For a 168 gal. Where can I purchase MH's? I will be needing 3. I will also be using my PC as actinics.
TIA
Susan

Ok Susan...I talked with Joanne last night and found out a little bit about your lighting system....You are definately gonna want to hire an electrician for these MH's I got some pics of the ballast and stuff and I can help you out a little bit and Joanne will be jumping in too...thanx to Seabuzz for these pics....This is a Pic of ONE Graybar Ballast in an Electrical box...Seabuzz has a Fan mounted on it apparently they get hot [img]/ubb/tongue.gif[/img]



and heres a pic of the Iwasaki bulb and a spider reflector


Im sure that there is a way to totally enclose them into some boxes with ventilation and cooling fans still on them. Maybe SPASSE can jump in here on this one and give us his advice He is an electrical engineer if memory serves me correct, and the other Question I would have is say you have a breaker box/circuit box Like mounted in the Garage for just your tank...Can you mount the ballast in the garage too? and run wire through the walls from the sockets to the ballast or are we dealing with too much wire (increasing the resistance?) It would just make more sense to have these ballast away from the 120gallons of water [img]/ubb/eek.gif[/img]


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http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...de=Metalhalide

I think you will get TONS of different types of Lighting profiles from different ppl on this Susan, so prepared to get very confused [img]/ubb/confused.gif[/img] hehehe I think one of your best bets will be to have 2 of the greybar ballast and of course the Iwasaki 6500k bulbs 250watt or 400watt if you are feeling rambuctious [img]/ubb/tongue.gif[/img] and then maybe a One 175 MH with a 12k bulb in the Middle...you could get this (the 175 MH Kit) whole setup retro kit at www.aquaticlight.com then you could mount the 2 PC's with actinic lighting in them next to the 6500k bulbs?...I think this would provide a Killer spectrum and awesome eye appeal.

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Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

[This message has been edited by scubadude (edited 04-04-2001).]

[This message has been edited by scubadude (edited 04-04-2001).]

SCETT316,

Seeing that transformer ballast in that small box made me cringe. Also, I can’t be sure from the picture but it looked like a PVC box, which I would definitely not recommend. (If it is diecast metal, my apologies)

There are a number of approaches to ballast enclosures.

1 The PFO transformer ballast as available from Premium Aquatics. This is also available in a dual ballast configuration.




2 The solid state BlueLine Ballast as available from Champion Lighting and Supply is smaller, lighter and runs cooler than a transformer ballast. But it does not produce quite as much light as a transformer ballast.



3 Finally, if you don’t need a 400-watt ballast, the solid state IceCap ballasts are a favorite of some. This ballast runs so cool that it really never get more than warm.
http://www.icecapinc.com/

I would be happy to discuss these ballasts at length, after you have had to look them over.

Regards,

Scott

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The definition of an expert is a washed-up drip under pressure.
You can see my reeftank at http://www.homestead.com/spasse/

Scott what about distance of the ballast from the bulb? is there problems the farther the ballast is from the bulb? like say 20-30 ft. away from the bulb? what would be the maximum distance from the bulb that the ballast could be w/out having any negative impact?

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SPASSE:
How do you recommend enclosing the ballasts ilustrated in the pic above? Especially since I have two of them that need hooked up? I'd appreciate your advice! I've fully looked at all the lighting options available and decided on the MV ballasts, which I already have purchased. For someone without electrical knowledge or at least someone to do it for them, it's safer going with the other options you listed. BUT...as Scuba asked...I'm looking at hooking up two of these and am thinking about mounting them in the utility room where my breaker box is...how much wire length could safely be used and still maintain the power to run the ballast? Thank you!

Susan: We'll explain more about the lighting later.

[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]
Joanne

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That which does not kill us makes us stronger...like lifting those salt buckets.

Hi All,

Scuadude,

As long as the wire between the lamp and the ballast is rated for the proper voltage, distances up too 50’ should not be a problem. But I need to check into this to verify that long wire lengths do not adversely effect the ignition circuit.

Thezookeeper,

Role your own ballast boxes are problematic, the reason that the PFO ballast is so large is because the heatsink required for (especially) the 400-watt ballasts is quite large. Other approaches are to use a box where “convection” cooling is adequate.

I will do some R&D and get back to this…

Regards,

Scott

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The definition of an expert is a washed-up drip under pressure.
You can see my reeftank at http://www.homestead.com/spasse/

Thezookeeper,

One more question.

What size (watts) is the ballast?

Regards,

Scott

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The definition of an expert is a washed-up drip under pressure.
You can see my reeftank at http://www.homestead.com/spasse/

Spasse: Each ballast is rated for a 250 watt MV bulb. I have two separate ballasts. Thank you!

