New Metale Halide setup

Discussion in 'Metal Halide Aquarium Lighting' started by jtReef, Jul 3, 2006.

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  1. jtReef

    jtReef Ritteri Anemone

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    Hey there.
    Hopefully everyone may have some help for me.
    I'm planning a new 180. 72x24x24
    I will be building my own stand and canopy so my options are fully open.
    I plan on making the canopy about 2ft tall so that i can raise and lower my lights easily as well as putting it on a sliding rail so that i can easily slide the entire lighting fixture to either side for maintenance.

    So here is where I need help. I will be using 2 250w 48in vho actinic to cover the blue spectrum (which will overlap in the middle) and will be planning 10ks on the metal halide.
    Unless you have better suggestions.
    Do you suggest going with 2 or maybe 3 bulbs. It will have the 2 bars running across the middle so i do not think 2 will work well unless i put the lights extremely far from the surface. So if I go 3 I'm thinking maybe a 250w in the middle and maybe 2 150w's on the 2 sides. I plan on keeping about every kind of coral you can imagine. So for those who need extra lighting at least they can sit in the middle with the 250w and overlapping actinic's.

    Any suggestions? Or to those who have already done this and could go back and make some changes to their current system what would you recommend?

    I'm a big DIY guy so I would rather put my own ballast set up together for fun and for the cost savings?

    Thanks for your help.
     
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  3. powdertang05

    powdertang05 Fire Worm

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    with that long of a tank normal is per 24 inches and 10000k are great recommend ushio or XM i use XM and run VHO's by uri a must have. but since your tank is soo deep you may need to get 400w's
     
  4. coral reefer

    coral reefer Giant Squid

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    Ditto, It is best for you to go with 400watt metal halides for that size tank! I like Hamilton 14000k personally! Megachrome and Phoenix are also nice bulbs!!!!
     
  5. jtReef

    jtReef Ritteri Anemone

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    Cool Thanks.
    If I go with 400watts it will cost me a near fortune.
    Are there ballasts that will handle 3? I wanted to keep this in the 600-700 range but it is appearing that this will not be possible :)
     
  6. jtReef

    jtReef Ritteri Anemone

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  7. coral reefer

    coral reefer Giant Squid

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    Hamilton makes a Reefstar pendant. They come either in 150, 250 or 400 Watt (HQI) metal Halides.
    Cathy's Critters carries them. It is an online website where I purchased mine. I bought 2 (250 watt) and 1 (400watt) pendant 14000k. They just had a sale on them!!!!!!the 250watt metal halide pendant was $259.00
    the 400watt metal halide pendant was $279.00
    these are awesome prices as far as metal halides are concerned!!!
    They come with the ballast, bulb, pendant and quick disconnect feature for quick removal of power cord from ballast.
    Now the sale has since ended, however, I had to purchase another pendant after the fact, so I talked to Dan in the service dept. and he told me he would sell me the pendant for the sale price.
    You may want to e-mail him and let him know you were referred to Cathy's Critters by someone at 3reef. He will probably work with you.
    Just a suggestion if you plan on going that way.
     
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  9. jtReef

    jtReef Ritteri Anemone

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    Thanks Coral Reefer.
    I apprecate it. I wanted to see more on what people actually were using.
    And with the pendants it can't bet much easier to setup and install. Do you think 2ft of space will be enough in the canapy to hang those?
     
  10. coral reefer

    coral reefer Giant Squid

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    I'm sorry, the name for the website is Salty critters not Cathy's(local pet shop in my area).
    It is very easy to set them up!!!!You have enough space in the canopy as the pendants are only 4" high and are very light since the ballasts are separate enabling them to be placed on the floor out of the way+less weight on top of your tank.
    The only thing that concerns me is the heat associated with the metal halide bulbs. I want to stress it that you need to set up a fan(s) to help control the temp in the canopy. Do you need to use a canopy? How about just mounting them by the cable that comes with the pendant from the ceiling?
     
  11. jtReef

    jtReef Ritteri Anemone

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    I am building a canapy for sure. This tank will actually be in my new house which will have a fish den :). I have 3 independent 20amp outlets on the wall where it will be having each on it's own circuit breaker. THe stand will be 3 ft tall. tank. 2ft. and a 2 ft canapy. so the canapy top is at 7ft, this allows me to still have my fans as well as I will be able to make the canopy very open. I have it planned so that the top is both open and closed. So basically every other board will be missing for air flow. THis way there is no drilling in the celing for the new house and it will look very complete being that you can't see any of the lighting. THis also will help slow down the carpet jumpers.
    If you think of something else just let me know. I'm about 4 months till the house is complete. I also may redirect the air conditioning output to be right above the tank.

    Thanks again.
    It is much appreciated.
     
  12. coral reefer

    coral reefer Giant Squid

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    It sounds as if you have a good grasp on the tank issue, Just watch out with the a/c duct close to the tank as you don't want drastic temp. spikes and don't want the water to get too cool!
    Hey, just curious, what do you plan on keeping in your new tank? From that you can make a better decision as to wattage and kelvin.