diy MH ballast...

joander123

joander123

what a fruitcake
Jan 12, 2007
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Massachusetts
hey guys... im looking into making my own custom hood for my aquarium.

I found a couple of MH ballasts, they are set for 150w MH bulbs. I would buy a reflector, and run the MH with the reflectors, only question is where do i find the socket needed for the screw in halides?

Next question is, id like to either have CF or T5HO bulbs in the same hood, where do i find these ballasts? Can these ballasts run more than a single bulb? Where do i find the things needed to hold these in place (like a socket, but i dont know the name)

Thanks,
Jay
 
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yeah joe, ballast wise was were i was going to get my MH ballasts. They have good prices on theres, i may look into a T5HO from them also.

Would like a screw socket for a MH bulb from like the home depot work? I know they use MH bulbs to grow plants, as well as a few others things too. They dont have to be specifically made for aquarium MH's do they?

Couple more questions:
Which is the better kelvin rating to grow corals under (all diff. types of corals) i've seen bulbs from 6500k to 20000k. I assume higher on the spectrum is better, but do i want it all the way at 20,000k?

Also, Obviously reflectors should be used, but im thinking maybe just line the hole inside of the top with aluminum, and it will work as one big reflector? I could simply by a sheet of aluminum and shape it to fit the inside of the hood. My thought process is that..... (stay with me if you can)

Light is obviously lost upwards with a bulb, so a reflector is placed above it, so the some of the upwards lost light can be redirected downwards towards the water. But also, water doesnt soak up all the light, it also reflects a lot of light back up towards the hood itself. So for the light that the water reflects back up, the hole hood itself, would be a reflector.... so this light could also make its way back down towards the water and corals hopefully.
Thoughts? Either way... not a hard thing to do...i think it may actually be easier to just line the hole top in aluminum. (polished of course)

and sorry, but one more... just take a look at my lighting schedule and let me know what you think of it.

Well, for lights im thinking:
2- 175w MH someplace between 14000k and 20000k probably
2- 54w T5HO These would be actinic
2- 96w PC dual daylight, 6700/10000k
2- 65w PC 50/50

so that would equal 780 watts. 780/110 = 7.09 wpg. Hopefully under the halides that is sufficient enough to grow most corals?

lighting schedule looks like this.

11:00 A.M.-50/50's come on (130 watts atm)
11:25 A.M.-Dual daylights come on (322 watts atm)
12:15 P.M.-MH's come on (672 watts atm)
12:30 P.M.-Actinic come on (780 watts atm)
7:45 P.M.-MH's shut off (430 watts atm)
8:00 P.M.-Dual daylights shut off (238 watts atm)
8:30 P.M.-50/50s shut off (108 watts atm)
9:00 P.M.-Actinic shuts off ( LED comes on then cycle repeats)


let me know what you think,
Thanks Jay


Edit: switched the bulbs to 175w MH, easier to find at higher kelvin ratings (with screw in at least, not a big dive money wise, and bumbs me over 7 wpg of light when everything is running)
 
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Any hardware department stores will have what you're looking for. Lowes even let me assemble mine in the store and test it to make sure it worked, but I was only doing compact florescent.
 
lowes carries the base needed to connect the CF ballast to the bulb?
 
What do you mean by base? The connector that connects to the pins on the bulbs? Isn't that usually sold with the ballast?
 
yeah, thats what i mean... but i've found ballasts only.


Dont believe they come with the connector... but i can search for one that does.
 
nvm , i just remembered AHsupply ... lol DUH!
 
well, i did a bit of calculating on the hood.

Price wise its going to come in around 550-600 us dollars. Which i do think is a lot for "just a light", but hey i mean it does have 762 total watts, and high quality reflectors ballasts, and fans/vents. a premade light with around the same output would cost me 1000 us dollars, if not a bit more, plus it wouldnt match my stand like the custom hood i plan on making.

I may end up dropping the 96 watt bulbs, to save myself around 175 more dollars. But then im looking at a total wattage of only 580 which leaves me more like 5.5 wpg instead of 7.

Idn, we shall see. This is a down the road project anyways. 8)
 
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