I see really good deals for ballast and socket all over the place. I was wondering does it have to be an aquarium specific ballast/bulb or can I just buy those ballast and use the bulbs they sell @ home depot for my corals? I'm thinking of going with 2x 250 watts metal halide for a 55g 48x20x14 tank. I think that's the measurement...
Can I use any Mh ballast/bulbs for my fish tank?
- Thread starter dannieboiz
- Start date
what spectrum should I be looking at? I'm gonna have a mix of fish and corals.. not sure what kind of corals I want yet, but I knwo I want Mh just in case I run into a corals that's I gotta have but needs the light and that I'm ready for it.
dannyboize,
What MH ballasts and bulbs do they sell at HD?? I've only seen standard PC, Halogen and HP Sodium at my HD and no ballasts.
What MH ballasts and bulbs do they sell at HD?? I've only seen standard PC, Halogen and HP Sodium at my HD and no ballasts.
I didn't pay much attention to the kind or what. I'm thinking they're the commercial types where you use in front of buildings etc... I did ask about ballast but they don't carry them. I see quite a few ballast etc... on ebay but not sure which to get. THe ones that aren't aquarium specifics seems to be half the price.
In the past, I have used two of those 'in the ceiling, metal dome shaped' fixtures with two 175W MH bullbs. I bought the bulbs from ThatFishPlace.com but I saw the same power bulb, albeit smaller, at HomeDepo.
We simply created a metal frame that allowed me to fasten the housing and bulbs over my 55 gal
We simply created a metal frame that allowed me to fasten the housing and bulbs over my 55 gal
dannieboiz said:
was looking around and stumbled onto this I'm thinking of using just 1 of this setup with this bulb (or similar) which is 10k (or should I use 20k?) giving me 400 watts mounted in the center of the canopy and use 2x 48" bulbs of some kinds like 50/50 and the coral life... would that work?
dannieboiz said:
I spent about a weeks worth of spare time trying to piece together a MH system. I aplaud those that can find the right hardware and are successful. I found it to be an expensive waiste of time and ended up buying a complete unit, ready to go. I should have done that in the first place!!
Ive got two M135 400 watt pulse start ballasts, as well as mogul sockets and brackets if your interested. Theyll fire the 10K Ushio and 20K radium bulbs (ive used them on probe start bulbs without incident as well). hellolights sells the ballasts for $85 each, Ill sell everything for $115 + shipping or one for $60+shipping.
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