# New Project Ahsupply Bright Kit Question



## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

I have a new project, it's a 55g semi-low light but will carry a 2x55w bright kit from ahsupply.com. 

I have an option to get 2 1x55w but I think thw 2x55w (using only one ballast will suffice). any input on this? my tank is 55 gallons but uses two hoods which is 24" each. 

any experiences from the brightkits at ahsupply? 

i'm also doing a diy co2.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

AH Supply kits are very good quality. I would recommend 2 seterate 1x55 kits because you have 2 seperate hoods. Usinga single ballast means you have to wire the 2 hoods together and I believe you will eventually regret that. I assumeyouplan to retrofit the AH supply fixtures into the current hoods. Those hoods will be shorter than 24" The 55watt bulb socket shoudl still fit but you may want to call or email AH to double check that. They have great customer support and are wonderful to deal with.

Good luck!


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## nailalc (Mar 17, 2006)

I've retrofitted a 4 X 55 watt from ahsupply into four old 24" hoods. Love them, they work great! An easy retrofit, drill a couple holes, connect the wires and you're in business. Are there specific questions?


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

i'm in a tight budget and the customer service said that the 2x55w will work fine but the wiring since it will only use one ballast, will this be a problem in the long run??


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Problem no. Minor inconvience everytime you want to take the hoods off, maybe. Ask them what type of wire you should use to mount the ballasts remotely.


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

huh? sorry i'm kind of stupid what do you mean by that ...shame


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

You will end up with two seperate 24" hoods connected in the middle by a short length of wire. This is not a problem but it will be hard to move teh hoods around independant of earh other. Often when doing waterchanges and maintainence I use a hood set at an angle across the tank as a light source to work by. This would be hard to do as you would need to remove the whole hood, depending on what maintainence you are doing.

Mounting the ballast in the cabinet and runnig seperate wires from the ballast to each hood woudl give you more freedom of mobility. I do not know exactly what type, guage, etc of wire you should use although I have done this in my tanks using 16 guage heavy duty 3 wire althoug hI do not know if this is idea. Hence, you should contact Kim to see what they recommend.

Hope that made more sense.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Don't electronic ballasts supply considerably higher than 120 volts to the bulbs? I know the frequence of the AC is raised way above 60 Hz, but I 'm not so sure about the voltage. My point is that higher voltage means a different kind of wire, and high frequency can lead to losses if parallel wires are used for any length. Contacting AH Supply is the way to get the answers.


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