70 Watt Metal Halides???
 

Hi. As some may have noticed, I'm currently in the setup stage of a 5.5 gallon nano. A buddy of mine is doing the same, so think of any posts I make trying to get stuff as someone shopping for an 11 gallon tank... hehe. Anyway.... how can I go about setting up a 70 Watt metal halide. I see that a lot of people on Nano-reef.com have them, but I can't seem to find anything regarding setup, as in the cheapest way to DIY a ballast setup. Is it possible to rig a worklight to fire them, or ???? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Billy

No, a worklight would not fire them, you would need a proper ballast rated for 70 watt Mh.I have seen several types for sale on ebay,aromatt is one,it generally sells for about $50.00 us,advance and fulham also make a ballast rated for 70 watt mh but they usually cost more,then there is WPI,they sell for less.The ballasts that I mentioned are all electronic ballasts, if you call albrite I think they have magnetic hqi ballasts but I believe they cost around $150.00.The bulbs are generally quite expensive too, I've heard the catalina bulbs at pet supply liquidator are garbage,the ushio are the ones to get,there is a guy selling them on nano-reef for about $50.00 us, otherwise hello lights sells them.Alot of people are using Regent light fixtures to house the lights,they can be bought at Canadian tire for about $15.00.The bulb would replace the halogen one and you would just wire in your own ballast.

I'd just go with pc lighting on a tank that small. I'd be really worried about overheating a 5.5 with a halide, you'd need a alot in place for cooling & evaporation. With four 13W bulbs (almost 10W per gallon) or equivalent you'll be able to keep sps etc. no problem and you'll be able to have a glass/acrylic top so you won't need to worry about evaporation as much.
Plus the cost will be much less :biggrin:

Just a thought :neutral:

Evan.

I can understand why you want halide, here is a link to a ballast you can buy right now for $55.00 us,make sure you get them to ship it by us mail,not ups.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ory=42881.Here is a link for a bulb, http://www.specialtyoptical.com/cata...aq_2931359.htm

I am putting a 400W on my 16 gallon :)