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Skyetone 
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Joined: January 09 2004
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 Topic: HELP Get me into MH for CHEEP
Posted: January 25 2005 at 3:09pm |
Yea I know  But seriosly. It's getting to be time. I had a deal (sorta) that fell through on a dual 400w 20k setup for cheep.
I have a softie tank. It will mostly be softies. It has several leathers (some green) frogspawn, shrooms, misc. It is a 48x24x24 tank. I currently run 4 55w. pc actinics and 4 55w. 10k whites. 10hrs each with about a 2 hr late bleed on the actinics at night.
I really want to bring out the greens in my tank. I want to be able to grow whatever I want, but not kill the softies.
I am thinking 2 10-15k 250w. MH retrofits. I'd maybe like 20k's too but dunno....
I want a good electronic balast that will last 50 years, bulbs I can get easy when they die, and lighting that will do the job.
I have seen a few posts here of local MH balasts anywhere from 75-125$ range. or do i order an icecap? Why is one better that the other?
where is the best place to get all the stuff? roughly how much can i do it for? I don't have 600 to spend I really dont want to either.....
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Skyetone
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 3:33pm |
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Riley
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Joined: July 14 2004
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 3:58pm |
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Take a look at these Sky good and cheap you can even upgrade to xm bulbs for like 15 bucks + they are electronic ballests Riley
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Riley Herriman
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scubadave
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Joined: October 10 2004
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 4:36pm |
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I have an extra 250 Watt MH ballast with capacitor that I got on e-bay for 45.00 if interested and I also have a bunch of 400 Watt MV that I want to convert to MH but I guess you would have to buy a retro ballast, Don't know but an electrician at work said that it will start and run a 400 Watt MH bulb but I haven't tried that yet!!
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My Tank
220 Reef
4-400 watt metal halides
2- 72� V.H.O.
2- 1200 GPH Pumps
My Pride & Joy
Tremonton,Utah
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ssilcox
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Joined: November 17 2003
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 5:25pm |
This is the best prices I can find online -
http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY &Store_Code=OE&Category_Code=spe
Or you can wait a bit and buy my whole tank setup with some kickin lights when I finally move my stuff into my new tank.
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Adam Haycock
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 6:34pm |
You could always do two Iwasakis 6500K with the MV ballasts so you don't need to convert.
Oceanencounter.com is one of the cheapest sites ive seen. I also like DIYreef.com and hellolights.com
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Skyetone
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 8:46pm |
so on ocean counter, what balasts do they run? How good are they? How do you know if they are good or not?
hm. shane you have mail
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Skyetone
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 9:09pm |
what is the diff between MV and MH? I know it's been covered....
hey dave, is that the ballast you are talking about? Is that from that school or whatever that errr. college cleaning house a while ago?
riley... no link
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Skyetone
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 9:18pm |
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if I did buy new. it's dollars cheeper to go 400w instead of 250. at 20k would i still fry my system? I will go bigger eventually. (new house)
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Carl
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Joined: September 17 2003
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 9:24pm |
 Skyetone wrote:
so on ocean counter, what balasts do they run? How good are they? How do you know if they are good or not? |
Skyetone, I bought two 250W Icecap Electronic balasts from Ocean Encounter. Personally, I love them. When I move my system downstairs, I will be buying a third. They package them with bulbs usually and when I did the math, I saveed about $100 over what everyone else was trying to sell them for. I did alot of research before I purchased too. Just my experience.
I should add. If you are talking about the least expensive, useable setup, Jon Finch has the DIY answer. You might want to do a  Search for metal halide diy in the forum. He wrote something pretty extensive if memory serves me correctly.
Edited by Carl
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In Syracuse
"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
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Skyetone
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 9:26pm |
good to know.... anyone on http://www.aquariumlight.com/index.asp experience? I guess an icecap is an icecap eh.... is that the best out there?
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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scubadave
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Joined: October 10 2004
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 9:43pm |
MV= Mercury Vapor But they use a S51 Bulb so I suppose they are actually a HPS=High Pressure Sodium
At any rate I got them out of the rafters of a building we took down, They would only be good for a DIY project But that is all I've got in my tank to cheap to buy new
I could bring a couple to the meeting if your interested in trying to make something out of them.
I bought my coil ballast and Capacitors on e-bay for around 55.00 with shipping so thats a good place to look to find things like that, Doser Pumps ETC.
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My Tank
220 Reef
4-400 watt metal halides
2- 72� V.H.O.
2- 1200 GPH Pumps
My Pride & Joy
Tremonton,Utah
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Skyetone
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Joined: January 09 2004
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Posted: January 26 2005 at 7:22pm |
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I think I will go new... but thanx.
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Mark Peterson
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Joined: June 19 2002
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Posted: January 27 2005 at 1:46pm |
During the reef tour a guy came by that said he has a friend with used MH ballasts for $30. Call me if you're interested. >edit< Well, this was the friend of a cousin that has an uncle that went to prison and lost everything in his house.  Needless to say this was a dead end!
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Kull
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Posted: January 28 2005 at 11:50am |
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"So this is what gives meaning to your life." -Unknown
Daniel in Santaquin
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