lighting upgrade from pc to mh

[spsmike]

hi all i have a 92 gallon reef ready corner tank . I have a 36 inch coustom sea life power compact with one 96 watt actinic bulb and one 96 watt 10,000 ultra day light. I want to upgrade to metal halide for the day light bulb. My qustion is do i need two bulbs or one to cover the tank and what wattage. I have a few beginner corals but plan on some day to get to the advanced corals.

I modded a 96 watt quad 20 inch coralife fixture into a 70 watt metal halide to go over my ten gallon and it is soooo much more light.I documented the setup and posted pics here:
http://www.saltcreep.com/forums/showthr ... #post14390

I am sure you could do the same with your fixture. I have enough room in mine that I could do two 70 watters and some leds with no temp problems. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Sure fish could jump out...some more prone to jump then others..but ive kept fish in my tank that are prone to do this and havent had a problem...

some leds with no temp problems

leds=LED's (pronounced El EE DEE light emitting diodes) just in case you didnt know..

 

[phk361]

if i use hq1 pendant lighting then i will not get the effect of the attinc light going on first or going off last also is there any attinic light in mh bulbs

 

[ChrisRD]

Many MH lamps emit the same 420nm wavelengths as so called "actinic" lamps, but the visual effect won't be the same due to all of the other wavelengths present. To get that glow effect (fluorescence) most people seem to prefer VHO actinics.

 

[phk361]

hey chris i guess i put my qustion the wrong way. When you start the lighting cycle with the attinic on first say for twenty minutes first ,then the day light kicks on its not such a shock for the tank. Now if i go to mh the tank goes from dark to 500 watts of mh with the flick of a switch .This is with using the pendant light. Thanks pete

 

[ChrisRD]

Ah, sorry, I guess I read too quickly. What your talking about is a common setup, but I've never seen the need for it. Actually, all of the MH setups I've used fire the lamps gradually (they warm-up over about a 5 minute period). The flourescents generally fire almost instantly. A lot of people use the MH with no fluorescents - the dawn/dusk thing is optional.

 

[Tackett]

When you start the lighting cycle with the attinic on first say for twenty minutes first ,then the day light kicks on its not such a shock for the tank.

Welllll....it may not seem like much to us, but ocean critters perceive "blue light" (420nm wavelength?) alot differently than humans. What you are thinking is a dim blue light flicking on, is actually...not dim at all to the critters.

 

[phk361]

THANKS Tac do you know the cheapest place to buy two 250 watt mh pendant lights ? . Also what kind of bulb do you think is good . pete

 

[Tackett]

well, these are the pendants that I was going to buy:

http://www.hellolights.com/ocli25hqiame.html

Two O these outta do ya fine and dandy. Set em up like chris said and give us some pics afterwords.

It is one heck of a deal on these pendants. Seein as the 150's are only 20 dollars cheaper.