metal halide question

[MPISCIOTTI]

was thinking about switching my metal halide. i run 2 400 watt 20k xm bulbs.. getting tired of my huge electric bill.. what does anyone think anout putting 2 250wat bulbs. and getting 2 t5.. would there be any bad happen to my tank

 

[Sean]

What are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[cali_reef]

What type of coral do you have in your tank??

 

[MPISCIOTTI]

my tank is 48x24x25 120 gallons.

tank holds sps

 

[Sean]

Personally I would keep the 400w M.H.

 

[MPISCIOTTI]

yeah i know. maybe i should buy some t5 bulbs anyway. to shorten my halide being on.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

why not go with vho's... instead of the t 5

 

[House of Laughter]

Mike,

I have 4 - 250's on a 6' tank and Jackson has 2 - 250's on his 120 with about the same dimensions - not sure why you'd be worried about using 250's?

Are they DE's or SE's? You should be able to get away with switching to 250's or even moving over to electronic ballasts to save on electric.

House

 

[Tonyscoots84]

hellolights.com got some good deals on pretty much all lighting..

 

[yessongs]

Mike, the 250W will be fine for your tank. + there is more to chose from.
If you want we could take a ride to see Tony, no need for Hellolights.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

IMHO 250W 10Ks would be your best bet supplement with 2 VHO URI actinics

I'm going to use 4 - 250W 10K XM's on my 450 using Luminarc reflectors
pesently I'm using 3-250W 10K XM's on my 180 and my SPS are thriving and growing. also my tank has full glass canopy

250's will do fine also run cooler than 400's

 

[jackson6745]

250's are fine but you may not want to use 20k in that wattage because they are kind of dim. I would get 250w Icecap electronic ballasts and run 10k xm or 10k reeflux...these bulbs burn blue/white on this ballast and look great with 2 actinics (Check our featured tank). If you want to use blue bulbs(14k) you should run an HQI ballast.
If you plan on using 10k's on an HQI ballast you will need more than 2 t5 to offset the yellow color.

Mike, do you plan to you use se or de and what color bulb?

 

[MPISCIOTTI]

when it come to lighting im lost.. i am running 2 20k xm on a standrd ballast.. my electric bill is almost 400 a month.. im getting hammtrd by con ed..

now when it come to vho, t5, pc, compact floursent. may as well talk a foregin language to me.....would 3 250watt be less then 2 400watt to run.. does a electronic ballast really save that much electric.. do i need to run se or de bulbs with 250watt.. please help

 

[MPISCIOTTI]

also one more stupid question what is a DURSO.. WHAT

 

[Deanos]

would 3 250watt be less then 2 400watt to run.. does a electronic ballast really save that much electric.. do i need to run se or de bulbs with 250watt.. please help

You do not need 3 halides to cover a 4' tank. Switching to 2x250w will save you 300w right off the bat. 250w bulbs can be either SE or DE; just be sure to match them up correctly with the ballast (per jackson6745).

 

[jackson6745]

Running SE bulbs gives you the option of using Luminarc reflectors which gives awesome coverage and SE bulbs are easier to handle without cracking
DE bulbs must be used in a mini pendant which give a more focused light in a smaller area.(2x250 DE's are enough to cover your 120)

Electronic ballasts burn bulbs less bright with more of a blue color.
Magnetic ballasts burn bulbs bright with more of a white color.

If you want a lighting setup that you're guaranteed to love get 2 icecap ballasts with SE 10xm bulbs, mini luminarc reflectors, and 2 VHO actinics.

 

[Deanos]

also one more stupid question what is a DURSO.. WHAT

Durso standpipe

 

[MPISCIOTTI]

now that in know what a durso is. all this time i had 2 of them in my tank just did not know the right name for them...


i think im going to get the lumenarc refleactors. from tony. and swithc to the 250watt.. like you guys said no problem.. also who make a good ballast for the vho..

 

[jackson6745]

Icecap VHO ballast

 

[cali_reef]

i think im going to get the lumenarc refleactors.

Make sure you check them out before you buy them, they will not fit in ALL applications due to the physical size. The minis will work better if you want to use actinic supplement on your 24" wide tank.