Lighting question...

[Kempker1498]

As part of the package deal, I got a Coralife Aqualight 250w double ended hqi light. It came with a ballast, and is in working order.

Can anyone tell me more about this light...is it a good light? Will it work for my reef tank, I wanna set up?

Also it has two switches on the side. One switch turns on/off the lunar lights. The other switch, that's the one I can't figure out what it does. If I wanna turn of the main light, I have to do it at the ballast. Can anyone tell me what that second switch does?

Thanks in advance for your help. And sorry if this is a "rookie" question. I tried to research it online and could find anything with this particular light.

Andrew

[carey]

Hi. Welcome to the forum!

What size tank are you planning using this for?

[Kempker1498]

Hey Carey...the guy I bought the tank from said it was a 120 gallon tank. I measured it this evening and put my measurements into an aquarium calculator I found online, which told me it was actually a 100 gallon tank. And it's a corner tank.

Either way I pay $700.00 bucks for the tank, lights, and sump. I think I got a steal of a deal.

[carey]

Being that its a corner tank you should be fine with just the single metal halide. It's a 250w which is a good wattage towork with. How deep is your tank? From top to bottom? Just wanna make sure that there will be enough penetration, some tanks are narrow and WAY WAY deep...

[Kempker1498]

It's 28" deep...

[carey]

You should be fine for growing most anything you want. Very nice!

[Kempker1498]

Hey thanks! This is my first reef tank, so it should be interesting! You think that was a good deal for the set up? Or did I get hosed

[carey]

I'm used to some obscenely good deals so i can't be a good judge of that. Depends on how nice everything is and what the brands and equipment is.
But no, you probably didnt hosed on the deal. If you paid the money then it was worth that much to you.

[jtrasap]

I had an aqualight pro a few years ago and I believe it had a switch to turn the cooling fan on/off.

[Kempker1498]

Do y'all think I could hook up a timer to the ballast?

[jtrasap]

Originally Posted by Kempker1498

Do y'all think I could hook up a timer to the ballast?

Yeah, just make sure you get one of the more heavy duty timers because Metal Halides pull quite a bit of juice. I'd also try and get a digital one, the mechanical timers with the dial tend to where out fairly fast in my experience and then they start losing time and your light cycle will end up out of wack. Even better yet, if you've got any extra money a controller is a better investment. I have a profilux and love it but it's a bit pricey. A good cheap controller is the Reef Keeper Lite. I think you can pick it up for like $99??...I think

[Kempker1498]

I researched the controller you said you liked. I don't mind spending extra money (have to find an overtime job)...I just want a quality product, so I don't worry about it breaking on me. So do u just plug everything into this device? I like the digital display screen on it...very cool!!

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

[jtrasap]

Originally Posted by Kempker1498

I researched the controller you said you liked. I don't mind spending extra money (have to find an overtime job)...I just want a quality product, so I don't worry about it breaking on me. So do u just plug everything into this device? I like the digital display screen on it...very cool!!

Yeah, you can do alot with a controller. As far as lights go, you just plug them into it and set the times for them to turn on and off. There are quite a few good controllers out there so you should do your research. I've owned the Reef Keeper Lite, the Aqua Controller Apex, and now a Profilux, all of which are great controllers.

[Kempker1498]

Thanks for the advice!

[jtrasap]

Originally Posted by Kempker1498

Thanks for the advice!

Your welcome....