Aquarium Lighting - MH
- Thread starter Copperband
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Ok so I opened up the unit last night. Turns out the the end cap of the bulb was broken so I fixed that up with pratley steel. Another problem was the cooling fan was not working. So I had some PC fans lying around and thought I could change it. Stripped the wires a bit and decided to touch one of the wires to see if it was the fan or a fault in the wiring. And then I get electrocuted:3:So I left it be. But the light seems to be working 
just to add i purchased a MH DE 150W 10 000k plus which i think is the newer make from Venture Lightning and i must say into comparison with the previous 10 000k from OSRAM the new Venture product is by far a more whiter brighter pleasing to the eye look and feel.i have it suspended 25cm above water surface and i have a mixture of softies and sps and they all very happy indeed..just my 2c..
viper357
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Ok so I opened up the unit last night. Turns out the the end cap of the bulb was broken so I fixed that up with pratley steel. Another problem was the cooling fan was not working. So I had some PC fans lying around and thought I could change it. Stripped the wires a bit and decided to touch one of the wires to see if it was the fan or a fault in the wiring. And then I get electrocuted:3:So I left it be. But the light seems to be working
Well at least you found the fault. 
Yip, I like those Venture bulbs.
Venture make some excellent bulbs with very long lifespan,I haven't tried the 10000k ones you speaking of yet,I normally use the euro blue or blue,gives a nice light around 14-16000k.
Okay I'm having the same problem again. I think moisture got into the unit. Have to get an electrician to have a look at it. If I try again I know I'm toast :wacko:
viper357
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lol, electricty is no fun. If the end cap of the bulb was broken then I think you should consider replacing the bulb, they look pretty delicate inside and it's quite possible that something is not making contact 100% inside the bulb. But try all avenues and try the cheapest one first, perhaps ask on the forum if anyone can send you one of their old bulbs, just so you can test the unit.
What if i swop the bulbs around? I think its a power surge though and moisture in the unit because when I tried to connect a new fan, I only touched 1 wire and then got shocked.
viper357
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I thought you had done that already, but yeah, if not then swap them around, if the other bulb does the same thing then you know it's the bulb at fault.
And don't play with the fan anymore, we don't need you getting shocked, phone Justin and tell him to come fix it, tell him I said so.
Good question,they are the same just different fitting methods.The main difference is in the brand,some are great while some of the cheap chinese ones of ebay are just terrible and even t8 has better efficiency than some cheap brands!
Oh and there are some double ended like the venture uni-form globes that come with uv protection on the globe so its best to decide on a globe by globe basis.
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Howsit guys....
After reading all these posts im still kinda left in the "dark" about EXACTLY what is ideal for me . . . I need to choose a MH that gives me awesome coral growth of all types but also highlights the colours of the corals nicely.
Do any of youll have a graph that has the ks to lumans ratio?
Would be better to compare that way?
thanksani
After reading all these posts im still kinda left in the "dark" about EXACTLY what is ideal for me . . . I need to choose a MH that gives me awesome coral growth of all types but also highlights the colours of the corals nicely.
Do any of youll have a graph that has the ks to lumans ratio?
Would be better to compare that way?
thanksani
Nope not really going to make a difference to compare that way,basically you want to go for a 14-16000k globe.Only problem I have with that is some brands dont give alot of contrast with their globes in this rating ie to close spectral output rather than a broad spectral output,so to avoid this you can maybe just add a t5 or two in thw extreme rangs ie maybe one 10000k and one pure actinic
but its not really needed if you personally are happy with the look of a 14000-16000k globe.
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Thanks falcon... My tank water depth is 800 , I have 6 T5s there at the moment. . . 39watt 3 blue 3 white. It give me good light but I'd like it to be ABIT more blue so it can show the UV colours a lot more . . . I feel I need just one 250 watt mh (14-16k like yÒυ said).
What do think??
What do think??
What the total dimensions of your tank?L x b x h?
Also what corals/livestock do you have or want?Anemones,sps,lps etc?
These things will help me give you better suggestions
ℓ☺ℓ. Alright . . . Its a fresh tank so there's NOTHING at all in it. Besides rocks... I was hoping for corals like nennies , hammers , polyps. Also a few nice shrooms. . . BASiCALLY all types of corals. The tank is roughly 800 cube. . . Check out my link. Want a new pic?
Hmm ok 250w could cut it,especially if you not going for magnifica anemones or too much sps as these can be placed near the top if you go 250w.
Personally I have a cube thats 800x800 and ONLY 600deep but I went for 400w mh so that would be the best option IMO,but 250w mh will also work for what youmainly want right now,and beside you can always add two 39w t5s if you feel you need more oomph out of your lighting later on....oh and 20000k MH will really bring your corals colour to life!