Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Does anyone know where the best place to buy a metal halide setup for two bulbs at a student’s budget? I don’t know what wattage or the Kelvin that would be the best. So I am open for any suggestions. Here is what I have a 55 gallon tank and I will be running 2 actinic blue vhos with the MH. If anyone could help please let me know. Thanks

Scott always has some good info on stuff like that. Maybe he will chime in with some ideas.

Seems like someone was selling a MH setup recently. hmmm.

Putting one together is the cheapest way. First thing is to figure out what size you want. Two 175's would be a good choice if you don't plan on upgrading to a 75 or larger soon. I had one 400 on my 55 for a while. It worked pretty good but you need a really good reflector. One main thing to think about is heat. Once you have decided find some good quality new bulbs. Look at http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm for some idea of PAR values and bulb color. Sun Aquatics and XM bulbs are good bulbs at good prices. Let us know what you decide and we can help you more.

I think I would like to go with 250 or higher because I would like to upgrade to at least 110gal one day. I tried to go to the like and it does not seam to be working.

It works for me. Try it again. You really need one halide for every 2 feet of tank length. So two bulbs, two reflectors, two mogul sockets (if they don't come with the reflectors, two ballasts. Most of the cost is in the ballasts and bulbs. YOu can get 250 watt multi-tap ballasts locally for around $60 each. Check e-bay for them. Look in the industial section. I don't know of anyone that has 250's for sale used.

Here is what you are looking at:
Bulbs ($50-75 each)
Ballast ($60 each)
reflectors with mogul sockets ($35 each)
plus wiring, ballast boxes, timers, hardware, etc. Two will end up costing $350. You can make some reflectors but they are far less efficient but will get you by for a while.

The link worked for me now I will take a look at it and look up some ballast and thing and post what I find. Thanks

I like the look of these two bulbs

Blueline 10K 250 watt MH
CoralVue 10000K

Here is one link for a ballast, tell me what you think. It looks a little small. I could not find anything else on ebay that work. Maybe I did a search for the wrong wording, I don’t know. Where can you get a ballast locally, Homedepot and lowes

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 77665&rd=1

Here are few links to some kits, which would be best
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 49547&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 87616&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 80535&rd=1


Bulbs
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 49570&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 50397&rd=1

What kind of timer would I need a normal cheap plug in timer or something special

Dual 400's would get too hot for a 55 gallon. The first link to a 250 retrofit kit looks good and is a good price but the reflectors are pretty crappy looking. I have never seen a ballast like that before either.

I know of a place where I can get heavy-duty reflectors for $10.00 each. So should I get this set up? What does everyone else think? If it is a go on this setup, my next step is to convince my wife to let me spend that much on it. So let me know what you think soon. So I can work on that.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 49547&rd=1

I think that I have made a decision. I am going to go with a 400watt PFO ballast ($105, from marinedepot), And I am not sure of the bulb yet. I am still up for suggestions. I will run two vhos with it, white or blues which ever will look the best with the bulb that I get. Does anyone know the best place to buy a good quality bulb at a reasonable price? Around 65 or so dollars.

If I were to buy a dual 400watt ballast, would I be able to run just one bulb on it or do I have to run two.

You can run one... it's two ballasts, in one big case.

I'm echoing Scott here, 400w's are too much for a 55G.

You better buy sun glasses for the fish before buying those search lights.

Well it seams that I went against what every one has been saying. I bought the 400 watt blueline 20K MH with a coralvue single ballast (It is only one bulb). So far I have run it for about 3 to 3.5 hours each day and no problems. After about 2 hours the temperature is 83 degrees. And has stayed at that for the rest of the time they are on. So I think that it tops out at 83 degrees. I have not gotten any fans in the tank, but I am working on getting them in it though. So far I am happy with the lights.

That temperature is not bad at all... if you're happy... we're happy! I would get a fan though.