Diy metal halide

[braincandEE]

This may seem like a weird question.... But, I was wondering if someone who has done a diy metal halide might be willing to let me come check out there rig and pick there brain over diy MH... I know there are plenty of write ups. I'm not going to lie I understand better with the face to face teacher student mentality... I know that may sound dumb to some of the people on here... But if you don't ask you don't know.

 

[dwilliams87]

I've never don a DIY metal hallide but have done several DIY LED's. Someone on here should know how though. Good Luck

 

[poolkeeper1]

Explain what you mean better, Are you just putting a ballast and fixture together or wanting to build your own ?
Bill

 

[pickupman66]

yea, Im a little confused myself. to me, a NON DIY would be like the Fixture that has MH and T-5 integrated into a piece of hardware that mounts. DIY would be installing a reflector of some sort to the inside of a canopy and then having the ballast external of said canopy. I used to have this setup. I am selling three 175 watt DIY style MH fixtures right now.

WAY more simple than LED. simply choose a reflector with the place for the bulb and screw it to the underside of a canopy or some device above the water. wire it to the ballast and plug it in. No color choices expect the bulb itself. only 2 wires per MH fixture.

 

[braincandEE]

I'm wanting to install a reflector under a canopy... But I'm also wanting input as to how deep the light will penetrate through the water. What wattage I should look at getting. I have a 55 gallon. My idea is to only use the MH for 3-4 hours in the middle of my light cycle and using my led set up the rest of it.

 

[poolkeeper1]

I'm wanting to install a reflector under a canopy... But I'm also wanting input as to how deep the light will penetrate through the water. What wattage I should look at getting. I have a 55 gallon. My idea is to only use the MH for 3-4 hours in the middle of my light cycle and using my led set up the rest of it.

As Lindsay said just mount a reflector and Socket for the Bulb on something you can hang over your tank. As far as coverage a 250W M/H will cover an area 2' x 2' and penetrate down much farther than your 55gal but lose par the deeper it is as any light would. You may use a lower wattage but IMO 250W is the standard for growing SPS Coral IMO. Hope this helps...
Bill

 

[pickupman66]

For a 55, Imo 250 is too much. I had them on my 180 which is 24" deep. He 175 watt or 150 would be great for a 55. You could keep pretty much anything u wanted.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4

 

[mcarroll]

A pair of 150w Radiums on HQI ballasts would be great on a 55 I think. (They run close to 180w.)

OTOH, if you are doing LED I'd do all-LED.

-Matt