I have Light!

[exxcaliber2k]

Finally got my ballasts, only had to wait over 3 months, but they were free.

Running two - 175w metal Halides on a 110g



New, 2 Advance 175w ballasts siliconed into a 8x8x4 knockout box, will put spacers between lid and box to allow heat to pull from two 1" knockouts up through gap in lid.


Does it look like enough light?


It's brighter than my 12g with a 96w PC, and everything I have in there is doing great.


It has a pretty good size V of darkness, there is a section of glass in the middle of the top of the tank that is 1/2" thick about 16" across, I am assuming it is for support. The tank is Oceanic if anyone knows if I can remove it or not.

I have four 120mm fans that I can add if it gets too hot, but the back of the canopy is open so I don't think that will be an issue.

I plan on slowing moving some of my corals from my 12g over to the 110g, and then use my 12g for a frag tank.

any suggestions?

thanks.

[haggarse]

From the pics (which could be deceiving) it does not look like near enough light. For reference, my 75G has two 250w MH's and two 54w T5's. Your tank looks nice but I am not sure you will see much coral growth based on the picture above.

Out of curiousity, what is temperature and age of the MH's you are running? Even for 350w's the tank looks really dark?*?*

[exxcaliber2k]

Temperature is ~10000, but they are slighty yellow and the bulbs are brand new. The pic doesn't do it justice it looks alot brighter just standing in front of and looking at it.

will be buying some new bulbs shortly, have to okay it with the wife. gonna get 20000k.

I guess my question is: should 2 - 175w MH be enough for the tank?

[haggarse]

I think it's enough wattage but you should consider going w/ at least 14K's and keep in mind the bottom of the tank may loose alot of light. I'd wait for the opinion of someone w/ more extensive knowledge than myself to respond as my time in the hobby is limited.

[itZme]

It does look very dim and very yellow but I think it could be something as simple as the exposure or white balance setting on the camera. I would imagine that 2x 175 would be enough light for most corals in the upper half and any mushrooms, softies, etc on the lower portion. You will lose a lot of PAR by going to 20,000K bulbs. In my opinion your better option would be to add a couple of actinic bulbs to the mix to even out the yellowish look and still keep the penetration you will get from the 10,000K bulbs. If you go to 14,000K you will lose some of the PAR but not as extreme as the 20's would be.
What it all boils down to is what you like and what you want to keep. It is your tastes that matter in this hobby even if everyone else wants purple or red lights

haggarse I also think it is cool that you don't spew what you have read as absolute fact and recognize the limits of your knowledge. Nice going with the advice

[jakano]

Is your tank a 110 tall? If so 175W seems to me to not be enough for any corals at the bottom of the tank. I have a 110 tall and i am using 2 250 w xm 10k bulbs. at the surface my par was 600 but at the bottom it was only 150-200 depending on where the probe was placed.

That being said I think it was Steven Pro who showed pics of a 150 gallon tank that had tons of sps and was only being lit with 150 halides so you might have a lot of sucess. I would at least get those iwasaki 15k bulbs since they seem to have the most par of any 175w bulb. They have more par than a lot of 250w bulbs.

[ReefFreaks]

I like the DIY ballast box. Is the hood DIY too. If so, are there reflectors in it? I too thought the pics looks a little dim, but that is probably the photo. 2X175 should be plenty of light on tat tank.

[CaveManNOhio]

I'm not so sure the picture is all that deceiving, look at the light on the fuge. It's real bright.

[exxcaliber2k]

I'm using parabolic reflectors I got off of hellolights. where is the best place to buy the iwasaki bulbs?

[exxcaliber2k]

here are a couple of new pics.

water is a little cloudy, I had a fight with my fuge. and I re-arranged my LR.






I took those pics with a powershot sd700is, the old pics I took with a digital rebel, go figure.

[haggarse]

Lighting looks much brighter but the shape of your bulbs interest me. All the MH bulbs I 've ever seen are long and flat, not ball shaped like a standard house bulb, interesting.

[jh2pizza]

what brand bulb are they? What is the Color Temp?

[hollback]

Most grow lights are bulb shaped.

[exxcaliber2k]

they are GE metal halide multi vapor bulbs. I originally thought they were 10k, but I believe they are closer to 6700k.

I am ordering new bulbs here in a few min. I will post new pics once I have those bulbs.

[walmart]

How long is the tank?
What I would do is have 2X175 with 4X54 t5s to make up for the lower wattage. Also to help color supplements.

[walmart]

How long is the tank?
What I would do is have 2X175 with 4X54 t5s to make up for the lower wattage. Also to help color supplements.
On my 90 which is 24" tall I have 2X175 14k with 2X54 Watt g-mann Blue +

[coralreefer2110]

Looks like it coming along nicely. Keep the pics coming.
How big is that fuge?