Advice On Mh Lighting For A New Tank

[_daniel]

Hey everyone.... welcome to my first post!

Anyway, bit of a background: I'm doing my research before setting up my first marine tank. The planned dimensions are 48x20x20 (or 1200x500x500 in my language ).

I read this similar post, but thought there might be some more advice to be had for my circumstances.

The advice I have got from several local fish stores is to buy a "marine lighting set-up" for around $400AUD. They didn't go into the specifics because I didn't ask at the time, however I have seen one in action and it seems to be fine for fish, live rock, anemones etc (white with a slight blueish tinge). I know it wasnt MH. The store owners said this would be fine for keeping fish, anemones and even some corals. Like I said, I dont know too much of the specifics, but I'm sure people here will know the sort of product I'm talking about.

However, I found this on eBay. Its $295AUD plus shipping, which works out to be quite cheap. I was told that these units cost around $800 by my local store owner. I know these sort of things are generally required for coral set-ups etc.

From what I can find out, and I have done a fair bit of research, no reasonable amount of lighting can be considered excessive. I have no idea what my long-term ambitions for my tank may be, but considering this MH lighting can be had at a good price, I'm sort of liking the flexibility it seems to give me.

My questions are as follows:

1. Does anyone have experience with "eBay'd" MH lighting such as this? Any word on their general quality and reliability?
2. Does this set appear to be "complete"? I.e. Is there anything else I would need to purchase in this department?
3. Is the level of lighting appropriate for my sized tank?
4. Is 20000k too blue for an attractive appearance?
5. Any general advice in the lighting department?

Sorry for my noobish questions. I prefer to come across as an idiot because I seem to get better answers that way Thanks in advance!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Sorry for my noobish questions. I prefer to come across as an idiot because I seem to get better answers that way Thanks in advance!

ha ha good tactic!!

1. Does anyone have experience with "eBay'd" MH lighting such as this? Any word on their general quality and reliability?
2. Does this set appear to be "complete"? I.e. Is there anything else I would need to purchase in this department?
3. Is the level of lighting appropriate for my sized tank?
4. Is 20000k too blue for an attractive appearance?
5. Any general advice in the lighting department?

1 - bought our MH from ebay (not the same seller or anything, we're in the UK) cheapest way we found was to go for a MH security light, not that pretty and you need to add actinics, but it certainly was cheap and does the job!
2 - bulbs do not appear to be supplied, these can be more expensive than you might think, it's not like lightbulbs for your house!
3 - looks ok to me, what sorts of corals do you want in the long run, want to be able to grow whatever you like or do you mind being limited?
4 - personal preference really, look for pics of ski's tank, that's really blue and looks nice

 

[_daniel]

Sorry for my noobish questions. I prefer to come across as an idiot because I seem to get better answers that way Thanks in advance!

ha ha good tactic!!

1. Does anyone have experience with "eBay'd" MH lighting such as this? Any word on their general quality and reliability?
2. Does this set appear to be "complete"? I.e. Is there anything else I would need to purchase in this department?
3. Is the level of lighting appropriate for my sized tank?
4. Is 20000k too blue for an attractive appearance?
5. Any general advice in the lighting department?

1 - bought our MH from ebay (not the same seller or anything, we're in the UK) cheapest way we found was to go for a MH security light, not that pretty and you need to add actinics, but it certainly was cheap and does the job!
2 - bulbs do not appear to be supplied, these can be more expensive than you might think, it's not like lightbulbs for your house!
3 - looks ok to me, what sorts of corals do you want in the long run, want to be able to grow whatever you like or do you mind being limited?
4 - personal preference really, look for pics of ski's tank, that's really blue and looks nice

Holy c**p, fast reply! Thankyou!

2. "It comes complete with all globes and fittings to hang it up". Again, going with the ignorance tactic, are bulbs seperate to globes? Or does this mean that everything is included?
3. I don't mind being a bit limited, given that I don't have an unlimited budget. I am planning on FOWLR to start with. Am I correct in assuming this lighting will be adequate for that? I could always get something like this, which I think might border on excessive and should be sufficient for anything that I could imagine keeping this my sized tank?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

quote from the bottom of the ad

Please note we do not charge for the globes and there for there is no warranty on the globes

Please note that we do supply the globes with these lights

tbh i'm a bit onfused, i'm assuming globes are the same as bulbs?

i would e-mail the seller and check as the ad simply isn't clear.

you don't need any special lighting for FOWLR, It's only when you get photosynthetic (sp) inverts such as corals you need to upgrade at all.

i would think this set up would leave you fairly open on corals, with appropriate positioning under the lights you'd be able to keep all the 'easy' corals and i think some of the stonies might be ok to (although i'm no expert, wait for ski or someone to confirm). might not be able to have literally everything you want, but i think you could have a good selection.

