Industrial lighting?

[FishyFishy!]

What are the chances that a reefer could use these industrial halides as tank light? If you had an in wall tank where these enourmous beasts could fit and be out of the way... and some decent bulbs were thrown in there.. could they be used? Cheap alternative if they would work.

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-tools-equipment-LUMARK-STEELER-High-Bay-400-watt-HID-Lighting-x-20-W0QQAdIdZ237037053

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

i am running 3*400w core and coil halides over my 180glns inwall tank with no problems.

[phi delt reefer]

remember that the aquarium trade is built on lies and ignorance :D. Almost everything we use in the hobby is used elsewhere and is cheaper. Thats why an individual with a keen eye can really save some cash if they know what they are doing and know what they are looking for.

Granted some of the items are reef specific but even then - given the opportunity everyone in this hobby thinks they can double the price and put "safe for aquariums" on the fine print.

I dont know much about Halides but if the socket and ballast wattage match some of the bulbs you want to use i see no reason why you can't save yourself a few hundred dollars :). Keep us updated - would love to see those installed :D

[lastlight]

I'm sure all of it except the ballasts will be fine by default. Maybe not a computer engineered reflector but good enough. Maybe someone more familiar with ballast types can chime in. Even open top a few of those would look pretty cool/industrial I think!

[patpare]

A metal halide ballast will have the same components weather you buy it at a pet store,hydroponic shop or even at you local hardware store.I usually get my ballast at hydroponic stores,you will not find proper bulbs there but the ballast are the same.So the warehouse ballast will work just make sure your bulbs are not the pulse start type,most of the older ballast in warehouse will not fire up pulse start bulbs.

[ScubaSteve]

They'd work just fine. The only trick would be to find bulbs that size in the right colour temp, and they're not cheap (though probably not as bad as what you would pay at an LFS). The ballasts on those units are totally fine. They're tri-tap, so all that means is that you can hook them up to three different voltages (120/277/347) depending where you are using them (most industrial sites run off of 277 V or 347 V for large equipment). They'd work just fine in a house... you'd just need to make a decent cover to go over them so that you don't totally **** off the wife.

My father owns a commercial/industrial electrical company and I see these lights everytime I go down to the warehouse.. he's probably got 15 used ones just sitting there. Oh, if only I had the money and room to start another tank.... sigh

[sphelps]

When you're using 400W halides you're sucking up a lot of power and even the best halide equipment is still very inefficient. For this reason you're better off investing in better reflectors that mount the bulb in the most efficient way for tank lighting. Of course this cheap alternative will work but you'll loose efficiency and it'll cost you more in the long run. It's also nice to have remote ballasts to keep them away from moisture.

So yes they work but IMO not worth the savings, the reflectors are useless so the ballast is the only really useful part. However paying $60 for a used industrial ballast makes little sense to me when you can get a new vertex for less than $150.

[FishyFishy!]

So yes they work but IMO not worth the savings, the reflectors are useless so the ballast is the only really useful part. However paying $60 for a used industrial ballast makes little sense to me when you can get a new vertex for less than $150.


Well $144.95 for a vertex balast only (no reflector or receptical) I think less than half the price for a full package that can possibly be modded might be worth it. Heck, whats $120 bucks. Imma try it. Stay tuned! (If he ever replies..)

[KevinK]

now we are talking about ballast,

I posted it once, but no responds.

I have 2 coralive ballast (150 W) --- the once that come with the coralive mh fictures,

as I have bin given these without the light unit itselve, I gust had in mind to put them on a pendant ore so.

proublem is, thy bothe cant fire up a phounix bulb, while thy are for regular DE HQI lights.

is there a way to mesure a ballast to check if thy are ok?

could it be that the coralive units have some sort of capasitor build in the unit to fire up a bulb (ax I might be missing this than.

it is gust fustrating to have the ballast sitting in a box, where I could use them.

any input?

[sphelps]

Well $144.95 for a vertex balast only (no reflector or receptical) I think less than half the price for a full package that can possibly be modded might be worth it. Heck, whats $120 bucks. Imma try it. Stay tuned! (If he ever replies..)

Obviously you didn't understand a word I said. Good luck!

[phi delt reefer]

he is open to offers now that reread his post - so maybe offer him $60 for 2 and see what he says?

Also the ballasts are wired for 347v but are 120v capable so make sure you make that change before plugging that bad boy in.

As for the reflectors - try em out as is and see how they are. There are diy reflector plans somewhere in a reef forum - if i find em i will pm you the link.

a point was made that these are 400w lights which are going to eat a ton of electricity so that would be my primary concern if budget is an issue.

[ScubaSteve]

I wouldn't call the reflectors junk. They are specifically designed to give an even light distribution from a pendant bulb, however, at a distance (they're meant for high bay applications after all). High bay reflectors are about efficiency AND economy. Aquariums really weren't in mind for their design. Because you will have them closer that their intended application there might be some bright spots but don't see any reason why, for a cheap set up, they wouldn't work.

[ongquang21]

now we are talking about ballast,

I posted it once, but no responds.

I have 2 coralive ballast (150 W) --- the once that come with the coralive mh fictures,

as I have bin given these without the light unit itselve, I gust had in mind to put them on a pendant ore so.

proublem is, thy bothe cant fire up a phounix bulb, while thy are for regular DE HQI lights.

is there a way to mesure a ballast to check if thy are ok?

could it be that the coralive units have some sort of capasitor build in the unit to fire up a bulb (ax I might be missing this than.

it is gust fustrating to have the ballast sitting in a box, where I could use them.

any input?

This message assumes your ballasts are magnetic ones

The DE bulb is a pulse start one (there are only two main probes in it) and not fired by a capacitor or by a subprobe but by an ignitor.

In your case, the ballasts built particularly for the coralife fixture have no ignitor in it.

The ignitor is in the fixture.

You can check by opening the metal box to take a look. If there is 3 items in it, then the smallest one with 3 wires ( usually green, yellow and red) attached to it is the ignitor. Otherwise you need to buy an ignitor (one for each ballast.)

Most of the time, the ballast between 70-150 watt uses the same ignitor.

Use the phase like "150 watt mh ignitor" to search on ebay or google.

[steve fedyk]

those are the same as we use at the dry dock. They're tough and give a pretty good light spreed. The bulbs are the just nomal mougle, just find the right K.