P.S. Exactly what could be used as a heatsink? Is a "heatsink" the thing I would have to buy? I have no idea. [img]/ubb/eyemouth.gif[/img]

[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]
Joanne

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That which does not kill us makes us stronger...like lifting those salt buckets.

[This message has been edited by thezookeeper (edited 04-04-2001).]

Originally posted by thezookeeper:
P.S. Exactly what could be used as a heatsink? Is a "heatsink" the thing I would have to buy? I have no idea. [img]/ubb/eyemouth.gif[/img]

[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]
Joanne

The long lined grooves in this picture are the actual heat sink Joanne its basically a place for air to vent through to cool off the unit


You can buy heat sinks pretty much at any electrical supply shop if they do not come with the ballast. Correct me if im wrong Scott [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]



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Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

OK... am confused. (not hard to do) would 2 - 250watt halides with 65K Iwasaki bulbs and my
PC 4 x 55 watt actinics be enough? I want the simplest, most economical way posible way to do this. Also do I need an electrician to do this for me? Is there a setup, where the ballast can go in the hood or down in the cabinet? Or would that be too dangerous. I can see it in my husband's face, that he is starting to get concerned....me, water, electricity. Oh No..[img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Since I do not have much livestock at the moment, I guess that would be enough, but I am thinking? (yes occasionally I do that) if I want to have clams or a few stony corals in the future, would that be enough? I don't want to have to go out an purchase a new setup down the road either.
Thx
Susan

Susan I thought you where going with 3 MH's??
thats how your tank was designed right?

------------------
Check out my NEW website

Scubadude's Website

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I would suggest you look at the ballast at www.aquaticlight.com dont get the retro cause the bulb isnt usable cause its 4300k.

Blue[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

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Think befor you speak!!!

Originally posted by blue:
I would suggest you look at the ballast at www.aquaticlight.com dont get the retro cause the bulb isnt usable cause its 4300k.

Blue[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

Blue you can buy higher kelvin rated bulbs there [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I have bought 3 retro kits from them and have gotten higher rated bulbs with all of them [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] Its just the standard el cheapo is the 4300 kelvin but they do have upgrade options.


------------------
Check out my NEW website

Scubadude's Website

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Susan: I think with a tank that size, you would definately want MORE than 2-250 watt bulbs. A MH will only cover 2 feet of space, I'm not sure how long your new tank is.

[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]
Joanne

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That which does not kill us makes us stronger...like lifting those salt buckets.

OK.........I s/w aquaticlight, here is what they are sugg:
2 400w MH 5k one on each side and my PC 4x55 actinics in the middle. They feel with this setup there is no need to upgrade to the 12K.
Pls. give me opinions.
Thx
Susan

Thx. glad to be in your team too. and yes I am not playing with a full deck here...
But I still need to get answers from my previous post.Fedex is leaving..hehehe. Also is aquatic the best place to order from as far as pricing?
Sue
PS Hey, I want to be able to put moving smileys too. how do I do that.
I guess we also have to move to diff forums soon for all my other ?????.
I love it!

Originally posted by SCETT316:
Thx. glad to be in your team too. and yes I am not playing with a full deck here...
But I still need to get answers from my previous post.Fedex is leaving..hehehe. Also is aquatic the best place to order from as far as pricing?
Sue
PS Hey, I want to be able to put moving smileys too. how do I do that.
I guess we also have to move to diff forums soon for all my other ?????.
I love it!

IMO I think aquatic has the best prices! especially if you dont want the hassle of mounting the ballast, and all the troubles that Joanne is dealing with right now [img]/ubb/tongue.gif[/img] In order to do moving smileys you have to have an established tank with 3-MH lights... [img]/ubb/lol.gif[/img] no seriously, when you clik on post reply you will see a link to the left that says Smiles Legend clik on that and it will show you [img]/ubb/tongue.gif[/img]


------------------
Check out my NEW website

Scubadude's Website

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.



[This message has been edited by scubadude (edited 04-05-2001).]

LOL! You guys crack me up. Cool. thx. Okay, like this is me [img]/ubb/spineyes.gif[/img][img]/ubb/spineyes.gif[/img] right now.
I am ready to call aquatic.
3 MH what wattage ea.
10k or 12k bulbs?
Retrofit Kit
I will then put my PC in the middle.
A few fans I assume from Radio Shack
And I want to put the Ballast down in the cabinet.
Is this doable????
Also I am going to have to wear my shades in the den where the tank is going to be in, with all these MH's? [img]/ubb/cool.gif[/img]
OMG, I love this I have a new game to play. After this I promise to go do some work for a while,

Sue

[This message has been edited by SCETT316 (edited 04-05-2001).]