lighting

[troutman11111]

hi, again. could i get some advice on lighting my 75gal. have mushrooms,xenia,red plate fungi,feather dusters,toadstool leathers,damsel and purple tang. i have a glass top which i have my old 36in lights on. 1 96watt p.c. smartlight , 1 twinlight strip light 2x10,000 super daylight 36in, and the 48in striplight that came with the tank. i really want the halide/pc or halide/fluorescent. could this be put on the glass top? thanks walt.

 

[reefrunner69]

I have seen people rest their VHO's on glass tops, but that is certainly not something you would want to do with a halide. If you want to go with MH/PC or MH/VHO you could build a canopy and mount the halides and the pc/vho to the top of the canopy. If you make the canopy tall enough (MH should be 8+" from the surface of the water) you can do away with the glass tops all together, this will improve gas exchange and reduce heat as well as allow more light to youe corals. Or you could go with a couple of pendants. For a 75 I would go with 2 X 250W MH and 2 X 110W VHO or 2 X 96PC.

 

[troutman11111]

thanks, the only thing i found was a CustomSeaLife metal halide/pc fixture from doc foster smith 48in. 645.99 comes with 2 175watt 10,000k and 2 65 watt p.c.'s 7100k lamps. they are included, wow thats a first. 48"x13 1/2 x7" perfect but i still want my 4"wide striplight for the front of tank. it's granite like the tank.i keep this one on for the last hour an 03 actnic. i need 12in max wide for my striplight to fit on top. any leeds on where else to look?

 

[michealprater]

i have found some really great deals on ebay. If you are not confident using a auction, I have used www.hellolights.com and was very pleased with the experience all around.

 

[troutman11111]

the coral life metal halide/fl. heard bad things about corallife. whats this u.v.-absorbing acrylic paint? shouldn't it have a lens? ebay is fine,everything is retro fit. i need a 12in wide mh/p.c. 2 250w mh and 2 96w p.c. 48in. i like the look of the light but it has reg fl for the sides. what lights do you use? walt

 

[loganj]

Another source for lighting is www.il-solutions.com . I have ordered from them and was happy with the service and the products. They carry a pretty good selection of MH lighting. They also have the Icecap electronic MH ballasts on sale for $125.00 right now. You can get a ballast from Home Depot for about $30 that will light one 96w PC. It's the electronic instant start that is designed for four 32w 48" bulbs. AFAIK, the only MH bulbs that require a lens (UV filtered) are the HQI double ended bulbs. I believe Hara ordered some of these from Champion Lighting ( www.championlighting.com ) and was very happy with them.
Logan J
PS: As an afterthought, although it would probably cost you a little more, you might consider using four 55w PC's instead of the two 96's. The 96's are about 34" long...the 55's are about 22" long and might give you better light distribution. Not really sure how much difference it would make.

 

[troutman11111]

just can't find this light i want. the best thing i seen so far is this corallife mh/vho. only comes with 175watt mh, i was shooting for 250watt mh.

Description

* Manufactured by Coralife. All ballasts and bulbs are Coralife brand, and cannot be substituted for other brands.
* Metal Halide bulbs are 5,500K standard, with upgrades to 6,500K, 10,000K or 20,000K.
* UV-absorbing acrylic paint.
* Remote magnetic ballasts with 15' cords.
* Separate control for halides and fluorescents.
* Available in aluminum (13" x 6 3/8") with black, bronze or white finish and solid oak (10 1/2" x 7 1/2")
* All lengths contain 1 fan only. We cannot add another fan since this is made by Coralife, and not us.
* Coralife Actinic 03 fluorescent bulbs included.
* Actinic VHO upgrades available for 48",60" & 70" fixtures.

unless some one can give me more places that will have the combo i'm looking for 2 250mh/2 96watt pc's 12in wide max. i might have to settle for the solid oak. it's perfect width but cannot have 250watt mh bulbs. those vho lights are tempting with the 2 175 mh. what k mh bulb should one use? thanks walt

 

[loganj]

10000k Ushio seems to be what everyone likes the best. Did you check out www.championlighting.com ? You might PM Hara and ask her about the lights she bought. I'd try to get a "true actinic" bulb instead of the 7100k. I have read that corals will fluoresce better and some things will grow better with it. It's not quite so blue...kinda a washed out violet color I guess. My understanding is that some bulbs are just coated so they'll be blue in appearance. Then, some others have a phosphor mixture inside the tube that gives them a spectral peak at 420-450nm which is "true actinic". At first, I thought this was just a ploy to sell bulbs, but they really do seem to make a difference in my tank.
Logan J

 

[troutman11111]

yes to all the above, 944.00 at champion for1 mh/vho combo hood 2x175mh 10,000 k ushio /2 vho actinic's. 644.95 same thing at hello lights. 13 1/2 wide looks like my 48in strip light that came with the tank is going away with my many other lights in the actic. i don't want to do this again what a pain.

 

[michealprater]

maybe these guys can do something for you
www.petsupplyliquidator.com

 

[troutman11111]

whats on your tank?

 

[troutman11111]

i checked pet supply liq, nothing in there for me. but they said they can make any light combo. so i told them e mail. waiting for an answer. walt.

 

[michealprater]

whats on your tank?

I have a hamilton 4x96w pc light that has been modified to put 2-250w mh in it. However I am about done with my canopy I built and will be retrofiting my lights into it.

 

[troutman11111]

i'm no carpenter for sure,but it seems like everyone has at sometime retro fit they lights to make them there own special touch. some day, let's say 2004 when them sweet LED lights come out, no one will have to worry about replacing lights because they last for 20yrs and no heat. i got my ticket. 8) for now use what i got and keep on looking.