150 Mh

[seacowboy]

Hey so I am still designing a 20 Long tank. I hope to be able to keep SPS in it when it is complete and ready. It will have a 5.5 gallon sump and a 2.5 gallon fuge.

I am really stuck on the lighting. I know I need MH. I have a setup now that would include:


150 Watt IceCap electronic MH ballast: http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=IC3121

150 Watt REtro:
http://www.hellolights.com/15hlmhrekith.html
(I will see if i can not get the ARO ballast with the retro)

150 WAtt 14K Pheonix bulb

65 WAtt COmpact Fluorescent atinics

is there anything else I need or that won't work or that i could improve on?

 

[seacowboy]

instead of the retro kit from hellolights i found this reflector that is meant for 150 watt double ended bulbs:
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=PF2673

So All I need is a ballast, a reflector with the sockets, and a bulb right?

 

[seacowboy]

no thoughts at all?

 

[dots]

How deep is the tank? I had 150DEs on a 75g and had problems getting the more difficult and rarer stuff to color up right....things like green digis.....no problem......

I upgraded to 250DE and its literaly like night and day. Always buy the brightest light you can afford, you can always pull it up higher.

 

[seacowboy]

its only 12" deep and the corals will be on rock so they will probably be around 10-1 inch under the surface

 

[jman77]

if you're going 14 k ... i would do 250w,,,

i have a 20l frag tank with sand and rocks and have a 250w de over it and don't think it's too much light ... The bulb is a AC 14k bulb.

Now if i swapped out the bulb and dropped in a 6500 ...then it would be too much ...

 

[seacowboy]

would a 10000K bulb be better than the 14000K for 150 watts?

 

[dots]

Yep, forgot about that one the bulb options are a little lacking in 150DE and when you go up from the 10K, your PAR is "sub par" for what we need......150's will work, but 250's will make it a WHOLE bunch easier.....I upgraded my lights 3 times before I figured that one out.

 

[seacowboy]

so for the ballast a 250 electronic ice cap from marine depot $115

250 watt 14K pheonix bulb

now i have a question:

on hellolights you can buy a 250 watt pendant http://www.hellolights.com/25pfomipe.html for around $95 dollars or a reflector http://www.hellolights.com/25hqidenmhre.html for around $30

it appears that the only difference is a hard plastic covering around the reflector and a cord. Because i am planning to put my fixture inside a canopy and it wouldn't need to look great would i need the hard plastic shell? $65 dollars for some unnecessary plastic and a cord seems rediculous.

 

[seacowboy]

has anyone done this?

 

[jman77]

go the 30 dollar reflector route !!! that looks like a great deal!

It's simple to wire the thing up and it's not worth the extra money if your going to place it in the canopy.

 

[seacowboy]

YAY!! 65 more dollars to spend on frags

 

[seacowboy]

Are there any advantages to single ended bulbs over double ended bulbs? Or are they the same? Or are there any advantages to double ended bulbs over single ended bulbs?