MH? Your input is appreciated and taken seriously

Yes! I got the T5 bulbs from my other system that I will exchange and keep the new ones around for emergency and later i'll look for replacement MH.

 

Time to think about it. That light is going to be intense. That is a powerful lamp over a 40 gallon tank. What corals do you have now? You will have to acclimate them or they will burn - keep that light really high for a while and slowly bring it down over time to about 12" above that tank.

Odyssea are cheap but as you found, there have been quality control issues. If you have problems, I'd swap it out for an Aqua Medic. I like mine a lot (150w mh +T5) - same price and no fans.

 

eehhh! can you later buy a lower wyatt light like also a 150 or 175 with the same ballast? perhaps putting part of my glass cover for the tank over the MH light, might subdue it some.

there is a Tri-color Acropora Coral, Red Candy Cap Coral, Neon Polyp True Undata, Plate Coral and my hitchhiker Stony Coral, still not sure what it is, other than that Polyps, Mushrooms and Yellow Fiji Leather

 

It would appear the DE FC2 bulbs don't come in a lower watt than 250, at least I have not found one yet.

 

You can't use a smaller bulb unless the balast is electronic with select-a-watt like lumatek or galaxy.

 

I thought about what you said with the 250 watt light, and finding there are no options for a lower watt bulb, I tried to cancel my order, they claimed it was already shipped out, I don't think i ever had any order in the past ship out that fast, hahaha! those legs are pretty short on that system, my wife is really going to brain me when I have to go shopping to get some hanging material to get the light up some.

 

OK! since the MH lighting has its own power source cord, can I use a power cord with dimmer on that MH light?

 

I would not try that Jeff, I don't think the bulb would fire, much less dim. Serious fire hazard. What is the return policy?

I am not saying a 250w could not be made to work on a 40, but you will be challenged. I've seen a 250w on a 10 gallon, but it was about close to 2 feet in the air and the guy ran a huge chiller.

With the corals you have, just T5s would work great. Or if you want the halides, a 150w would work for all of that with the acropora on the top half near center. A fixture with (2) 150w is another option but I might be throwing too much out there now.

First I'd figure out how to handle what you have on the way.

matt

 

Wrong ballast for a dimmer, so I guess there is only one thing left to do, since 250w may be an overkill for a 40b, guess I will have to get a 90g cube, 36x24x24

 

That is an unexpected solution Jeff.

Didn't you mention something about your girlfriend?