bdrou

Forum,


I was looking on E-bay at MH fixtures would this type be ok if I just changed the bulb? http://cgi.ebay.com/METAL-HALIDE-250...QQcmdZViewItem

Cody

why would you pay so much for somthing like that..if you want to grow plants its cheaper to buy a need bulb for the aqurium. and if you just want a lighting system a plastic hood and light combo is much cheaper

sgould

I presume since Bryce is posting in the SW section that he is not wanted to just grow plants. For any kind of reef keeping, basic plastic hood/light combos are not sufficient lighting.

Bryce, I would guess that you could do that, but I do not have any MH experience, so you might want to wait and see if anyone else comments.

bdrou

Sean and Cody,

Thanks for the replies, and yes I meant reef lighting although thanks Cody as I should have not thought that people would know what I was talking about ,but I'm trying to research a preferred setup but it seeems everyone has a different preferred system what are yours?

Rbacchiega

It really depends on what you're looking at keeping in terms of tank (fish only/FOWLR/Reef) and then furthermore into what type of corals you're planning on keeping. Also, what size tank is it? 250 watts does sound like alot, but not if it's a 50 gallon tank. General guidelines for corals (lps and sps) would be between 3-5 watts per gallon. Also, that weighs 30 pounds...pretty heavy for what you'd be wanting to use it for, unless you're planning on suspending it from the ceiling. And the area is relatively small too just under 22 inches long and 16 inches wide. That's a pretty compact area, so unless you have a compact tank, I would possibly save up and purchase an actual aquarium metal halide unit. They are more expensive, but in my mind, worth it.

Hope this helps

agsansoo

I am not familiar with these fixtures. The thing that bothers me is the ballast is inside the fixture. MH ballasts usually are housed separately, due to over heating. A 250 watt ballast gets hot, even an electric ballast.

bdrou

Forum,

If I kept just the starter corals would a Glo T5 High Output fixture with a actinic and a 'super bright' bulb rated at 18000k do?
Bryce
Thanks!

Rbacchiega

if by starter corals you mean polyps certain ones would be able to work with t5 lighting.