Hello all!
I have a 92-gallon AGA corner aquarium. When I bought it (I had to move AGAIN that that's all that would fit in the new place) all I had were fish, so lighting wasn't a huge deal. However I did buy a 175 MH pendent light thinking it would be enough if I later wanted to add corals. Well just by looking at it I didn't feel like it was enough light. I've since taken down the pendent and I've built a canopy. Mainly to give the tank a more finished look (and to add more lights). I'm now running 4 PC fluorescents under the hood. Two are 55watt 50/50 bulbs (towards the back) and I also have 2 96-watt bulbs (kind of in the middle to front). I would have put more in but that's about all I thought I could squeeze in while I was designing the canopy. However, it now looks like I can squeeze in another "small" fixture at the extreme front of the tank. I'd say a small rectangle would fit, something no larger then 12"x9". So here's my question(s).
In order to re-use the MH I need to perform surgery on it. It has some weird off-size bulb fixture/terminal. The bulbs for this fixture now cost >$100, which I refuse to pay. They only cost about $50 when I first bought it. (I believe the company stopped making lights.) Anyway, can I simply replace the end piece so I could use a standard 175MH ; is it call "mogel" bulb? If so what's the life expectancy of MH bulbs? When I first started reading up on them it was suggested that they be replaced every 6 months, is that still the case? The instructions with this MH light also stated that I shouldn't run it without the glass "shield". Do MH lights burn corals without a glass cover? I must say the last MH bulb I bought left a bad taste in my mouth, $130 for a 175 watt MH bulb was more then I really wanted to spend!
Option 2, a friend told me about something he found at home depot. I went to the web site and the company claims that the light has a CRI of 85 and a 6500K-color temperature. That's pretty good yes? Would this work? Oh it also say's the light produces 6,825 lumens of light output. The best part of this option is that the entire fixture w/ bulb only costs $30. I'm leaning this way due mainly to cost.
I guess the 3rd option is buying another MH fixture in a larger wattage, if niether of the first two options look promising. OK this is getting long so I'll stop here. Thanks for your advice and help.
I have a 92-gallon AGA corner aquarium. When I bought it (I had to move AGAIN that that's all that would fit in the new place) all I had were fish, so lighting wasn't a huge deal. However I did buy a 175 MH pendent light thinking it would be enough if I later wanted to add corals. Well just by looking at it I didn't feel like it was enough light. I've since taken down the pendent and I've built a canopy. Mainly to give the tank a more finished look (and to add more lights). I'm now running 4 PC fluorescents under the hood. Two are 55watt 50/50 bulbs (towards the back) and I also have 2 96-watt bulbs (kind of in the middle to front). I would have put more in but that's about all I thought I could squeeze in while I was designing the canopy. However, it now looks like I can squeeze in another "small" fixture at the extreme front of the tank. I'd say a small rectangle would fit, something no larger then 12"x9". So here's my question(s).
In order to re-use the MH I need to perform surgery on it. It has some weird off-size bulb fixture/terminal. The bulbs for this fixture now cost >$100, which I refuse to pay. They only cost about $50 when I first bought it. (I believe the company stopped making lights.) Anyway, can I simply replace the end piece so I could use a standard 175MH ; is it call "mogel" bulb? If so what's the life expectancy of MH bulbs? When I first started reading up on them it was suggested that they be replaced every 6 months, is that still the case? The instructions with this MH light also stated that I shouldn't run it without the glass "shield". Do MH lights burn corals without a glass cover? I must say the last MH bulb I bought left a bad taste in my mouth, $130 for a 175 watt MH bulb was more then I really wanted to spend!
Option 2, a friend told me about something he found at home depot. I went to the web site and the company claims that the light has a CRI of 85 and a 6500K-color temperature. That's pretty good yes? Would this work? Oh it also say's the light produces 6,825 lumens of light output. The best part of this option is that the entire fixture w/ bulb only costs $30. I'm leaning this way due mainly to cost.
I guess the 3rd option is buying another MH fixture in a larger wattage, if niether of the first two options look promising. OK this is getting long so I'll stop here. Thanks for your advice and help.
