# $100 DIY 150W HQI Metal Halide with eballast and bulb!



## Craig Tarvin (Jul 26, 2005)

I haven't built one of these yet, but it's almost the same as what I did build in this thread: $70 DIY 70W HQI Metal Halide The only difference is a more efficient and better looking reflector, and more power.

Parts:

$49.99 BallastWise.com 150W eballast HID E-B DXE150HID1

$20.20 Astralux MH 150W DE 8KK Ultra White Bulb

$29.95 Reflector and Sockets from HelloLights.com

Grounded power cord, and a couple wire nuts (you probably already have, if not a couple bucks).

~$100 plus shipping for a complete 150W retro, and the reflector looks awesome. 67 cents a watt! Plus, for $65 more you could get the ADA 8,000k bulb.


----------



## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

thats pretty sweet I'm going to keep this in mind for a future lighting plan I'm scheming.


----------



## rusticitas (Mar 10, 2004)

I am really intrigued by this. Since I have not used MH lighting before, I am having difficulty gauging the light output and what the "equivalent" watts-per-gallon would be. Is it 1:1 when compared to, say, compact fluorescent? What size tank could be covered by this size light/reflector? Is there a *lot* heat generated?

Sorry for all the questions, this project has me excited about trying it out!


----------



## Craig Tarvin (Jul 26, 2005)

rusticitas said:


> I am really intrigued by this. Since I have not used MH lighting before, I am having difficulty gauging the light output and what the "equivalent" watts-per-gallon would be. Is it 1:1 when compared to, say, compact fluorescent? What size tank could be covered by this size light/reflector? Is there a *lot* heat generated?
> 
> Sorry for all the questions, this project has me excited about trying it out!


Ask away...

I don't think in terms of WPG myself, and I can't tell you a CF:MH ratio, but I can tell you what seems to work. I have 70W HQI metal halide over a 60cm/2 ft/18 gallon tank. It's the only light on the tank and I think it's a very good amount, HC is growing very well. I used the same light on that tank's previous setup which was dominated by Spiky Moss and the moss grew very well and algae-free. So I would consider that high light but not overkill. I have heard of people using 150W HQI MH (the ADA Solar I pendant) over the same tank. The advantage of 70W is that you can run it for 10 hours rather than maybe 6 hours if you are using a 150W over the same tank. There is a guy on TPT that made a pendant with 3 70W HQI's over a 85 gallon tank and it looks awesome. I would say that if you are going to use 150W MH's on a larger tank you would want to use one for every 2 to 2.5 ft of tank length.

As far as heat, CF's and MH's can both have heat issues. When my 70W is running all day, I can still keep my hand on it, it's very warm, but not really hot. If that makes sense. I used to have a 250W HQI MH and you would not want to keep your hand on the pendant after it had been running for a while, it was hot. I personally have never used a 150W yet, but it's heat output must be somewhere between those two. You don't need to use fans on metal halides unless they are enclosed in a canopy, if they're just hanging they won't heat up the tank. Metal halides are very bright and very efficient, a lot more efficient than the 60-100W incandescent bulbs (actually space heaters that emmit some light) that most people have in their house, so a lot of their energy goes in to making light rather than heat.


----------



## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

What kind of heat and venting issures would I be faced with if this was put into a DIY suspended wood pendant? I would love to couple this with two 36W AHS lights to go over my 50gal....At least that route would be far cheaper than the Coralife 20" HQI fixture, and I wouldn't have to spend the extra money to swap out the Coralife's marine bulbs! Great info Craig!


----------



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Please do show us pictures of it installed once you are finished.

Maybe do a step by step topic on how to wire it all up and stuff?

I may use this on a SW tank I'm planning on doing this summer. 150w is right about what I was looking for. The rest can be done through T-5/T-8's.


----------



## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Here's another ultra cheap, 10K, chinese, 150W double ended bulb. Can't beat $20 + shipping:

ODYSSEA 150W MH Light Bulb 10,000K - 504901

The 6,000K Osram bulb listed on the same site may attract your attention. Actually it's a 5,200K bulb - yellow as egg yolk. From what I hear plants absolutely love it, but the yellow color is almost impossible to look at. Consider yourself warned 

--Nikolay


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Thanks for the link, niko! =)


----------



## Milkdud (Jan 21, 2007)

How well would this work over a 30" deep tank VS a quantity of T5 HO's with efficient reflectors of the same total wattage. I'm most worried about ground cover and stems.

Obviously this is the cheaper option but does it actually supply more PAR to plants than comparable watts of T5HO?

Does anyone have any links for building a conduit system for pendant suspension?

Would a MH with a larger relector produce more usable light? This parabolic reflector is 13" wide MH Parabolic Reflector Set w/ Mogul Base

Would a 250 watt balast and relector be backwards compatable with 150 watt Bulbs? 250W HQI (Double Ended) MH Reflector

Thanks.


----------



## Milkdud (Jan 21, 2007)

Nevermind. I found my answer.


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

...what's the answer?


----------



## Milkdud (Jan 21, 2007)

T5 HO's produce light that penetrates even into deep aquarium. The benefit over MH is that the PAR is constant and even at the deepest parts of the tank. Because MH is a point light source, the light and thus PAR drops off as distance from the bulb increases. Although there may be more PAR next to the bulb, it doesn't translate into even high lighting for the entire tank.

The answer is overdriven T5HO. 80-85 watts per 48" 54watt bulb.

I was going to go with a 6 bulb 4ft Tek over my 110x (48x18x30") (Total 324watts total).

Now I will buy the four bulb Icecap T5 Retrofit Kit that includes bulbs, better reflectors, better endcaps, and a better ballast that naturally overdrives the bulbs. http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5..._Retrofit:_4-54W_T5_HO_Fluorescents_by_IceCap

Icecap with four bulbs = 320watts 
I can easily add a second kit later and add up to 2 more bulbs on my 18" wide tank. (If I got a 24" wide tank I could use all 4 extra bulbs of the second kit) 
6 bulbs = 480watts! over the same space as the teks 6 bulb 324watts.

Also, it will be without messing with a limiting premanufactured fixture like TEK. This flexibilty makes it easy to reconfigure the lighting iof I ever get a wider tank.

Fans are NEEDED on all T5HO fixtures. The PAR has been shown to drop by as much as 10% in a hot noncooled bulb. The Tek has no fans.

Information ninja'ed from the extensive research and discussion at reefcentral.

This all said... I still want to try MH's in the future and the OP has done the legwork for a cheap yet decent MH system. :thumbsup:


----------

