the halide? i mean, a single 250 watt halide would reach the depth fine, but do you see any shadowing with your 175 watter now? if you chose a single 250, i think you'd have to place the more light-needy corals directly under it. 2 x 250 and you can place things wherever you want....assuming the budget allows, of course.

 

[dow]

do you have any supplement to the halide? i mean, a single 250 watt halide would reach the depth fine, but do you see any shadowing with your 175 watter now? if you chose a single 250, i think you'd have to place the more light-needy corals directly under it. 2 x 250 and you can place things wherever you want....assuming the budget allows, of course.

There's a little shadowing now. I've got a Calfo-style overflow that runs the full length of the tank and shadows the back 4 inches or so, although that's mostly behind the rock-work anyway. Also, there's a glass support that runs front-back in over the middle of the tank. Currently the 175 is mounted length-wise in the hood, and seems to light the tank fairly evenly, although this could be because of that glass support.

 

[cindre2000]

I would go with two 175w Iwasaki's with simple parabolic reflectors. Unless you try and grow the acro's on the bottom I don't think you would have a problem.

As for SE vs. DE, it is all about the bulb and your space. SE require more space if you want a good reflector, DE can get by with far less. The bulbs are also different so you just need to search around and see if there is one you like (par and color temp wise). DE ballast usually also run bulbs harder, meaning more par, I think.

 

[Entacmaea]

Hey Dow, Mr. X is steering you right. I am working on the exact same tank set-up, 36x18x24 and am going with two 250w DE 10K's, and four 95 watt VHO's on an IceCap. I think you can easily keep your 175 watter, in whatever your scheme ends up being, for now. You could put in a 250 watter, place the higher light specimens toward that end, and the 175 toward the other end. Then maybe buy another 250 watt (or not) later when you have the funds. I think the brightness between the 175 and 250 watter will be barely noticeable on that length of tank, and might make for some cool zoning in your tank anyway. I still like 10K bulbs with actinics, but that is purely subjective. www.ahsupply.com sells some very inexpensive PC retrofits if you want to add actinics. Hellolights also has a good 36" PC 95watt retrofit, for only like $10 more, and it is wired.

As for used equipment, I've honestly had the best luck with my local craigslist...

Good luck with your SPS!

 

[dow]

On an interesting side-note, I posted the same information on Reef Central, LINK, and they're advocating 175 Iwasaki's on an IceCap e-ballast with a PAR in the mid 80's. The more you read, the more questions you seem to have, huh.

 

[mr_X]

i have 3 x 400 watt halides over a 25 inch deep tank, and i don't see anything getting too much light. i can keep sps on the sand bottom too. i would go with 250 watt setup(s).

 

[dow]

Well, the front end on my wife's explorer is being rebuilt today, so it looks like I'll have to re-evaluate the lightning thing. What do you think that a single 175 15k Iwasaki would do with my existing ballast for now, and then a second one later, depending on what I can find? The existing ballast is an Advance 72c5581-n-p.

Alternately, I've located two 250w e-ballasts for 60 each. I could get them and a single 10-14K 250 bulb and then later add the second ballast in. I have no idea of the shape they're in, but they're local, so I could pick them up.

 

[ChrisRD]

The Iwasaki should have decent output (for a 175 watter) on your F-Can ballast, but per Sanjay's testing, they're significantly brighter on eballasts (more like a 250)...

That said, keep in mind that the reflectors are a critical part of the equation. Decent output 175 lamps in great reflectors will get more light to your corals than 250s in crappy reflectors. :wink: