Metal Halide Q&A

Sorry here Johnike, I didnt realize you asked another question after Steve and coralline answered your last one.

I believe that most bulbs made now are pulse start and almost all ballasts made now are also pulse start. The M135's you have "should" be pulse start and you should not be having issues with DE HQI. I cant say exactly what the issue was from in your case, but I can say that you should have been able to run the HQI bulbs (given that they were 400w).
You ballast will also be able to run SE bulbs if you choose. Today most ballast/bulb combos are universal.

Also, above you mentioned Plusrite bulbs... I have never heard of them so I would really doubt their quality. Since I have never seen data or heard of them I would stick with the tried and true bulbs (phoenix, ushio, radium, etc.)

 

Quite the expert you are, eh Dingo?

 

Dingo,

Need advice on a complete metal Halide setup for my reef tank. Looking for an attractive and quiet operating ballast and hanging fixture for my 120 gallon 4' x 2' x 2' tank. The tank is located in my living room hence the quiet operation and attractive fixture. My reef tank inhabitants will be mostly frogspawn, hammer, torch corals and a single anemone. Thanks for your help.

 

Hey juicer: you should probably start out with 250w incase you decide to get a few sps down the road. If your positive that your only going to stick with lps then it's okay to go with 175 or 150w.
Most of the electronic ballasts are silent (icecap, lumatek, galaxy). I can tell you that icecaps don't make a sound and that is why I'm such a fan of them.
If you don't want to drop the 1-2 thousand dollars for a fixture I would recommend a lumenmax or lumenbrite. It's a very high quality reflector that can just be hung from the ceiling and they are not intrusive when hung over the tank. I use lumenbrite myself.

Do you need advice on your bulb choice as well?

 

Yes. Please. I'm assuming I will be using 2 250's watt. Correct?
Thanks Dingo!

 

i want to put MH on my tank and i want to keep alot aka any corals i want the tank is 36" long 18" deep and 16" tall what kind of lighting would be best i was look at a 36" 328W setup with this lights what u guys think?
1x 250W Double Ended HQI
2x 39W T5 High Output
2x Dual Bluemoon LED

 

If you desire a blue look I would say Phoenix 14k or radii
20k... If you like a whiter color go with ushio 14k.

 

Haha with that fixture you will have PLENTY of light in that size tank!
Even if you wanted to step down the lighting, you could lol

 

cool thanks dingo

 

Plusrite bulbs review with PAR readings:

WMAS Message Board - Plusrite DE HQI 150W 15k

Look quality to me. Also others on RC say they are lasting as long as more expensive bulbs.