Metal Halide

[Dominick]

I'm very new to Metal Halide are they strait 120 meaning just plug her in
or do they require a ballast??

[lance]

Depends on the setup. They do need a ballist that matches the bulb but some setups come with them.

[Dominick]

I'm going DIY on mine only problem is I do not know how many MH bulbs and
what wattage they need to be I will also have CF lights that will come on first
before the MH.

Using a aquarium calc its about 360 gal tank 8 foot long and only 2 foot deep
and im going to have a reef live rock fish the whole 9yards.
Any suggestions as far as MH total wattage how many bulbs and what wattage per?

[Ziggy953]

Originally Posted by Dominick

I'm going DIY on mine only problem is I do not know how many MH bulbs and
what wattage they need to be I will also have CF lights that will come on first
before the MH.

Using a aquarium calc its about 360 gal tank 8 foot long and only 2 foot deep
and im going to have a reef live rock fish the whole 9yards.
Any suggestions as far as MH total wattage how many bulbs and what wattage per?

MH bulbs typically cover a 2'x2' area..so an 8' tank would need 4 to cover the entire area. If you are going for a full blown reef you may want to look at using something other then CF as your actinic supplement. T5s or VHOs would work better.

If your tank is 24" tall then you could get away with 250w MHs. I have a 120 that is 24" tall and I use 2 175w MH with T5s and VHOs. If you are wanting more light demanding corals and clams then you may want to look at a combination of 250s and 400s. I know of a tank that has 2 400's in the center with 250s on either end. That allows you to have the more light demanding corals in the center of the tank and the other corals on the ends.

As for DIYing your lighting it's a great idea. I would buy ballasts that are already made for MH bulbs though. Icecap is one of the best options out there though a little pricey. PFO is another good option. It all depends on if you want magnetic or electronic ballast. Magnetic hum where as elctronic do not. Magnetic are usually larger and produce a lot of heat and the electronic ballasts are smaller and don't produce as much heat.

[Dominick]

anyone know if this will do for MH

Ballast

[ccCapt]

That's a magnetic core & coil ballast. That will work fine if your not afraid to wire it yourself. You may want to look for 250w tho. 400w for a 24" deep tank is not really necessary.

[Dominick]

Originally Posted by cccapt

That's a magnetic core & coil ballast. That will work fine if your not afraid to wire it yourself. You may want to look for 250w tho. 400w for a 24" deep tank is not really necessary.

Sweet I am not afraid of wiring it myself I have always wired all my
tank lights just like to save a little money.