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seti007 
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 Topic: WOW !!!!!HOME DEPOT LIGHT
Posted: May 14 2004 at 5:00pm |
I went to home depot to buy a light for my refugium. I wanted to get the flourax light that made quite a sensation last year for being a cheap light that output (atleast claimed to) 500W of light while consuming 65W. the spectrum was good too. However, while looking around the aisles, i found that they now carry a 175 metal halide (mercury vapor) fixture. It is made by regent and says "dusk to dawn" on it. It also says blue/white light. Well I had to try it, so I brought it home and within minutes I had it fired up. All i have to say is WOW, The spectrum starts up at very Blue and at full brightness looks just like the 10K bulbs I have. It comes in a complete kit (magnetic ballast, weather resistant housing, reflector etc) all for $22 . That should make it very attractive for all the DIYers out there. 
BTW. the other flourax fixture that was a flourescent bulb was $34 and not nearly as bright. I would highly recommend the Regent light for people starting new systems.
Asad
Edited by seti007
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reptoreef
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Posted: May 14 2004 at 6:38pm |
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Is their anybody in the club that would be able to test the true kelvins? This could really damage all the profits of MH brandnames/manufacturers if it is comparable.
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ewaldsreef
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Posted: May 14 2004 at 10:49pm |
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Please let us know how this light does in the long run. Sounds like a great refuge light if nothing else.
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Contact me for professional aquarium maintenance and localy grown coral frags. [URL=http://www.aquatitranquility.com][/URL]
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acerob
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Posted: May 15 2004 at 6:22am |
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I saw this light a few weeks ago and was wondering if it was something that we could use on our reef tanks. thanks for the info.
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Highland, UT
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Skyetone
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Posted: May 15 2004 at 8:34am |
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for that price, I could make 400 watts easy.... LOL The bulbs are small right?
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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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coreyk
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Posted: May 15 2004 at 9:24am |
so is it metal halide or mercury vapor? i thought they were different 
checkout these threads -- is it one of these bulbs? if it is the 4000k bulb i wonder if you can run a normal aquarium bulb on it? you dont have aother 175w bulb to test on it do you?
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&thread id=22722
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid =284909&perpage=25&highlight=175%20metal%20halide%20 mercury%20vapor&pagenumber=1
Edited by coreyk
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Aquarium Creations
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Posted: May 15 2004 at 9:57am |
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Yes they are diffrent, that ballast will not fire a Metal Halide bulb i did some testing on that unit last year found it wasnt the greatest light for what was needed for aquarium use but good luck....
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Aquarium Maintenance,Consulting,Custom Built Glass Aquariums Rimless/Euro,24Hr Emergency Service 8015485201 Www.UtahAquariumDoctors.com [email protected]
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chrisslc
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Posted: May 15 2004 at 1:42pm |
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Mercury Vapor is an older technology that does not produce light as efficiently as Metal Halide, So I would bet that the 175w MV is not putting out as many Lumens per Watt as a 175w MH. However at the $22 price tag that still seems a pretty good DIY option.
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Murray, Utah just north of the park.
"It's all the same to the clam" -Shel Silverstein
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bhaight
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Posted: May 15 2004 at 2:12pm |
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I'm thinking of doing a fish only tank and I would guess that these lights would be a great option for that. Thanks for letting us know!
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Bill Haight
You'll need a bigger boat.
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chrisslc
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Posted: May 15 2004 at 5:05pm |
I have considered this personally but have never been able to convince myself that these are a good alternative for lighting. I'm not saying they absolutely aren't but, beyond the reason above it seems that they would be hotter and not really the "Ideal" range of color spectrum, "good enough" maybe. And to paraphrase someone else recently, Everything you could think of has been tried and their are reasons why people recommend Metal Halides and variants of flourescent.
But then again I'm all for DIY, and people do amazing things with unusual methods all the time .
Edit: just reread the post above me and am shagrinned (sp?), probably a great option for FO. 
Edited by chrisslc
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Murray, Utah just north of the park.
"It's all the same to the clam" -Shel Silverstein
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seti007
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Posted: May 15 2004 at 7:24pm |
Update... I have the light going on my refugium (55gal). I let it run all night and all day today, It has turned a little to the yellow side. It looks very similar to 6500 K Iwasaki. I think it is a great light for growing algae and hopefully coralline on the rock in my refuge. In anycase u cant beat $22. I will try to see if it fires my 175 MH bulb. Ill keep u posted.
Asad
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peregrinus
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Posted: May 16 2004 at 6:58am |
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here is some info on the bulb that comes in that unit.
http://donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/h39kb175.html
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In Clearfield
Quantum mechanics the dreams stuff is made of.
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jfinch
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Posted: May 16 2004 at 9:25am |
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The color temp on that bulb isn't all bad (5700 K), but the lumens seem awfully low (7800 lumen). If it's really 5700 K then it should appear a little more yellow then the readily available Iwasaki bulb.
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seti007
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Posted: May 16 2004 at 9:30pm |
The specs say its 7800 Lumens (initial lumens) I think the lumen value goes up as it warms up because it gets considerably brighter (and yellower) within a few minutes. I think that the 5700K is accurate and should be great for macro algae in a refuge.
Asad
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jfinch
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Posted: May 16 2004 at 10:13pm |
No, the 7800 lumen is the value when the bulb is new. As it ages it drops down to a lower value. Maybe around 6240 lumens like this MV 175 watt bulb from Iwasaki: http://www.eyelighting.com/ebtseries.html
I agree, it might be a good bulb for a sump. It might even be ok for a tank, but I'm sure I wouldn't really like the color.
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acerob
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Posted: May 17 2004 at 8:47am |
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how about mixing these lights with PC's or NO acintic lights??
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Highland, UT
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kcliao
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Posted: May 17 2004 at 11:32am |
Bruce,
Suzy has one for her refugium. She likes it.
Thanks,
KC
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I am from Pacific Ocean.
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acerob
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Posted: May 17 2004 at 12:00pm |
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I was thinking of trying one on a nano. I have seen several posts especially on RC that talk about using MH on thier nano's, but expressed that they do run a little hot. Do they run hot? what do you guys recommend??
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seti007
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Posted: May 17 2004 at 2:14pm |
This particular light runs quite hot. You would have trouble running it without adequate ventilation. Also you will have to make a DIY enclosure for it as it comes with a huge outdoor housing.
ASad
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peregrinus
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Posted: May 17 2004 at 5:11pm |
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seti007 have you tried a MH bulb in the fixture?
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In Clearfield
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