Perseverance Reef

Fishy888 · Dec 28, 2022

Whelp I agave the chance to buy a highboy MH light for 15 bucks. I still like the light from MH best. Obviously the stock lamp would be useless. I know from times past that most MH lamps were on their sides. My thoughts though are that since this is a cube I might be able to get away with it. I’ll probably ask in the lighting forum if anyone has done it and how it worked out for them. If nothing else buying the fixture would give me a ballast and a mogul socket lol but I would think everyone would have been using them if they could be used as they are.

tbrown · Dec 28, 2022

Fishy888 said:
Whelp I agave the chance to buy a highboy MH light for 15 bucks. I still like the light from MH best. Obviously the stock lamp would be useless. I know from times past that most MH lamps were on their sides. My thoughts though are that since this is a cube I might be able to get away with it. I’ll probably ask in the lighting forum if anyone has done it and how it worked out for them. If nothing else buying the fixture would give me a ballast and a mogul socket lol but I would think everyone would have been using them if they could be used as they are.

I loved my MH but I'm in AZ so heat was an issue. I have considered setting it up over the center section of the 125 to really help blast the sticks with light.

Mschmidt · Dec 28, 2022

Fishy888 said:
This is exactly why I’m excited about my coralline too lol. It’s always been drilled into me that when the rocks go purple it’s stable and healthy enough for SPS and anemones. Plus who doesn’t like purple rocks lol.

it does look nice. For my part, I'm neither for nor against it. I'm not looking forward to trying to scrape it off my acrylic but on the rocks would be nice. Otherwise I'll just cover it with JF Freek Hair.

tbrown · Dec 28, 2022

I just spotted 1 more spot in my tank. 3 1/4" circles on the back glass. None on any rocks that I can see but there is some on snails and frag plugs.

Fishy888 · Dec 28, 2022

Just got this beauty today for 15 bucks.

Obviously I need a proper lamp but they’re out there to be found.

tbrown · Dec 28, 2022

400 watt... Holy heatness!

Fishy888 · Dec 28, 2022

tbrown3589 said:
400 watt... Holy heatness!

Well I’ll put muffin fans in the canopy and the light will be 8 inches from the water surface. The tank is 25 or 26 inches tall. I intend to have maximas, possibly a crocea or two in addition to SPS. I had some heating running two 400 watt halides over a 120 10 years ago. I had a water temp of 81 to 82 degrees. I didn’t use fans back then but I will this time.

The reflector should have decent lighting all the way to the sand bed being elevated with very little waste light.

Stang67 · Dec 28, 2022

Fishy888 said:
Well I’ll put muffin fans in the canopy and the light will be 8 inches from the water surface. The tank is 25 or 26 inches tall. I intend to have maximas, possibly a crocea or two in addition to SPS. I had some heating running two 400 watt halides over a 120 10 years ago. I had a water temp of 81 to 82 degrees. I didn’t use fans back then but I will this time.

The reflector should have decent lighting all the way to the sand bed being elevated with very little waste light.

Muffin fans..... no brain stop just stop.

Lost in the Sauce · Dec 28, 2022

I've never seen a mh set up like that but it should work.. what does the inside of the reflection look like? Looks like a relatively narrow cone.

Where did you come up with the mounting height number? I'd get a lamp in there and do some testing to see where the light spill stops overflowing the sides then check coverage in the tank before settling in on the height.

tbrown · Dec 28, 2022

Lost in the Sauce said:
I've never seen a mh set up like that but it should work.. what does the inside of the reflection look like? Looks like a relatively narrow cone.

Where did you come up with the mounting height number? I'd get a lamp in there and do some testing to see where the light spill stops overflowing the sides then check coverage in the tank before settling in on the height.

Not to answer everything here but I'm pretty sure that's a commercial warehouse style MH. @Fishy888 any idea if you can get a 14000k - 20000k bulb for that puppy?

Lost in the Sauce · Dec 28, 2022

tbrown3589 said:
Not to answer everything here but I'm pretty sure that's a commercial warehouse style MH. @Fishy888 any idea if you can get a 14000k - 20000k bulb for that puppy?

I've seen all Sorts of repurposed mh used for indoor gardens. I've never grown with them as I live in the desert and heat is an issue but can respect the results.

tbrown · Dec 28, 2022

Lost in the Sauce said:
I've seen all Sorts of repurposed mh used for indoor gardens. I've never grown with them as I live in the desert and heat is an issue but can respect the results.

Phoenix area here so I understand the heat issue well. That's exactly I haven't set the 250 MH over my 125.

Fishy888 · Dec 28, 2022

tbrown3589 said:
Not to answer everything here but I'm pretty sure that's a commercial warehouse style MH. @Fishy888 any idea if you can get a 14000k - 20000k bulb for that puppy?

I’m still looking around but I found a 6000K lamp that I just ordered that has a peak in the 450 to 500 nm area and a larger peak in the red spectrum. Since it was only $13.50 I’ll use it for now but when I see a 14000K lamp for the right price I’ll bite.

fishguy242 · Dec 28, 2022

check Champion lighting in Indiana...

Fishy888 · Dec 28, 2022

Lost in the Sauce said:
I've never seen a mh set up like that but it should work.. what does the inside of the reflection look like? Looks like a relatively narrow cone.

Where did you come up with the mounting height number? I'd get a lamp in there and do some testing to see where the light spill stops overflowing the sides then check coverage in the tank before settling in on the height.

Although not super scientific in my mind I drew out the angle that would cover the whole cube uniformly. When the time comes (which will be soon) I’ll experiment with the height. 8 inches is a rough number not set in stone.

Unfortunately the lamp is defective. As it gets close to its peak brilliance it strobes and shuts off. A piece of metal came loose because we had to make a quick turn while we were doing our errands today. I need to get my ohm meter and test the capacitor. I don’t think it’s the problem but I’ll replace it in a few weeks since it’s been stored a while.

Fishy888 · Dec 28, 2022

fishguy242 said:
check Champion lighting in Indiana...

I’ll check them out. Thank you.

Fishy888 · Dec 28, 2022

Stang67 said:
Muffin fans..... no brain stop just stop.

They’re the kind of fans that you find in computers. As for the name I guess whoever came up with it was obsessed with muffins lol. As many computers as I’ve built I’ve never understood why they call them muffin fans unless my guess is the correct one lol.

Lost in the Sauce · Dec 28, 2022

Fishy888 said:
They’re the kind of fans that you find in computers. As for the name I guess whoever came up with it was obsessed with muffins lol. As many computers as I’ve built I’ve never understood why they call them muffin fans unless my guess is the correct one lol.