Flood light

[CiroFuentes22]

i wanted to know if thier is anyway that i can turn a flood light in to a mh by only replacing the standerd duble ended bulb to the i guess hqi 14000k bulb. flood lamp output is 150w and the mh bulb is 150w 14000k. is this possible.

 

[smooth_9]

I dont think so.

 

[vishboy]

Is the light a halogen? You can't run a MH bulb on a halogen ballast.

 

[Louie3]

Why exactly? just a question, I've had I deas of running Halogens or Indcansent lights to see what differences will happen in growth of, Algea, Clams,various corals

 

[Qwiv]

Because they are different types of bulbs and run on different electrical requirments. MH require a ballast that supplies a large voltage to get the bulb to fire. Once the bulb fires, the resistance accross the bulb drops dramatically and the ballast needs to limit the current crossing the bulb so the thing doesn't blow up. The halogen needs a similar opperation from the ballast, but not as extreme as the MH.

Don't mix bulbs!

 

[CiroFuentes22]

ok understood. now is thier any alternative to metal halide. i just dont have the money for that kind of system. and need a quick fix for my 15 and i cant use the pcs.

 

[Qwiv]

You will have to describe your problem better than that. You might want to get the tang out of a 15 gal aquarium while you are at it.

 

[goda]

"
15 gallon with ocellaris clown fish, Blue Tang, and Blue Damsil
" his tank description O_O

wow

anyways

what are you trying to keep? ever consider vho?

 

[familyreefer]

Clam

Clam

The clams gonna need MH anyway , so it's a mute point! Think of tghe lifestock man

 

[goda]

clams dont need MH
never have never will. you can keep them under anything
at work we have had a clam for. it hink 6 months now under pc in a 20 gallon tank

my friend had a clam under vhos till lastyears huricane. i plan to have a clam under vho as soon as i see one i like

MH is given a ;god; status almost that it dosnt deserve

 

[69vette]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8031678#post8031678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Qwiv
The halogen needs a similar opperation from the ballast, but not as extreme as the MH.

Halogens do not use a ballast. They are nothing more than incandescent bulbs.

 

[DesertBandits]

for a small volume like 15 gals, fluorescent lights would be better so you don't have heat issues, as you would be very succeptible with such a small water volume. 2 24in T5s would be great on that size tank, (if it is a 15 long that is) and would only run you 48w, but be all the light you need. They 1 aquablue and one blueplus. or one super actinic and one blueplus.

 

[DesertBandits]

*sorry I meant to say 1 15K and 1 superactinic, i think...

 

[Louie3]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8031678#post8031678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Qwiv
Because they are different types of bulbs and run on different electrical requirments. MH require a ballast that supplies a large voltage to get the bulb to fire. Once the bulb fires, the resistance accross the bulb drops dramatically and the ballast needs to limit the current crossing the bulb so the thing doesn't blow up. The halogen needs a similar opperation from the ballast, but not as extreme as the MH.

Don't mix bulbs!

I meant why cant you use a Halogen bulb/fixture on a reef aquarium as a cheap alternative to MH, I know you can not mix a halogen and a MH, its like putting a regualr Indacsentet light bulb on a flouresent fixture

 

[Qwiv]

You can use the fixture, but you will need a ballast for the MH bulb. Something like this
http://www.1000bulbs.com/products.php?cat=150-Watt-Metal-Halide-Ballast

$50 ballast
$40 Bulb
$30 fixture
$20 misc. connectors/holders
_________
$120 plus your time.

Why don't you get this
http://www.fishsupply.com/sljbj-k2150viper.html
at least you will know it will work when you are done.

 

[Pbrown3701]

i've had a large clam under PCs for 3 years - doing well

 

[CoolUsername]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8034619#post8034619 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 69vette
Halogens do not use a ballast. They are nothing more than incandescent bulbs.

Halogen bulbs range from 12vdc to 120v AC (an possibly more variations). So some halogens just plug directly into the source. The lower voltage halogens use a transformer to drop the line voltage to 12 volts.

 

[CoolUsername]

There is nothing wrong with halogen bulbs on a reef. Other than asthetics. And other than efficiency. Oh yeah and other than the wrong spectrum for corals.

 

[Louie3]

Well thanks for the answer ,CoolUsername, That pretty much answered my question.
To all: Im going to do a little test using zoos and shrooms under a 250w halogen and see what growth I will get in a month, Against a 250 MH and check out what differences I get between growth and algea growth.

 

[Qwiv]

You can't get the correct spectrum out of a halogen. The PAR/PUR value of a halogen bulb are terrible in terms of coral requirments. Corals need light of very specific spectrums, not just any bright light. If you don't know what PAR/PUR is, then don't bother trying to design a lighing system fot corals. Read up on it, and you will understand why a halogen won't work. If they worked, there would be reefers all over with $20 halogens and actinic lights. You might as well just run the actinics as the halogen is useless unless you need a heater.

For our purposes, we will consider PUR as those wavelengths falling between 400-550nm (absorption bandwidth of chlorophylls a, c², and peridinin) and ~620-700nm (red absorption bandwidth of chlorophylls a and c²(this is minor and mostly algea)). This is what light corals need, all the rest is useless except for your fish to see in the dark.

Here is the first article I found on google about using them over a reef tank.
http://www.thekrib.com/Lights/halogen.html

Go buy a used 175 watt HM set-up. They are on the boards for $50. Or look at heliolights.com If you can't afford the light, you can't afford what is in the tank. And just because someone who doesn't know what he is talking about says something is ok, doesn't mean it is ok.