Noob Lighting

[freddy4130]

I love cheap, lol. BTW, I have accepted that I am going to pay for what I get. I just happened to be in there looking at lights. I can stare at this stuff all day long online, but there is nothing like going in and seeing it for yourself. I just got back from the fish store too. Got to see all the light fixtures and real life sizes of all the equipment I thought I wanted.

 

[stickx911]

can you drive a 150w bulb on a 100W ballast? I don't think they have 10k or higher with 100w, but if you had the same style 150w bulb, would it be like using a dimmer in a regular incandescent fixture (similar color, just not quite as bright)? I'm not arguing either way, just curious.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

No you can not fire a 150W bulb with a 100W ballast... Not safely to my knowledge.

And they do make bulbs over 10K in a 100W and below...

 

[freddy4130]

They also, in a different (bulbs) department, had a 150watt metal halide bulb for the same type of fixture, but I was unable to find that fixture in the store. I will now research the brand and see if they havge anything.

 

[freddy4130]

Here is the light:


http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100626328&N=10000003+90401+501161">http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100626328&N=10000003+90401+501161</a>

Not much info is provided you see?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I give up... Good luck on finding something that will work.

 

[nano_reefer92]

One question do you have some extra crown molding left over? Do you have the tank size that you are going to get (or already have not sure if you already bought the tank yet). What you could do is have someone build you a custom Stand and Canopie using some left over crown molding that matches your house and then just use some T5 retrofits which would include the following:

Some size of Tek II reflectors
http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ss_tek2_reflector_24&Category_Code=d9a&Product_Count=27">24" reflector</a> more sizes available

A Good Ballast
[IMG]http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ic_660&Category_Code=d9&Product_Count=5">IceCap 660</a> or [IMG]http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ic_430&Category_Code=d9&Product_Count=4">IceCap 430</a> (If I remember correctly you can overdrive the bulbs although it lessens the life of the bulbs you can get some good results from it...NOTE can someone make sure to correct me if I am wrong)

Some fans to blow the heat off which these do not have to be spacificly for reef use they just have to be able to last...Salt buildup ect. ect.

All of those links are from Aquabuys which is a sponser and I am sure if you gave Sam (the owner of Aquabuys) your dimmensions of your tank he can work out a package with all that you will need.