Hello everyone, I know I have lurked around the forums and was interested in trading up my
T5 High Output Lighting for a
Metal Halide system and I know I told Rob that I would wait until christmas time but I stumbled across a company based out in California and could not pass up their Retrofit
Metal Halide system. As everyone might now I did not know much about
Metal Halide systems and I contacted their customer service which was extremely professional and actually helpful. I purchased a 150 watt
Metal Halide HQI Retrofit Kit with Electronic
Ballast, 10,000 kelvin XDE bulb, Reflector, 18 Gauge Wires and bolts all for $200.00 with shipping.
This is going to be placed on a 29 Gallon Reef that I setup in my bedroom for my Black Seahorse, Morish Idol, and 4 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs and 4 Turbo Snails. I'm going to purchase the wood from Home Depot this weekend and create a custom canopy for the tank. This will give me just over 5 watts per gallon. It was suggested that I mount the lights about 12 inches from the surface of the water.
Would anyone else have any other suggestions concerning the distance away from the surface of the water? Do you think the price was a good deal? I'm seeing how this little project goes on a larger scale before I decide to creat a custom hood for the 180 gallon tank in my living room with 4 to 5 250 watt
Metal Halide HQI fixtures from them.
