Can anyone mod 70w MH system into a 20" Orbit fixture?

[Reefer420]

I am pretty bad at most DIY projects- but I am interested at upgrading my current USA Orbit 20" 80w PC light with a nice 70w HQI MH system like this http://www.illuming.com/ . I love the Orbit light- and I know I have seen people mod it w/ MH before.

Anyone in Manhattan good at these kind of things? Not sure if I will upgrade yet- but in the near future I would trade/pay for the work done!

 

[bad coffee]

If you're looking for simple electrical done, I can do it. It's really easy!

70 w over a 16 gallon is a great idea!

BC

 

[Reefer420]

Thanks BC! I am sure its not too tough of a job- but I certainly wouldn't want to mess something like that up- and then be stuck w/ no light until an emergency order was placed! 70w + the 80w PC would be great- give me a lot of options on how to light the tank. Will look into it a bit more- I am not sure if the Aromat ballast that is shown on the site I gave would fit under the reflector of the Orbit (as in this posting... http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24893 ).

Will get in touch with you once I figure it all out- hopefully before the frag swap- thanks again for the offer!

 

[herman]

I had no idea that you could squeeze anything in the orbits. These nanoreefers are geniouses man!!!! They manage to cram anything into anything and make it look good too.

 

[HobokenAddict]

I have this 70w MH in a 7 gallon custom hood. The ballast and wiring will probabaly not fit under the reflector, but it might. You'll have to take the ballast off the junction box, and re-wire everything because he gives you a long cable from the box to the light fixture. The biggest thing you'll have to worry about is heat. I have my ballast and box zip tied to the back of my stand. If you are going to have to run a cord from the light fixture anyway, leave the ballast out of the fixture.

Oh yeah, the 14k astralux bulb looks great when supplemented with pure actinic.

IMHO

Matt

 

[oogie]

I have 70W MH in Nano CUbe 6 ballast. Look here.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4390

I think if you are going to install MH in your orbit fixture, my recommendation is to move the ballasts out of the fixture so you can have it run cooler. Problem with MH is it produces tons of heat, (yes even 70 Watts) and it can easily warp your fixture if it doesn't downright melt it. And as you can imagine ballast runs very hot so, if you can move them out of the fixture it would run much cooler and less impact on your tanks temp.

 

[Reefer420]

Where would I get the tempered glass to use instead of the plastic piece in Manhattan (I am assuming I would need to use this)?

I don't think the 70w MH will give me much of a heat issue in my 16g tank - not if you can put one in your 6g OOgie! The fixure is about 5 inches off the water and really gives off almost no heat with just the PCs running.

I wonder if I could still use the moonlights- maybe off to the sides of the MH...

 

[Reefer420]

I would plan on running the balast outside of the fixture- makes sense if there's going to be a wire running out of the unit already...thanks HobokenAddict!

btw- your tank wouldn't happen to be in the bottom floor of a townhouse (fairly good walk from the trainstation). I saw a nice big tank in the window the other day while visiting a friend there.

 

[oogie]

Well, for tempered glass, what i did was just use a piece that comes with the kit underneth the plastic splashguard. So you will have tempered glass and plastic shield. It would be much cheaper to do that rather then try to cut glass to exact dimentions. Could mean $$$$ specially in NYC.

 

[Reefer420]

Thanks oogie- Did you cut out the plastic under the MH- or just mount the glass that comes w/ the kit somehow to the plastic?

 

[HobokenAddict]

hey reefer420, sorry not my tank, top floor of a brownstone in Hoboken. The astralux 14k bulb has a UV shield built in, so just basic glass, plus my tank is only 7 gallon minibow.

 

[HobokenAddict]

Also, i have a 7+ gallon sump hooked up to my 7 gallon nano- i run a big pc fan into the hood with the back open, plus I run an iceprobe chiller, and still the 70w mh and actinics give off a lot of heat. Since your tank is open on top, be prepared for more evap.