Halides

Good idea - so perhaps since the 10k does not have as much blue as the 14k; I could do actinics for an hour or two, then shut down the actinics and run the 14k halide for roughly 10 hours - then shut down the halide and turn the actinics on for another hour or so.

 

I concur.
Try to simulate a natural effect....or close to it..Morning 6am to 12noon(T5 50/50), / bright daylight 12noon to 7pm (T5 50/50 and MH), / evening 7pm to 9pm (T5 50/50) / night 9pm to 6am (Lunar LED)
This seems to work for me...All things not created equal. habitants, size of tank, depth, personal sched. ...and so on.
I have moved things around over the coarse of learning....some things like it bright and others don't....some like it deep...others dont...etc etc.
Good luck,
LG

 

I also use my halides and antics in a cycle in the winter months I will burn my halides longer and in the summer I will shorten there time. It is kind of a way to control temp and simulate the winter and summer months of the oceans.

 

Thanks for the good advice guys - I'm going to start getting materials together to get this going.

 

Make sure you research the Ballast prior to buying. Ballasts are more important then the bulb IMO. I would recommend an electronic Ballast, because they run cooler, cost less to run and can fire any bulb. This takes the guess work out of wondering if your Ballast will fire the bulb or not.

J

 

Jason,

Thanks for the info - this is the ballast I was looking at.

Metal Halide 150W/175W ARO Electronic Ballast Mogul/HQI - eBay (item 290269647272 end time Dec-21-08 04:49:13 PST)

 

mh is old school. bro, keep your t5s add some reflectors or more bubls. A diy setup with t5 will be cheap and way cooler.

 

I don't want to take the chance buying a nice clam and find that he won't thrive under my T5's.

For the price of buying Icecap ballasts and new bulbs that I can overdrive, buying new reflectors, and so forth. I can easily throw together a nice looking MH setup that I know the clam will do well under.

Space is also becoming an issue. I can easily hang / mount a pendant MH, and control the heat. I will also have easier access to my tank to do maintenance instead of removing a fixture, etc. Frankly, removing fixtures and having limited space as I work sucks.

Sometimes old-school isn't bad. Just look at a 68 Camaro, or a nice Stingray Old school - but still cool.

 

The only concern I have with that Ballast is I'm not sure what is meant by 'requires power supply' I believe you could get an entire complete Ballast for cheaper or at least the same price with out the hassle of building it and hunting down the components.

Like HERE is a Great Ballast

J

 

Id have to disagree, A well setup MH with actinic supplementation will look very nice.Plus T5s are good up to 20" of tank depth so any more will require MH.