MH Light

[freddychin]

All members,

Just like to know sleek some sound advise on lighting as I do not know anything about electrical.

I am using 3 units of MH light that is 150 watts for a 5 feet tank x 26" h x 24" d. It is a HQI type. 10,000 kelvin.

(w + b + w + b + w) the blue is phillps

Will this be enough ?

I switch on my white light for 6 hrs only.

Is the duration OK ?

I believe my ballast will be 150 wattts for my MH lighting.

I notice that quite a numbers of you guys are using 200 watts, 300 watts or even 400 watts. Will I need to change the ballast if I am to buy a 400 watts MH bulb.

Is 10,000 kelvin the same as 10,000 lumens ?

I do see bulk order of MH bulb in another thread. Is the bulb useable for my type of fitting ? (HQI)

thanks

regards

[Tanzy]

5 150W MH? Should be enough except for such a big tank why don't you use just 3 250W instead so that it has the intensity to punch deeper. Too many MH bulbs will reduce the caustic lines.

Some say 6 hours some use 12 hours. Let the corals decide.

I believe that your ballasts should be 150W too.

You will need a matching ballasts to the correct wattage bulb.

10000K is the colour temperature of the bulb. Lumen is the brightness.

400W Radiums? Those are E40 or E39 screw type mogul socket. Definitely won't fit E27 or RX7 150W type fittings.

[Achilles Tang]

5 150W MH? Should be enough except for such a big tank why don't you use just 3 250W instead so that it has the intensity to punch deeper. Too many MH bulbs will reduce the caustic lines.

Some say 6 hours some use 12 hours. Let the corals decide.

I believe that your ballasts should be 150W too.

You will need a matching ballasts to the correct wattage bulb.

10000K is the colour temperature of the bulb. Lumen is the brightness.

400W Radiums? Those are E40 or E39 screw type mogul socket. Definitely won't fit E27 or RX7 150W type fittings.

Tanzy... you mean glitter lines?

Caustic means corrosive... hee hee!

[Tanzy]

Glitter lines are light reflection on the water surface.

Caustic lines are light refraction on the bottom (swimming pool effect). It is the caustic effect of light. Most people just call it glitter lines but it's actually caustic lines.

[freddychin]

Tanzy and all,

Thanks for the info.

Just to explain my light combination as I may have not explain correctly.

150 watt MH HQI, 10,000 kelvin

then

blue phillips but do not know how many watts

then

150 watt MH HQI, 10,000 kelvin

then

blue phillips

then

150 watt MH HQI, 10,000 kelvin

This is the combination

Is there a 250 watt blub avaliable locally that can fit tomy type of fitting ?

I believe I will need to change the ballast to 250 also right ?

250 (10k kel) + blue + 150 (10k kel) + blue + 250 (10k kel) -This combination if available

thanks to all again

regards

[Tanzy]

Ja, 250W ballast for 250W bulb.

Assuming you are using double ended 150W, you'll need to do some modification to the pendant to fit a 250W. Swop the RX7 for a FC2 socket to fit the 250W bulb.

[alvy]

Glitter lines are light reflection on the water surface.

Caustic lines are light refraction on the bottom (swimming pool effect). It is the caustic effect of light. Most people just call it glitter lines but it's actually caustic lines.

totally agree with tanzy!!hehe...

i did my damn dissertation on caustics and its effects on architecture!!

very few ppl know the other meaning of caustics

[Achilles Tang]

Cool!

I learnt something new today!