SPotter
Active member
Totally! :headwally:
A Low Country Reef Tank....one more final upgrade
- Thread starter SPotter
- Start date
Totally! :headwally:
SPotter
Active member
The marco is definitely denser than the pukani. I loved the way the pukani looked but I wasnt going down that route again. Plus I got the marco on their cyber monday deal and it was only 1.39 per lb. The rock I used when I pulled the pukani out of my old tank was Totoka live rock.
SPotter
Active member
More Black Friday Deliveries.....
More Black Friday Deliveries.....
The rest of my black friday purchases arrived today and this will be it for purchases other than the tank for a while now. We got word from our builder that they are a little behind and we should expect to close in early March now. :headwally:
Anyway....let there be light.
More Black Friday Deliveries.....
The rest of my black friday purchases arrived today and this will be it for purchases other than the tank for a while now. We got word from our builder that they are a little behind and we should expect to close in early March now. :headwally:
Anyway....let there be light.
owenspackman
New member
awesome!!! I haven't had MH in forever, how often will those bulbs have to be replaced?
SPotter
Active member
I hear conflicting time frames ranging from 6 to 14 months. I am planning on buying a par meter so I regularly can monitor the bulb efficiency.
owenspackman
New member
you'll be running 4 at a time? Any other lighting along with the MH's? Sorry if you've mentioned it before!
BTW, sorry about the build delay on your house….Considering how long you'll have waited by the end, this little extra should fly by!
BTW, sorry about the build delay on your house….Considering how long you'll have waited by the end, this little extra should fly by!
Alex T.
Active member
You're GTG for 10 months to a year with the ballast/bulb combo you've got as long as you always stay in the HQI setting. People running 250 Watt Radiums in standard electronic ballasts generally underdrive the bulbs which is just as bad at shortening the lifespan of the bulb. With 400 watt Radiums, a standard electronic is really the closest we can get here in the US because the bulb is specced at just over 360 watts...not 400. Those that overdrive the bulb on a 400 HQI or Superlumen setting on the more new electronic ballasts are the one needing to replace them at 6 months.
SPotter
Active member
I am going to start with 3 since the stated coverage of the cozumel reflector is 30x30 and hopefully need to add a 4th because I have had tremendous success and the corals need more light :bounce1: I will supplement the MH with VHO actinic. I thought about using leds to supplement but the cost to do it will be significantly more than vho.
I bought 4 mh bulbs because reefgeek was selling them for 54.95 each and thats a huge savings on that bulb that they normally sell for $74.95.
SPotter
Active member
The 3rd reflector. I guess Hamilton didn't have the original box for it. All the boxes were in pretty bad shape and I was amazed that nothing was damaged.
Not sure on that configuration yet. That will be determined when I see how the canopy will look.
SPotter
Active member
Lol....48" width would not fly with the powers to be. I'm perfectly happy with the 36" width especially since it will be up against the wall and my only access to the tank without getting in it will be from the front and the sides.
Lavoisier
Premium Member
Ah, yes!
nightOwl
Premium Member
Man this was great to catch up on. Man do not buy a meter I can loan you your meter whenever you need it...lol. Glad to see things are coming along and hopefully when the weather breaks they can catch up on the house building.
SPotter
Active member
Hey Henry....buying actually meant borrowing from you :lolspin: I just didnt want to put it out there that you lend out your meter. Fortunately weather hasnt been too much of an issue for us...my kids were in the ocean on Saturday. The builder is blaming the delays on the town and town is saying that they dont have a backlog with inspections. Good news is that the insulation went in and we should be dry walled by the end of this week or early next week. It will be nice to see some significant progress rather than seeing an electrical outlet or hvac register being moved.
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
Would one 36" and 48" bulbs on each side of the MH work. That way they wont overlap on the end caps and save space?
SPotter
Active member
That will definitely work and I am sure it will give me plenty of coverage. I was thinking about using 46.5" bulbs because I kept getting drawn into the "I need more wattage" debate in my head. I am sure that I would get more than enough coverage with 36" bulbs and the difference in wattage is only 60 watts. The great part about using the vho's is if using 36" doesnt give me the look I want I can easily make some adjustments with the endcaps and go with bigger bulds. I considered using leds strips and going with buildmyled actinic strips but after doing a cost comparison using start up costs, annual energy costs and bulb replacements....it would take me almost 5 yrs to break even on the higher initial cost of the leds.
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
You could do the bulb arrangement like this also
36" - 48"
MH - MH - MH
48" - 36"
I cant draw so i though i give it to you that way.
36" - 48"
MH - MH - MH
48" - 36"
I cant draw so i though i give it to you that way.
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