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MH in BioCube

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jfinch View Drop Down
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    Posted: December 18 2008 at 11:29pm
I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I can't be satisfied without that metal halide shimmer...  So, I've got you're typical Oceanic BioCube 29 tank with 2 x 36 watt PCs.



I was walking though Aquatica the other day and noticed their Red Sea version of this sized nano and it had a 150 watt MH bulb in it.  It looked great.  Ok, now I've got to have a MH in my nano...  Here's how I retrofit my tank.

I bought the 150 w MH end sockets and a Phoenix bulb from Hello lights.  I should have bought the metal bracket too, but forgot.  So I needed to built a bracket to hold the sockets.  I didn't want nuts on the back side of the bracket because I wanted it to be up tight against the reflector in the canopy so I threaded the connections and cut the #6 stainless bolts flush with the back.  But there was no easy way to index the holes to the aluminum bracket so I made a paper template of the bracket.  To do this, just press a piece of paper into the socket with your thumb.  You're left with an outline of the bracket (and bolt holes!).  Cut it out and use to index your holes.

Here's the template before cutting it out.



Here's the aluminum bracket with the hole for the sockets drilled and tapped for #6 bolts.  You can also see the outline of where it'll be cut.



Now let's look under the hood.  Notice that under the front bulb (with is removed in this pic) there are two screws.  One holds the reflector in place and the other attaches the bulb holder to the reflector.  These will be used to hold the MH bracket/socket assembly.



And with the MH installed.  I'll still use the actinic bulb.



Here's a shot of the ballast (thanks again dew2loud1 for the tip).  I used a regular "wall plug" to connect the bulb to the ballast so I can easily unplug the lamp if I remove the canopy.



And here's the tank.



Overall this was a very easy and fairly cheap mod.  I didn't have to break or really "modify" anything in the canopy.  If I want to go back to using 2 PC bulb I could do it in almost no time.  The canopy still has an actinic bulb and the two fans operating.  Oh, normally the lights have an acrylic cover... that is removed and not used with the MH.  Actually I removed it when I set the tank up as I don't like light covers.  They're always dirty and block too much light.  The ballast was only $50.  The sockets were $15 and the bulb $60.  The other supplied I had lying around the garage.

The difference in lighting is drastic.  The tank, to me, looks so much better with the MH.

There were a few "issues" with the MH which I'll discuss below.
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jfinch View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jfinch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 11:38pm
ISSUES.  Not everything's roses right...

Within two minutes of turning on the MH bulb I could smell burning plastic.  Turns out the center moon light housing is too close to the bulb and was melting.




So it was removed:


Here's a close up of the damage:





It still works, just a little melted...

I turned the bulb back on and after about 30 minutes I notice that the top of the canopy directly through the LED hole was very hot and actually started to bulge a bit.  So I stuffed a wadded up ball of aluminum foil into the LED hole.  The canopy is no longer hot.

My tank, after a full day of lights, is at 85F.  That's way to high for me (and the corals don't look too happy about it either).  I haven't fixed this issue yet.  There are two fans in the canopy.  One blows in and the other blows out.  I'm thinking of making both blow into the canopy to increase evaporation (hence cooling).  Or I'll add another fan.  Or I'll remove the MH and put the PC back in.  Or?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jfinch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 11:41pm
My symphyllia is a totally different coral under this bulb.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ryan Thompson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 11:45pm
Or you do the smart thing and retro these in:


Walah! Shimmer and better looking corals! No heat and lower electricty bills. Also when you figure it out you can come over and fit them into my Nano Cube! I believe Santa is bringing me 2 of them this year.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jfinch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 11:52pm
I'll let you experiment with the LEDs and then I'll come over and see how they look.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ryan Thompson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 11:55pm
I will still be running the PC's with the LEDs. I get good color and growth with my PCs so I don't want them completely gone. I know that the LEDs will increase my colors for sure
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mike Savage Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 11:56pm
Nice Jon! I hope you are able to control the heat without too much evaporation. That would be hard to keep up with. I also hope the top doesn't warp. I really like the look of the all-in-one systems.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tileman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2008 at 11:57pm
I've got the perfect answer for you Jon.  To satify your hunger,        You need a BIG TANK
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ryan Thompson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 19 2008 at 12:04am
I second what Brad said!

