Metal Halide?????
- Thread starter krash555
- Start date
Maybe
Maybe
The main difference will be the K (Kelvin)rating of the bulb or color. A outdoor fixture bulb if it tells you at all will prob. be around 5500K and you really need something in the 10,000-20, 000 K range. If you can swap the bulb out it might work, Plus you will be hanging the whole fixture ballast and all from your sheetrock ceiling which could be kinda heavy. The higher the number the bluer the light is. I tried to go this route but it is very confusing either that or Im dumb. I finally gave up and bought a used light kit off E-bay fairly cheap. Search for Metal Halide on E-bay and I ensure you will find many to sort through.
Maybe
The main difference will be the K (Kelvin)rating of the bulb or color. A outdoor fixture bulb if it tells you at all will prob. be around 5500K and you really need something in the 10,000-20, 000 K range. If you can swap the bulb out it might work, Plus you will be hanging the whole fixture ballast and all from your sheetrock ceiling which could be kinda heavy. The higher the number the bluer the light is. I tried to go this route but it is very confusing either that or Im dumb. I finally gave up and bought a used light kit off E-bay fairly cheap. Search for Metal Halide on E-bay and I ensure you will find many to sort through.
clsanchez77
Member
I am also new to MH and I am buying two IceCap pendants and modifying my canopy so that they will hang level with the top. I really do not see them as that much more expensive.
The IceCap pendant is $180 + bulb each and includes remote ballast, insulated housing, reflector for light spread at the aquarium only and choice of 250W or 400W. Packaged comes in a nice finish.
The HomeDepot fixtures are $90 on average + bulb and are going to be heavy construction (designed to take a beating plus locally mounted ballast), not insulated (will put a lot of heat into the house and tank), come in odd wattages (bulb limitations) and the reflector is designed for 360 degree spread of light (means you will need a higher wattage to get a similar effect as a lower wattage aquarium fixture). Unless your tank is going to have an industrialized theme to its setup (which would look nice if done properly) you will need to do a lot of modifications to make use of the fixture, DIY a canopy and it will still look uhm....out of place...and all you saved was about $90 a fixture.
Personally, I like IceCap but they are not the cheapest. This board has several threads of excellent online vendors to put MH systems together at about $100 a fixture w/bulb and it will mount right into a DIY canopy...or about $150 a pendant w/bulb and forgo the DIY canopy.
My 0.02 cents.
The IceCap pendant is $180 + bulb each and includes remote ballast, insulated housing, reflector for light spread at the aquarium only and choice of 250W or 400W. Packaged comes in a nice finish.
The HomeDepot fixtures are $90 on average + bulb and are going to be heavy construction (designed to take a beating plus locally mounted ballast), not insulated (will put a lot of heat into the house and tank), come in odd wattages (bulb limitations) and the reflector is designed for 360 degree spread of light (means you will need a higher wattage to get a similar effect as a lower wattage aquarium fixture). Unless your tank is going to have an industrialized theme to its setup (which would look nice if done properly) you will need to do a lot of modifications to make use of the fixture, DIY a canopy and it will still look uhm....out of place...and all you saved was about $90 a fixture.
Personally, I like IceCap but they are not the cheapest. This board has several threads of excellent online vendors to put MH systems together at about $100 a fixture w/bulb and it will mount right into a DIY canopy...or about $150 a pendant w/bulb and forgo the DIY canopy.
My 0.02 cents.
im an electrician and i went to my supply house and i can get an entire 175 outdoor mh fixture for $55 bucks and it includes a 5500k bulb but that bulb wont suffice so for a 10000k bulb is 35 bucks so for $90 all i have to do is gut the fixture and replace into my canopy and just replace the wires from the socket to the ballast so i can remotely place the ballast. sounds alot cheaper then buying a marine fixture...just my opinion....thanks for the replies
I like the reefoptix3+ pendents $100ea.
DE 250w....that seems to be the way to go.
i also got the IC 250w MH ballast $115ea and the 14K Phoenix DE 250w bulbs $58ea.
$275 you have a great system with good resale value.
Seems like all Gheto rigs people try to put up just never turnout the way you think they will.
Buy quality, and get used if you need to save $$$!
DE 250w....that seems to be the way to go.
i also got the IC 250w MH ballast $115ea and the 14K Phoenix DE 250w bulbs $58ea.
$275 you have a great system with good resale value.
Seems like all Gheto rigs people try to put up just never turnout the way you think they will.
Buy quality, and get used if you need to save $$$!
dugg
New member
The fixture you are talking about will work just fine. The bulb, even the 10k you can get for 30 probably is no good. You need to get a good quality bulb. I use a standard magnetic balast i bought from a guy on ebay, reflector, ballast and bulb for $90. The bulbs he has, even though 10k , are useless for your tank IMO. This is the ebay seller i used. His warranty is good as gold. He replaced a burned ballast for me, that i ruined by getting it wet for no charge. The ballast i had was a refurbished one, and he sent me a new one to replace it. He paid shipping and all.
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZ360summer360
I like the hamilton 14k bulbs personaly. Here is the absolute cheapest place to order one from.
http://www.roesmarineworld.com/xmhbulbs.htm
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZ360summer360
I like the hamilton 14k bulbs personaly. Here is the absolute cheapest place to order one from.
http://www.roesmarineworld.com/xmhbulbs.htm
ONEMANBAND
New member
oyam123, I made my lights and find your comments offensive.
There is nothing special about a MH light setup from a fish store vs one from Graybar. Its bulb+ballast+socket and some wire. I did 2 400's for $120 plus price of bulbs. Please do not assume all DIY jobs are ghetto rigs, sometimes DIY is a way to make a better product for a specific application or system.
There is nothing special about a MH light setup from a fish store vs one from Graybar. Its bulb+ballast+socket and some wire. I did 2 400's for $120 plus price of bulbs. Please do not assume all DIY jobs are ghetto rigs, sometimes DIY is a way to make a better product for a specific application or system.
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