canopy with retro Metal Halide need some infomation
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azmorpheus
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I recently bought an unassembly ballast retrofit kit that included a spider reflector mogul base and wire (basicly everything except the light bulb) for around $60 from innovativelights. Works very well too, have it on my frag tank. I believe the reflector was about 8" tall.
Dirt4dinner
Home Growin' SUSHI!
J.B.
When you are thinking about what wattage you should do with the halides, from my experience it has to do with the depth of the tank. If you have 80 gallon (and mentioned 48") that would make that sucker about 20" deep. I am not one to drop a bunch of money just to say I have more power. So I would say go with 2 x 150W MHs. That would penetrate the bottom of a 20" tank just fine.
If heighth is a concern in your hood, you could go with 4 x 39W T5s. Thats what I just decided on. They take up much less space and I picked mine up from ReefGeed.com for about $360 with EVERYTHING including an IceCap ballist.
But you are going to want to make sure you have enough space between your halides and the water (I would say 5-8"), and that you have plenty of air flow from a couple small fans in the canopy.
Good luck with your decision! -DIRT
When you are thinking about what wattage you should do with the halides, from my experience it has to do with the depth of the tank. If you have 80 gallon (and mentioned 48") that would make that sucker about 20" deep. I am not one to drop a bunch of money just to say I have more power. So I would say go with 2 x 150W MHs. That would penetrate the bottom of a 20" tank just fine.
If heighth is a concern in your hood, you could go with 4 x 39W T5s. Thats what I just decided on. They take up much less space and I picked mine up from ReefGeed.com for about $360 with EVERYTHING including an IceCap ballist.
But you are going to want to make sure you have enough space between your halides and the water (I would say 5-8"), and that you have plenty of air flow from a couple small fans in the canopy.
Good luck with your decision! -DIRT
Dirt4dinner
Home Growin' SUSHI!
Yeah, but you can also do any kind of coral with a strong T5 setup. I just went through this dilema. My problem was I just didn't have enough room in my canopy for MH's. T5's are TINY in comparison. If you are curious about T5s you are more then welcome to come check mine out. They aren't installed yet, but you can see how small they are. PM if you want to.
I don't want to talk you out of MH's because they are TERRIFIC, I had them on my old tank. But if space is an issue....there are options.
I don't want to talk you out of MH's because they are TERRIFIC, I had them on my old tank. But if space is an issue....there are options.
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