 

[_daniel]

quote from the bottom of the ad

Please note we do not charge for the globes and there for there is no warranty on the globes

Please note that we do supply the globes with these lights

tbh i'm a bit onfused, i'm assuming globes are the same as bulbs?

i would e-mail the seller and check as the ad simply isn't clear.

you don't need any special lighting for FOWLR, It's only when you get photosynthetic (sp) inverts such as corals you need to upgrade at all.

i would think this set up would leave you fairly open on corals, with appropriate positioning under the lights you'd be able to keep all the 'easy' corals and i think some of the stonies might be ok to (although i'm no expert, wait for ski or someone to confirm). might not be able to have literally everything you want, but i think you could have a good selection.

Thanks for the very fast replies though... I'll concede that it may be very late/early/happy hour where you live!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ha ha nope it's 12.30 middle of the day and the happiest thing i've had to drink all day is tea.

i'm just being blonde..... i blame the dodgy font on the advert

 

[AK77]

I bought 2 x 150w MH floodlights from Ebay. I also purchased 2 x 150w 14'000k lamps/bulbs. Worked out much cheaper than purchasing an "aquarium" lighting system.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well that looks like a really high quality fixture if you ask me, looks like an Arcadia copy. If you have DIY skills, consider making your own. As Miss Wiggle suggested, buying industruial metal halide lamps and replacing the bulbs with an aquarium spectrum is way cheaper. But if you have few DIY skills and you really like the nice clean look of that fixture, then go with it. I do like the fact that it has dual T5s, which are very efficient in and of itself. If you do go with that fixture, try and pick one with 15000k bulbs if offered by the seller and do yourself a favor and purchase the spare ballasts just in case. At that price its wirth it cause the ballast will eventually fail (years down the road) and its always good to have a replacement

As for the wattage, if longterm you want to keep really tough light-hungry SPS, go with the 250s, but for most corals, the 150s will suffice. The 150s would let you keep clams and anemones if you wanted.

Btw, as miss wiggle said, my tank's lit with a 14000k bulb currently (year two in my sig) and thats really blue. A 20000k would be even more blue, a little over the top IMO.

 

[_daniel]

Well that looks like a really high quality fixture if you ask me, looks like an Arcadia copy. If you have DIY skills, consider making your own. As Miss Wiggle suggested, buying industruial metal halide lamps and replacing the bulbs with an aquarium spectrum is way cheaper. But if you have few DIY skills and you really like the nice clean look of that fixture, then go with it. I do like the fact that it has dual T5s, which are very efficient in and of itself. If you do go with that fixture, try and pick one with 15000k bulbs if offered by the seller and do yourself a favor and purchase the spare ballasts just in case. At that price its wirth it cause the ballast will eventually fail (years down the road) and its always good to have a replacement

As for the wattage, if longterm you want to keep really tough light-hungry SPS, go with the 250s, but for most corals, the 150s will suffice. The 150s would let you keep clams and anemones if you wanted.

Btw, as miss wiggle said, my tank's lit with a 14000k bulb currently (year two in my sig) and thats really blue. A 20000k would be even more blue, a little over the top IMO.

DIY skills aren't really the problem, I have my hands full with building a circuit racing car in that respect. I just want my tank to be as little of a time-sink as possible (time not spent staring at it for hours on end that is!) and I really really like the neat presentation of that unit. 14000k bulbs can be had for $30 from that same seller, with ballasts at $12 a pop.

Question... can I simply use 250w bulbs if I want to upgrade at a later stage? I'm guessing that the answer is no, given that something in the unit itself would have to supply the extra power to run the bulb.

 

[SkiFletch]

Question... can I simply use 250w bulbs if I want to upgrade at a later stage? I'm guessing that the answer is no, given that something in the unit itself would have to supply the extra power to run the bulb.

Correct, the ballast has to be capable of firing/powering a 250 watt bulb as well .