new lighting

[dadstank]

in the new tank i have a 48x24 space to fill with lights.
2 MH is out of the budget, both to get a new unit, and electricity bill wise.
150 was budget, the $175 for what i think i want requires pb&j for a moment.....

i already have 1 MH and here is the plan.

i will spread the MH over the right 24" as best i can.

for the left 24" i was thinking to get the "NOVA Extreme 24" T-5 Fixture 4 x 24W by Current"

can anyone influence or dissuade me?

if you try to dissuade me, why?

i am also going to get a new MH bulb at the same time. i had wanted to do actinics along with side the MH, but for the moment that will have to wait.
so i am thinking a "blue'r" MH bulb.
will i really notice a big difference with 10,000K vs 15,000K?
or do you reaaaaally need to step all the way up to see a real difference?

 

[Anonymous]

Well with a $150 budget you're best bet is to do a retro fitting, which should work with your hood (it don't need to be pretty inside).

How powerful is that MH that you have? Is there a center brace on the tank? If you have enough room (which you should have) I'd definitely cram some T5s next to the MH, and simply run the halides for a few hours a day at most, and the T5s the rest of the time (I did that with my softie tank and it ends up using less power than my old setup which was all t5s all day)

As to your bulb, you will see a HUGE difference, 10k bulbs are really hit or miss to their color, sometimes its white, sometimes its quite yellow. You're going for a mostly(all?) softy tank right? Stick with the bluer bulbs, don't know if I'd go 15k, XM makes a pretty crappy 15k bulb, and the Iwasaki bulb is a budget busting bulb and is more white than blue.

 

[dadstank]

i do want a soft tank.

the MH i have is a 250.

correct me if i am wrong, but the higher the number the bluer the bulb?
(10K vs 15K)

there is no center brace on the tank.

i guess i don't fully understand the whole "retro" kit yet.
i have not looked into it at all....

its the depth of the tank in my head that hangs me up, i am afraid of not getting enough light through the whole tank.... i don't want to have the rock piled up all the way to the top ya know?

today's project is going to be a durso standpipe.....

 

[Anonymous]

i do want a soft tank.

the MH i have is a 250.

Ok this might be too much juice for a soft tank then

correct me if i am wrong, but the higher the number the bluer the bulb?
(10K vs 15K)

You are not wrong, I was just pointing out that your choices of 15K bulbs are quite limited (and crappy)

i guess i don't fully understand the whole "retro" kit yet.
i have not looked into it at all....

Retro is the DIY option basically, you get the ballast, capacitors, plugs, reflector whatever, nothing wired together, no pretty case, and no pretty reflector fixture. IMO the whole reason for having that pretty fixture gets wasted when you hide it behind nice woodwork of a canopy.

Here's an example
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?Pa ... rodID=1322
Coralife 2x150w fixture $479

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?Pa ... rodID=1532
150w retrofit system $133 x 2 if you want two setups. Granted there's no bulbs with these, but adding bulbs is still going to put it WELL under the cost of a fixture, AND you get to choose which brand of bulb you actually want, also that coralife fixture is one of the cheapest ones out there.

its the depth of the tank in my head that hangs me up, i am afraid of not getting enough light through the whole tank.... i don't want to have the rock piled up all the way to the top ya know?

Your tank is 24 inches tall right? Don't worry about lighting, t5s will get to the bottom no problem, metal halides (even as low as 150w) will easily get to the bottom.

When you do your rockscaping you'll want to mix up some tall with short areas to be sure, but I think you're over worrying about how deep light is going to go.

today's project is going to be a durso standpipe.....

Good luck with that

 

[dadstank]

a 250 is to much power huh?

huh.

maybe i will just suspend the 250 a little higher than i had planned, center it, and see how i like it. i'll just change the bulb to what, then a 20K?

i am fairly sure the pendant i have is DIY that my father put together way back when. it certainly is not the prettiest looking job.......

i am going to look into a retro kit for some T5s.

should i match the K in the T5s to the MH?

 

[dadstank]

what about something like this:
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?Pa ... ProdID=120

it appears to me that each pair of lights can be plugged in separately and turned on and off in succession.

from a cost stand point, i feel the extra money for a four light system is worth it compared to a two.

with a soft tank, at what point is to much light a bad thing?

 

[Ben1]

If I was you I would just save up and get the lighting you'll in the end be happiest with. I would not mix different halides such as 1 -150 and 1 -250, I would either go 2 x 250 with VHO or T5 sup or all VHO or T5's. I have used CF in the past and they are not bad either but not my favorite.

I know this is way out of the budget but for softies I might go for something like this,

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... SunlightT5

If you go T5 be sure they use SLR's. You could sell teh lighting you already have to make up some of the difference.

They also make these that are in your budget but no SLR, and doestn include the bulbs.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... SunlightT5

Just be sure you end up with somethng you will be happy with long term, stinks buying something a few times before you get it right.

 

[Anonymous]

Well when I say a 250w is too much I mean it 's too much if you do like most people and leave it on 8-10 hours for a day. I'm sure quite a few softies would love it, however I think its a bit overkill.

I wasn't suggesting mixing 150s in with 250s I just used the retro as an example.

 

[dadstank]

gotcha...

i think what i will do is either a retro T5 kit, or new T5 kit, and maybe blue acts along the MH. i have the ballast, connectors, and bulbs (all T12)

start with the blues for a half hour, then the T5's for another half hour, the MH for 4ish hrs, then reverse. 6 hours of bright light... plus the room is filled with natural sunlight during the day. then when i get REALLY ambitious i'll do a moon light......

 

[Anonymous]

BTW just got an email from hellolights, 10% off on their retrokits
Coupon Code: retro10po

 

[dadstank]

aww word....

 

[dadstank]

in my ever analytical mind i have come up with these three choices that make the most sense to me:

1. RETRO FIT KIT 4 x 55W Fluors.
$199 list (with quality bulbs)
$179 -10%
$16 shipping
$195 ttl.

2. RETRO FIT KIT 2 x 39W T5 1 x 250MH
$258 list (with quality bulbs)
$232 -10%
$20 shipping
$252 ttl.

3. NOVA EXTREME 4 x 24 T5 w/Lunar complete unit
$166 list
$16 shipping
$182 ttl.

i am leaning to the extremes. on the low end, its complete. its closest to the budget. it does the job for a good price. my current MH will go along well with this unit.

on the high end, will i be happier in the long run? i still have a solid seven months on the current 250MH. i don't need to buy one tomrw. it makes this set up attractive. it will also be alot cleaner hanging under the canopy than both of those large units crammed in.

 

[Nemo2007]

T5's will penetrate deeper into the tank than CF's. You will be happiest with individual reflectors on each bulb. I believe only the NOVA pro lamps have those. That said, if your only going to have softies, it probably does not matter much to have individual reflectors (SLR's).