PC, VHO, HALIDE...

[EB847]

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REGULAR FLOURESCENT, PC, VHO AND HALIDE LIGHTING? I HAVE PC 10K/ACTINIC NOW. I LIKE THE LOOK OF HALIDE BUT DO NOT WANT TO SPEND THAT MUCH. ANY SUGGESTIONS ON A MORE NATURAL SUNLIGHT LOOK?

 

[Anonymous]

Spectral output.. And No.

 

[PeeJ]

honestly, you can put a halide lighting system together for pretty cheap now. i wish i would have done that

on a side note, im happy with my 520 watts of PC. works well. but i miss the ripple effect

 

[EB847]

ARE YOU TALKING DIY? HOW CHEAP CAN YOU GET ONE?

 

[Anonymous]

HOW BIG IS YOUR TANK?

 

[PeeJ]

my tank was a 75...now its a 100. 520 watts is more than enough for me...i figure i could keep just about anything as long as i place it neeer the top of the tank

this was not DIY..they are coralife fixtures..about 250 a piece ..

 

[EB847]

MY TANK IS 31 GALLONS.

 

[PeeJ]

then i would do maybe like a 175 MH....??? maybe a 250?

 

[Archmage]

I have 2X150 over my 30 gallon cube. The ripple effects are just hypnotic.

 

[Anonymous]

You should be able to keep most things in that size tank with pc's or T-5's. No need to use Metal Halide on a tank that small.

 

[EB847]

WHAT ARE T-5'S?

 

[shr00m]

if you know how to do some simple electrical things you can get decent metal halide setups from homedepot.com that can be converted to remote ballast for very cheap compared to fish specific lights.... if you get reef MH lights for the ballast its really just as good or better than an expensive setup, depending on how you implement it with your system..... if your really handy you can get the ballast seperate and wire it up yourself for VERY cheap from an electrical supply, theres plans on the web.... if your lazy and have lots of cash, sure order a prebuilt special fish MH but if your handy with simple electrical projects its very easy to setup a Very good cost effective MH system.

ive seen 400 watt MH setups with bulb and ready to go for 80 dollars.... remote ballast even... on the web in stock now... one of my friends got one of these and put a reef bulb in it and it works great.

 

[jsbradbury]

shroom-

where on the web did you this setup? For $80 Ill buy one today!

 

[wooglins]

It is 80 bucks, and you also have to buy a reef bulb right?

 

[shr00m]

they have reef 10k bulbs for 55 dollars... for a 400 watt setup you cant say thats not a good deal... its at www.insidesun.com browse through all the stufff... they have some cheap some expensive... but they do have the 80 dollar setup + 55 dolalrs = 135 for a 400 watt MH system.. you cant say thats expensive unless your just mad you paid 250+ for yours.

 

[shr00m]

http://www.insidesun.com/index.php?acti ... revstart=0


theyre not running the deal on the 400s anymore but thats a 400 watt remote ballast for 110, plus 50 for reef bulb= 160 for a complete setup.... they have 250 watt setups for 80 now...