metal halide bulbs

A

Atlantic Fish

Guest
#1
#1

I was just at a local large chain hardware store and saw metal halide bulbs for like $25.00 for one bulb. Are they the right ones to use on a saltwater tank? I thought they were much more expensive then that?? Any ideas??
 

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dattack

Large Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
982
0
0
#2
Sorry but those are very butt ugly yellow and the Kelvin rating is somewhere around 3000.  You want the bulbs to be at least in the 6500K.  Most reefers prefer a bluish >10K look.  

It looks a lot better in the higher K because it fluoresce the corals you have.  

The cheapest I found MH to be is around $50 online.
 

A

Atlantic Fish

Guest
#3
#3

I thought they were prob crap, they seemed to cheap! Too bad though....Ivd decided to go with Power compacts on my 125g, my LFS got a set with 4 bulbs 50-50 for 699.00, not bad..
 

A

Atlantic Fish

Guest
#6
#6

Unless i can find a good set up at a good price i dont really have a choice, im new to this and its hard to order online when you dont really know what you need, plus shipping is a pain in the arse.. i'll keep looking before i buy from the LFS
 

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dattack

Large Fish
#7
Oct 22, 2002
982
0
0
#7
Shipping is not much of a pain if you have a good online vendor.  Just find out who's the most reputable.  So is this 4x55 a retrofit kit or is it a full hood?  Are you talking canadian dollars or U.S. dollars of $699.
 

A

Atlantic Fish

Guest
#8
#8

699 is CDN dollars, and is just the light hood and bulbs not a canopy, the back of the tank will be inside a room where all the plumbing for the house will be so the tank will be built into the wall and easily accessed through the top and back, im going to hang the rack of light (no canopy) on chains and put thought a pully system on a crank wheel, (one of those spiked wheels with a handle and the little lock mech that you see on sail ships).....do you know what im talking about??

Anyway thats the plan, the lights are the most expensive thing here to buy....I really would like to buy online, but I hate to buy stuff that I have never seen before.....and dont really know alot about...

retro fit:  http://www.jlaquatics.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?page=powercompact.shtml&&cart_id=
 

H

hangdogdaddy12

Small Fish
#11
Oct 22, 2002
26
0
0
63
Biscoe,NC
#11
:eek:Man, go to www.bigalsonline.com. You can get metal halides a lot cheaper. In fact you can get everything a lot cheaper. I just set up a 75gal. first time saltwater setup. The tank and cabinet was the only thing I bought at the LFS. I got a Oceanic 75 and a Oceanic cabinet for 598. But that was because I threatened to order it online too. Go to bigalsoline.com and you will not be disappointed. Hang *thumbsupsmiley*
 

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