Hello peeps..
I just brought these two lighting unit from ebay... 2 x 250 MH pendants for, in your US money, $145...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...37282&rd=1&rd=1What i am thinking of doing is ripping them out of the casings they are in and building them into the hood i am going to be building..Anybody see any problems or had problems with doing that before?
Also, what other lighting does anybody suggest to suppliment the halides?
Thanks in advance
Niko
I don't think it would be a problem however I have not personally done it so I can't say for sure. I've taken out the ballast, wiring, etc from a PC fixture and mounted it into a canopy without a problem. Just make sure you have plenty of ventilation and that the ballast, wiring, bulbs, etc. are protected from with splashing water. One thing you can do which many aquarists do is mount the two fixtures inside the canopy. In the description on Ebay the seller states that they can be mounted using wire which would work great. All that would be needed is to attached the fixtures using wire to the top of the canopy. Just a suggestion I thought I would share.
The seller didn't provide what kelvin rating the bulbs are however it does say Daylight Powerstar which I'm guessing is around 10K. It really is personal preference on whether or not you use actinics. I personally prefer to have a nice blue color so I would definitely supplement with actinics. There are many types of bulbs that you can use including PowerCompact, T5 High Output, VHO, or even Normal Output Fluorescents. All of these bulbs would work well for supplementing the halides although I would personally go with either T5 HO or VHO. Now the T5 and VHO will cost a bit more than the others but well worth it in my opinion. If you wanted to spend less than PC's would be the way to go and still would work very well.
Oh and that is a great deal your getting for 2 250w MH fixtures.
Very nice deal. I've seen a Dual MH set going for 600. I would rather run T5 and VHo as the bulbs are much cheaper and they dont produce as much heat as PC.
The only problem that I can see with that would be overheating causing the current hood to melt. So you'll definately want to make sure it's well ventilated or insulated.
What would be the length in MM for a hqi halide bulb?