Do It yourself MH lighting???? - Aquarium Advice

garth7 · 11-14-2005, 09:04 AM

Has anyone created their MH lighting system themselves? Got any instrucitons? I was looking into doing this myself but got confused on what type of ballast I should buy and what type of lamp would fit this. Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Doug

greenmaji · 11-14-2005, 09:16 AM

it depends on what you need.. I could try to dig you up some links for parts if you give the wattage and type of bulbs you want to have.. HTH

BillyZ · 11-14-2005, 10:01 AM

You can search our DIY forum here and you'll find a lot of helpful information.

and on that note, i'm going to move this thread there for proper placement and should get you more responses as well.

garth7 · 11-14-2005, 10:22 AM

Thanks BillyZ. I just now seen the DIY section. Crazy new guys.... I have a lot of learning to do. This place is great!!!!

garth7 · 11-14-2005, 11:06 AM

Hey I found the following retrofit kit....

http://www.hellolights.com/arocu17rekit.html

Think this will be fine for my 55 gal tank (sorry I forgot the actual dept of the tank).

I also will think about putting some pc actin bulbs with this in the future. Let me know of what you think.

Doug

greenmaji · 11-15-2005, 02:34 AM

The sale price makes that a good deal on the retrofit kit..
it depends on what MH bulbs you pick as to wether or not youll need 03 supplementation.. 14K+ youll probibly not need it color wise.. HTH

DragonForce · 11-15-2005, 02:38 AM

I built my own 175 watt system for 130 bucks. With some of the retro kits available out there, it really is not logical to make your own when you can get a complete for around 150.

greenmaji · 11-15-2005, 02:48 AM

Ill likely pull off my dual 175 watt system for less then 80-90.. but that was with some great deals I pulled off on ebay..

garth7 · 11-15-2005, 11:36 AM

Hey I was in menards last night and found some sunlight compact florescents.

These were equivelent to 100 watts the plugged into an ordinary light socket. The had a 6500K rating on them. Would these be a good supplement to the mh listed above. Would the different k rating give me a broader spectrum of light? If so, they would be a cheap add on. The only worry would be room. Let me know if I am silly for thinking this is a good idea!

Doug

I love this place!!!!

greenmaji · 11-15-2005, 05:16 PM

You wouldnt want to supplement 6500K anything but possibly 20,000K MH.. and you dont count the equivelent wattage number (that is what they are equivelt to in incandecent bulbs and that would be irrelevent for fish tanks) you count the wattage the bulb actually uses and the restrike of those bulbs you usually louse about half of that..