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kgwilliams 
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Joined: November 26 2005
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 Topic: 30galhex
Posted: March 08 2006 at 8:53pm |
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Okay, I have a 30 gal hex, and I must say, it's a pain in the a** to find lighting for it! Anyways, the guy at my LFS said that I need to get a "full spectrum, 10000k halide light". But I don't really want to spend more than a $100 bucks on lighting. (I know, I'm cheap) Well I found a 15" 10000k flouresent light for like, $15. Would this help my situation? I have an 18" 50/50 coralife flouresant strip light, and a 15" regular fouresant light, that lays over the top of my tank. I thought maybe I would replace the reg. 15" with the one I mentioned. Would this help me get more growth? I have hardly any growth on my rock.
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75gal reef /sump/ref 150MH 2 96w CF
Perhaps I would be better at basket weaving. . . at least it would be cheaper!
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Rocky
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Joined: November 12 2005
Location: Russian Federation
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Posted: March 08 2006 at 9:35pm |
Well Kindra I agree with you in not wanting spend so much money for that halide, a DIY one would probably be a whole lot cheaper. What might help you is if you can find a DIY set up for a 175W or 250W Metal Halide, I put mine together for about $100 and it works great on my 40 Hex. Another option you can look at is some PC lights, due to the size of your tank they will provide you the most wattage per gallon. I don't believe regular florescents will help you out much at all. Either way if your going to buy lights try to get everything but the bulb used, it will cost you half the $$. I believe someone was selling some PCs on the board not to long ago...hope this helps.
Rocky
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Rocky Phillips
Hill AFB, Utah
Currently Tankless :(
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ltanner
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Posted: March 09 2006 at 9:44am |
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What kind of room do you have to work with on top of the tank? There are 18" retrofit kits for 96 watt power compact lights that are less than $100 brand new. Check out hellolights.com for info. You could even look for a used 96 watt ballast, build your own reflector, and buy a 50/50 bulb new and be in it less than that. I actually have a 96 watt powerquad 50/50 setup on my nano, and I've seen good growth on both SPS and LPS. On a tank that's a little bigger, like yours, it'd probably grow LPS corals just fine.
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Laura
Orem
29 gal reef
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dnellans
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Posted: March 09 2006 at 10:01am |
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i agree, i think the room you have to work with on the top of the tank will help dictate what you should go with...
i have a standard 39 gal and crammed 2 96 watt "shortie" PCs up there and 1 55watt PC. it grows SPS and LPS pretty well.
you might be able to fit just 2 96 watt combo "shorties" up there above your tank.
if so, i'm tearing down my 30 gal and moving it all to the 180, so i have a dual 96 watt ballast/sockets/and bulbs to get you started (though you'll probably want to replace the bulbs soon). figure out if they might work for you and we can make a deal! =)
-dave
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unixnum1
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Posted: March 09 2006 at 12:43pm |
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I had a 35G hex for years.
I used a 175W MH for most of it and was pleased with the outcome.
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220G with 30G sump, SPS/LPS. RoboTank Controller. =====================================
If life is a bowl of cherry's,
why am I always the stem?
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kgwilliams
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Posted: March 09 2006 at 5:51pm |
Well as far as how much room I have goes, the tank came with a 15" strip that was built into the hood, but I have an 18" strip that lays across it and it hangs off an inch or two on both sides. It's been working though, it's just hard to find good flouresants in 15" for saltwater.
Dave- can you post some pictures and measurements for me, so that I can see if it would be right for my tank?
Okay, guys, keep in mind that I'm a 19 year old single parent and I've only been doing saltwater for less than a year. So I don't know what some of these abrieviations mean! lol  So what are "shorty PCs and retrofit kits?" Sorry, I'm just clueless, all I know is my tank doesn't look half as pretty as some of yours do and I really want it too.
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75gal reef /sump/ref 150MH 2 96w CF
Perhaps I would be better at basket weaving. . . at least it would be cheaper!
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kgwilliams
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Posted: March 09 2006 at 6:23pm |
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Okay, I looked on that hellolights.com and they do have pretty good prices. Are you guys talking about the compact flouresant lights or the MH lights? I found a power compact flouresant fixture for less than a $100. Is that what you were talking about Laura?
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75gal reef /sump/ref 150MH 2 96w CF
Perhaps I would be better at basket weaving. . . at least it would be cheaper!
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