DIY Metal Halide Completed

[justDIY]

I've completed assembly and testing of my first metal halide fixture

You've probably already seen the ballast box in my other post about wiring.

The "pendant" is a 16" x 10" x 10" plywood box, lined with aluminum flashing, containing a 6500k Iwasaki 250 watt bulb. The ballast is contained remotely in a separate box at the end of about 8 feet of cord.

There is a 3/4" air gap between the flashing and the wood.

A high velocity 80 mm fan draws air out the top of the pendant, which in turn draws cool air in the bottom, over the flashing

Although it currently 'appears' dimmer, I think that is because of the 'spill over' - the fish can tell it's brighter ... they are all hiding in the heavy plants ... my mollies have just now gotten used to their new sun, and have resumed surface skimming.

I think I will run it about 8 hrs a day for a week or so, and work my way back up to 12, about an hour a week, to prevent a algae bloom

I'll have to see how brightly it lights the room at night ... the spill-over might be too much for a living room ... in which case I'll either store this light for a newer / larger tank in my 'fish cove' or redesign the fixture to reduce spillover

[r95rdstr]

Originally Posted by glmclell

... my mollies have just now gotten used to their new sun, and have resumed surface skimming.

Mollies? Are you running freshwater or saltwater? You can run full reef with [acronym:2b2d80bd30="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:2b2d80bd30].

[justDIY]

freshwater, heavily planted

I know mh is typically reserved for marine ysers, but I figured I'd give it a try.

It's working well so far - plants are pearling

I love the topless look as well, looking down on the fish and plants is cooler than looking in at them.

[justDIY]

side note - I have some pictures and other info up on my website

http://www.dimension-x.net/gordon/aquaria/mh10

I haven't photographed the fixture itself yet, its too ugly!

[BillyZ]

HA! That ballast box is awesome

I think I'm going to start throwing together some plans for a bookcase/stand/canopy for my living room to move my 55 [acronym:d27c70adc5="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:d27c70adc5] into. I'm sure I'll be scraping every bit of [acronym:d27c70adc5="Do it yourself"]DIY[/acronym:d27c70adc5] info from you I can!

Way to go DIYking,

Can you give a rundown on costs etc...?

[justDIY]

less see

$55 for the ballast and socket
$65 for the Ushio Super-Daylight 6500k bulb (250 watts)
$8 for the toolbox
$20 for the fan
$10 for the cord

so, around $160, plus probably another $8 in wood for the lamp fixture

Not exactly "cheap", but less than a most commerical fixtures, which don''t even include the bulb.

[justDIY]

update - just took some new pics with the new cam

fixture and remote ballast


fixture detail