anyone know how to put together Metal Halide lighting for saltwater tank?

]\[ /-\ ]\/[ · Dec 2nd, 2003, 11:08 PM

i'm a newbie in the marine life department.

Need some help on lighting if anyone has any experience.

I just got a ~10gal tank and wanted to do some hard corals but mainly softies cus it's easier....does anyone know how to put together a DIY metal halide light for cheap?
if so, please give me some pointers.

or does anyone know where i can get MH lighting for cheap?
i only need like a 75w MH....i think that's sufficient for a 10gal

BTW, Frank, do u know if ur sis sell MH lighting? if so, hoook me up

96_vqmax · Dec 2nd, 2003, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]\[ /-\ ]\/[

i'm a newbie in the marine life department.

Need some help on lighting if anyone has any experience.

I just got a ~10gal tank and wanted to do some hard corals but mainly softies cus it's easier....does anyone know how to put together a DIY metal halide light for cheap?
if so, please give me some pointers.

or does anyone know where i can get MH lighting for cheap?
i only need like a 75w MH....i think that's sufficient for a 10gal

BTW, Frank, do u know if ur sis sell MH lighting? if so, hoook me up

I'll ask for you tomorrow.

But why go with 10 gals?Wouldn't it be too small to even put anything into it?Well just go with 20 gals at least,like mine.

]\[ /-\ ]\/[ · Dec 2nd, 2003, 11:54 PM

nah...10 gal is enough, since i also have a 75 gal to work with.
actually, i think it's a 12 gal, but not sure tho....it's for my lil bro's room

btw, Frank do u have the number for the guy that can fix my ticket?

96_vqmax · Dec 3rd, 2003, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]\[ /-\ ]\/[

nah...10 gal is enough, since i also have a 75 gal to work with.
actually, i think it's a 12 gal, but not sure tho....it's for my lil bro's room

btw, Frank do u have the number for the guy that can fix my ticket?

Yeah,Paul Kubosh (713)222-0880,sorry been very busy working on something and forgot about it.

]\[ /-\ ]\/[ · Dec 3rd, 2003, 12:21 AM

so what do i have to tell Paul Kubosh?
that u sent me? hehhe

96_vqmax · Dec 3rd, 2003, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]\[ /-\ ]\/[

so what do i have to tell Paul Kubosh?
that u sent me? hehhe

Yeah,tell them I send you,so that they will give you big discount,lol j/k.No,just call them and tell them you got a ticket and see if they will go to this court or not,most likely they will have someone.

**Matt93SE** · Dec 3rd, 2003, 12:40 AM

Hmm, anyway you can fix a ticket from Mcalester, OK?!

75W on a metal halide bulb is enough to probably boil a 10 gal tank. we use four 350W bulbs to light an entire 60 x 100 warehouse at home.. you sure you're not trying to grow some 'agriculture' in the closet with that thing?!

I need to get me a small tank.. like a 5-6 gallon one.. anybody got a spare they're trying to get rid of? (not like they're more than $20 though)..
since we're renting this house, we're not allowed to have any pets... including fish.. btu they said a small tank is okay... I've only got two dwarf frogs, but the 1 gallon jar they're in now is a little too small for 'em.

]\[ /-\ ]\/[ · Dec 3rd, 2003, 12:47 AM

actually, some ppl are using over 100w, like 175w MH lighting for their 10-20gal nano-tanks

**Matt93SE** · Dec 3rd, 2003, 01:09 AM

wtf? that's crazy.. my 20w fluorescent was bright enough back when I had a 20 gal tank running.....

]\[ /-\ ]\/[ · Dec 3rd, 2003, 01:18 AM

20w normal output maybe bright enough for regular freshwater......but that's nowhere near enough for saltwater

**HNE** · Dec 3rd, 2003, 07:44 AM

You guys are speaking Chinese to me. Ha ha. I know nothing about fish and all that.

**Matt93SE** · Dec 3rd, 2003, 08:04 AM

never knew there would be a diff with salt water.. ya learn something new every day!

96_vqmax · Dec 5th, 2003, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]\[ /-\ ]\/[

20w normal output maybe bright enough for regular freshwater......but that's nowhere near enough for saltwater

Well Nam,I asked my in-law for you already and he said that he only sell 175w^ metal HL,and he said that you only need 3w for every gal.So you are using a 10-12 gals tank = 30-36w,he recommen that you buy a power compact 96w that will fit your tank,and it'll be alots cheaper than the MHL.Even with this power compact 96w it will be over kill for your tank,plus he said that with MHL you will have to put it higher above the water cause it's so hot.Hope this help.

]\[ /-\ ]\/[ · Dec 5th, 2003, 09:49 AM

3w per gallon is ok if u keep fish or regular softies only....but i want hard corals...hard corals need huge amount of lights...like ur bro-in-laws big display tanks...the lights on those tanks are prollly really strong

btw, do u know how much his 175 mhl cost? i'm gonna build a lil canopy to hang the light above the tank, so that it's not too close and too hot

]\[ /-\ ]\/[ · Dec 6th, 2003, 10:49 PM

i think i'm gonna with the 70w MH...www.nano-reef.com has lots of info. but some ppl i think are too extreme....i wanted the 20000k light bulb that i want are only 150w and up...but i guess 70w 10000k bulb will do, it's just the color on the 20000k looks so much better, and the intensity is as much as the 10k, so i'm guessing the 20k wouldnt get as hot as the 10k.