Desperate for better lighting!!!!!

Ryanqk

Active member
I am starting to get desperate for better lighting for my tank, currently im running two T12 20w bulbs each 24inch long, one trichromatic, the other Actinic thats in a 30gl tank. I NEED better lighting well specifically i need the ballast i can get a new bulb no problem, whatever is the cheapest. Either MH (150w if MH) or preferably PC somewhere between 20 and 30 inches (24 fits the best), but i need it soon and as inexpensive as possible! Some of my pieces started showing signs of deterioration from not enough light, particulary anenomes, tunicates, and softie stuff. SO if anyone has any second hand ballast's or equipment they can sell to me at a good price, and i mean under 100 bucks. That would be greatly appreciated, i might be able to part with some frags or something if it brings down the price. Thanks in advance guys!
In the mean time i increased my display photo period to run from 8am to 11pm...
Ryan
PS i dont mind dead spots, my sunpolyps and gorgonia's on the left side wont mind.
 
i have the ballas for a PC 55w to 75w is a dual so you can have 4pc bulbs of 65w with no problem and i have 2X250W MH i want 60 for the pc and 180 for the MH i only have the ballas and the reflector and mogulo for the MH pm me if you like
 
I've been wanting to do t-5s... maybe this is my chance to hop on it. I am thinking of selling my PC set up and I have a few extra new bulbs... in fact the bulbs I am running are pretty new themselves. Give me a few days, I want to see how much I can get a 4 bulb t-5 set up for.
 
I have a Coralife Aqualite 30 inch fixture with 2x65's I'd like to sell for 60.00 and includes one new in the box 65w 10k bulb for a spare.I had paid 140.00 with shipping for it at Marine Depot and the new bulb was 29.99 at a LFS.
 
The coralife aqualight did awesome on my 29 gallon... then the sps craze hit me. I built a full hood and installed a 250w mh, 14000k pfo bulb, and it was even better. Enough fans made it so I didn't have to worry about heat... I was at Big Al's the other day, and I saw a 14000k 175w mh clamp on the back setup, nice little light fixture complete with fan for around 169. I helped a guy put it on his tank, and I was impressed. It looked nice, it was really bright, with a little blue to the light. Check it out before you buy anything else, but if you go pc, get bullred's fixture. I had the same one and give it 2 thumbs up.

By the way, tunicates are filterfeeders, they wouldn't deteriorate from lack of lighting.
 
hmm yeah id love to go get a new orbit hood for 200 bucks but like i said, my budget is meger now, my electric bill is near 200 a month so it eats away at my fish fund.
 
Im going to show you a secret i found out about lets say a month ago...these people make great ballasts for MH and flos....t-5 or t-8...I found that they where ridiculously cheap, but came with a 5 year warranty, so thats cool. Also My brother has the MH ballasts running for a few months no hicups whatsoever and just a good as icecap..... anyways enough bable..http://ballastwise.com/item.asp?PID=29&FID=1&level=0

they also have a 30 day return policy....so you cant really fail....I have ordered two for myself....am testing now and found no flaws....but like i said....30 day money back and 5 year warranty cant beat that....look at the PDF it explains alot....
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8098797#post8098797 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bullredchaser
I have a Coralife Aqualite 30 inch fixture with 2x65's I'd like to sell for 60.00 and includes one new in the box 65w 10k bulb for a spare.I had paid 140.00 with shipping for it at Marine Depot and the new bulb was 29.99 at a LFS.

That is a deal... take that if I were you. You corals will grow great under that system... mine is set up sort of like that but with a 50/50 and dual actinic bulbs.
 
newreef, decided to try that company out, bought 2-150watt mh ballast and 1 - 2x 54watt HO universal ballast. thanks for that site.
 
ok guys i think im gonna get Bullredchaser's lights tomarrow, thanks for the offers and help everyone i appreciate it.
Best regards,
Ryan
PS if something happens and i dont get them ill be in touch via pvt mess.
 
i want to thank Bullredchaser for coming all the way from the sawgrass area to bring me the lights and critique my system, hopefully with his advise ill be able to lower my nitrates and raise the PH. The lighting is awesome, more than i hoped for i didnt even realize till he left that there are 2 cooling fans built in, my corals started booming within an hour. I just raised my watts/pergl from about 1 to 4.38, so now i can keep more than gorgonias, sun polyps, and shrooms, lol. I hope to modify my mesh box into a trap and give away my cardinal asap, then i can replace him or add corals instead. BTW im def looking for some xenia now....
Best regards,
Ryan
 
let me know eric, i love the xenia you have, that last piece was for my partners tank... I'd love some for mine now that i have the lighting
Ryan
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8103395#post8103395 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bawla47
newreef, decided to try that company out, bought 2-150watt mh ballast and 1 - 2x 54watt HO universal ballast. thanks for that site.


No problem man......simple to setup, but even if you oder parts from marine depot you cant beat that price and the quality is great......I will post pics of my brothers setup as well as mine soon....
 
wow, this is just what i needed, almost all the corals came out today and i found a couple little green colonial beach anenomes i thought had died, hopefully they will split some now, i've had them for 9 months.... but they disapeared 2 months ago.. And hopefully my lta will start growing again, he got bigger today too. The gorgonias sat in the corner grumbling.
Ryan
 
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