MH newb

[crawldawg]

I have a diy MH setup that I got from someone else. I am a bit concerned about the wiring so I am redoing it. It is a triple 250w mogul base w/magnetic advance transformes and caps. Can I wire the tree ballasts together off one power plug or do I need to seperate them? Currently 2 are wired together and the third is not mounted. I would like to be able to run them off the same timer as an on off switch. A friend of mine is working on the ballasts now, trying to place them in the current box, but i believe it will be too tight and get too hot. He said he could weld a box together to accomadate the 3 and include vents and fans for cooling, I think I want to go that route, but if anyone knows of a better way. Also in the fixture are 2 t12 VHO actinics run by a icecap 660 ballast. The fixture is basically a 2x4 w/reflector mounted and sockets attached. I will be replacing the wood with a metal rail mount. This will be mounted in the canopy over a soon to be 125 reef tank. Any sugestions/comments are appreciated.

[scooterman]

Typically each ballast is run with a separate power cord but I'm not saying that you can't run it on a single cord but at least make it 14 or 12 guage cord.

I have a diy MH setup that I got from someone else. I am a bit concerned about the wiring so I am redoing it. It is a triple 250w mogul base w/magnetic advance transformes and caps. Can I wire the tree ballasts together off one power plug or do I need to seperate them? Currently 2 are wired together and the third is not mounted. I would like to be able to run them off the same timer as an on off switch. A friend of mine is working on the ballasts now, trying to place them in the current box, but i believe it will be too tight and get too hot. He said he could weld a box together to accomadate the 3 and include vents and fans for cooling, I think I want to go that route, but if anyone knows of a better way. Also in the fixture are 2 t12 VHO actinics run by a icecap 660 ballast. The fixture is basically a 2x4 w/reflector mounted and sockets attached. I will be replacing the wood with a metal rail mount. This will be mounted in the canopy over a soon to be 125 reef tank. Any sugestions/comments are appreciated.

[metalhead]

I'm running two 250's off one cord with no problems, not sure about three though.
I would definitely heed scooterman's advise, make sure you use a heavy gauge cord to tie them down with. Also keep an eye on it when you first fire it up and if the cord gets hot at all unplug it and start over.
Reefland (Scott) actually wired mine up so he may be able to offer some additional guidance in regard.

[crawldawg]

Thanks for the advice. I have wired two together and the third to its own plug. I have used 14 gauge power cords for each. All is working fine. I still want to do a period test to ensure there is no problems over a few hour span. I have about 8 differnt types of bulbs, but don't know specs off the top of my head, will post later to ask which will be best to use.

[metalhead]

Thanks for the advice. I have wired two together and the third to its own plug. I have used 14 gauge power cords for each. All is working fine. I still want to do a period test to ensure there is no problems over a few hour span. I have about 8 differnt types of bulbs, but don't know specs off the top of my head, will post later to ask which will be best to use.

That largely depends on what type(s) of coral(s) you're trying to grow... There's no better way to start an argument than to speculate about which light spectrum provides the best growth for any given coral. I will go out on a limb here though and say that I have found, in my own limited experience, that, generally speaking, blue (10K-20K) is better for SPS and most LPS while yellow (6K-10K) is better for Softies, Zoa's, Poly's etc...

[crawldawg]

They may not be the greatest but they were free so here we go. AquarMckzo 14000k, 20000k, Clean-Ace 6500k, XM 10000k. And is it alright to mix the lights. Having three is it ok to maybe put the 6500k on the sides and run the 20000k in the middle?