Metal Halides

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brndfrb

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Messages
753
Location
Danville, Indiana
Just got metal halides. Much thanks to Reefnewb. Couple questions. It is two 250 watt ballasts sockets and reflectors. Now he gave me two bulbs with it. They are not the same bulbs but can i use them together for a little while even thought they don't match. Also How should i mout them in the canopy. The tank is 36'' wide. Now should i mount them so that the bulbs are going horizontal are verticle. If you know what i mean. Also i need to know about how long to leave them on and and how to adjust my tank to them. I had powercompacts. So any help would be great.

Thanks
Brandon
 
I can only help on a few points.
Most I've seen go horizontal (the long way..or side to side...not front to back.)
How are the bulbs different? Color temp or what?
They should be mounted in the canopy about an inch from the wood, you can buy metal spacers at your hardware store (I got them at ace for about $.45/piece) and just ude longer screws. As to mounting the sockets in the reflectors...not too sure about that, my reflector had the sockets riveted in by the supplier.

If you can keep the PC, you could use them for Actinic if you go 10,000K on the halides. What size tank is it? Hope this helps, and anyone feel free to correct me.
 
It is a 65 gallon tank. One of the bulbs is a 5k bulb and it is shaped like a football. The other is a blueline bulb. I know i need new bulbs but will those work for the time bieng?
 
The orientation of the bulbs depends on what kind of reflectors you are using. If they are flat metal reflectors with the sides bent down, they will go parallel to the front glass. If they are the parabolic or spider reflector, they should be oriented perpendicular to the front glass. I don't see any problem with using the different bulbs for a while...I think it may look kinda strange. I would also urge you to very carefully acclimate your livestock to the new lights to avoid shocking anything. On a 3' tank, you might want to just use one of the 250w bulbs. Each MH bulb will cover an area about 2'x2' so you'd only have about 6" on each side that would not be fully illuminated. Might be a good place to put some low light corals such as mushrooms? Perhaps you could temporarily mount one bulb and see what it looks like before you do a permanent installation. JMHO. Of course, if your tank has one of those big center braces at the top, that kinda rules out the one bulb idea. Something to consider though?
 
Hey guys, Just jumping in. They are two large parabolic reflectors and I am sure they will work either way as the tank is only 36" so you will get cross spectrum either way you put them. I saw his canopy and it shouldn't be diffucult to move them round and try it both ways then decide which you like best. If you want any help just let me know, I'm right down the road. Also want to say thanks for the trade, I really feel like I got the better end of the deal so I am in your debt. I know who has first dibs on any future frags! Thanks again.
 
So how do i need to aclimate them to the new light? Also i am using only one ballast for the time bieng. I had to hurry and get one put on so the tank had some light.
 
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