Brad, when does the fragging begin of the Acans? Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jfinch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 19 2008 at 12:14am
I know mike, the heat is a real bummer.

In time brad... in time.

Ryan, I really do want to see the LEDs when you get them in your canopy.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ryan Thompson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 19 2008 at 12:17am
Jon,

I may need your help getting them in there! I can't see any real place they will fit but I don't have one in hand either to play with. They need a plastic shield protecting them. Current says to not put them in corrosive environments, which makes no sense but I will follow the instructions.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sanddune600 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2008 at 9:09pm
you have to have some kind of shield for hqi you shouldnt run them with out having glass blocking the harmful uv rays that they give off to your corals
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ReefBones Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2008 at 9:29pm
Originally posted by sanddune600 sanddune600 wrote:

you have to have some kind of shield for hqi you shouldnt run them with out having glass blocking the harmful uv rays that they give off to your corals


I was just going to ask how you filtered out the UV from the HQI bulb ... also the glass needs to be tempered .. not only to take the heat but thats what filters out the harmful UV ..


Edited by ReefBones - December 20 2008 at 9:35pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jfinch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 21 2008 at 12:38am
Any borosilicate glass will attenuate pretty much all of the UV-C and B and some of the A.  It's the UV-C (and maybe some of the B) that's of concern.  The tempered is more to protect you when it breaks and it is a little more resistant to thermal shock.  But plain old plate glass at home depot will filter as good at tempered.  Acrylic will filter even better then glass.  But, I kind of doubt there's much UV-C sourced from HQI bulbs anyway.  I know people have used HQI bulbs without any glass filter without any effect on their corals... I realize this goes contrary to conventional wisdom.  I'd be very interested in any non-anecdotal evidence that DE bulbs emit more UV then SE bulbs (they both appear to have a borosilicate glass sleeve around the quartz inner tube).

But, funny you should mention glass...  after the first day of 85F, I left the door at the back of the canopy (over the filter section) open all day.  The temperature peaked at 84F.  The next night I left both doors open on the canopy (feeding door at front and door at back over filter area) all day long.  The temp peaked at 82 F.  I wouldn't be happy with 82F but I could live with it.  The actual air in the canopy (with both doors open) wasn't really that hot so I figured most of the heat input had to be transfered radiatively rather then convective.  So I decided to see what a piece of glass would do.  The glass would act as a radiative heat shield while still letting the light through.  The only piece of glass I had this small was out of an old halogen work light.  So I cut a couple thin pieces of wood to support the piece of glass like this:



It's sitting directly under the bulb.  Wow, did it make a difference.  Tonight with the glass shield and both doors open the temp peaked at 79 F.  Great!  Now I just need to support the glass "cleaner" and increase the air movement in the hood so I can get the doors closed.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mike Savage Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 21 2008 at 7:22am
Also consider the ambient temperature now compared to July or August. I actually have the toughest time in spring and fall when I'm not running the air conditioner or heater.
 
Mike


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Aquarium Creations Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 21 2008 at 3:11pm
I am working on some small 35watt and  55 watt type of MH lightinng for nano the bulbs are 2" long and put out alot of light, I cant get the picture of the bulb to load
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mike Savage Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 21 2008 at 3:14pm
Interesting. I wonder how good the light spread and penetration are.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jfinch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 21 2008 at 6:37pm
Cool, Eric.  Are they DE bulbs or are they Parabolic?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Aquarium Creations Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 22 2008 at 9:12am
They are single ended, And the socket is built into the bulb.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jfinch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 22 2008 at 9:13am
VERY COOL.
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