MH, one or two?

[Ed Greco]

Hi,

First a little background. I have a 65 g tank (36" L,18" W,24" D).
Currently I have two small hoods. One houses two 30W normal florescence
bulbs and the other four 36W 50/50 PCs. Some time ago I acquired a few
corals (green polyps, open brain and a cup coral) and started thinking about
upgrading my lighting situation. The ballast that controls two of the PCs
overheated and so I thought this was a sign to upgrade to MH. I just
finished building a nice wooden canopy and bought some aluminum for a
reflector. My question is this: Should I go with one or two 250W MH? I
gathered that since my tank depth is over 20 inches I need the 250W bulbs
but each bulb is rated for 2 linear feet and I have to fill up three. I am
going to cannibalize the other two hoods so that I can supplement with
actinic. Would a single bulb centered into the canopy suffice or should I
pay out for the extra ballast and bulb?

Thanks,
Ed G.

[Richard Reynolds]

> First a little background. I have a 65 g tank (36" L,18" W,24" D).
<snip>
> My question is this: Should I go with one or two 250W MH? I
> gathered that since my tank depth is over 20 inches I need the 250W bulbs
> but each bulb is rated for 2 linear feet and I have to fill up three. I am
> going to cannibalize the other two hoods so that I can supplement with
> actinic. Would a single bulb centered into the canopy suffice or should I
> pay out for the extra ballast and bulb?

id go for 2 bulbs

of course 3 or 4 would be nice to :)

--
Richard Reynolds

[Marc Levenson]

And I would only use one bulb. This is my reason.

You said the tank is 36 x 18. A MH bulb lights 24 x 24. So any low light
corals could be on the ends of the tank, which would be 6" on each end (from the
glass). 24 + 6 + 6 = 36.

Your tank is only 24" deep, and if you have a DSB and reduce the total height by
1" so that your tank doesn't overflow, you have 19" from the surface of the
water to the substrate.

Supplementing with PCs will negate any 'dark' appearances on the ends, I
believe.

Now, you might still buy a Dual ballast MH setup because that way if one ballast
goes out, you can just switch over to the ohter one in minutes. Buying a Dual
ballast is cheaper than buying two individual ones, and if you decide it isn't
enough light, you could wire up the second one in your canopy.

Marc


Ed Greco wrote:

> Hi,
>
> First a little background. I have a 65 g tank (36" L,18" W,24" D).
> Currently I have two small hoods. One houses two 30W normal florescence
> bulbs and the other four 36W 50/50 PCs. Some time ago I acquired a few
> corals (green polyps, open brain and a cup coral) and started thinking about
> upgrading my lighting situation. The ballast that controls two of the PCs
> overheated and so I thought this was a sign to upgrade to MH. I just
> finished building a nice wooden canopy and bought some aluminum for a
> reflector. My question is this: Should I go with one or two 250W MH? I
> gathered that since my tank depth is over 20 inches I need the 250W bulbs
> but each bulb is rated for 2 linear feet and I have to fill up three. I am
> going to cannibalize the other two hoods so that I can supplement with
> actinic. Would a single bulb centered into the canopy suffice or should I
> pay out for the extra ballast and bulb?
>
> Thanks,
> Ed G.

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Ed Greco]

Anyone tried this DIY MH setup

http://aquarium.union.rpi.edu/rpi.html

I am thinking of saving a few bucks and giving it a try. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Ed

[Teri G]

Ed,

Those are the DIY MH plans we used for our 180g. We're running 3 x 250w
Iwasaki 6500k's, and 4 x 6' VHO's. We followed those plans pretty much
to a T, and all is fine. Will be going on 2 years this coming May.

Teri
http://www.reefsanctuary.com
Personal site --> http://home.comcast.net/~76fxe

Ed Greco wrote:
> Anyone tried this DIY MH setup
>
> http://aquarium.union.rpi.edu/rpi.html
>
> I am thinking of saving a few bucks and giving it a try. Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks,
> Ed
>
>