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Thread: HQI in 29 gallon biocube

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    HQI in 29 gallon biocube

    Hey guys. Ive got the pc lighting upgrade on my biocube. 144 watts of pc lights. I just ordered a hqi setup that im going to retrofit into that though..so 2 of those bulbs are going to come out. so i will have 2 actinic bulbs..one on each side of the hqi setup. my question is on the hqi bulb. Im not sure whats best. 10,000, 14,000 or 20,000. can someone chime in. thanks.

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    It's really a personal choice. With the PC actinics, the 10k wont be so yellow. 10k is going to give you the most PAR and the most growth at the expense (to a small degree) of color. 20k will give the best color with slightly less growth and typically has less PAR than the 10Ks, but more than 14k or 15k. I like the blue look, so I'd go with the 20K, but any of them will be just fine.
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    Ok..so I am having a problem. I took the 150 watt hqi set up out of a used jbj 28 gallon hood and put it into my 29 gallon oceanic biocube. I even cut a square out of my splash guard and installed a piece of glass for the uv shield. I was told that there is some kind of thermal sensor or something. But anyway, the bulb powers on and within 5 min , it goes out. within another minute to 2 minute it will power back up and then shut off within 5 min again..etc . how can I solve this problem?

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    I'm not an expert, I don't even own MH bulbs, but I do know they get really hot so I wouldn't be surprised if it has some of breaker that cuts them off when it thinks you might be risking fire etc. How about adding some fans and try and get it a bit cooler under the hood?

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    yeah..im experimenting with that. the oceanica biocube already has two fans uner the hood. one pulling air in..one blowing air out. they are upgraded fans. I have two more fans I installed beside the metal halide.. its not really working out well as of now. every 5 min the bulb is cutting off and comming back on within 2 min.

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    I even have the hood fully open and no splash guard on it now so it can get plenty air and its still cutting off every 5 min.

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    I'd completely remove the fixture from the hood and fire it up, preferibly with a fan blowing on it and see if it does the same. Also, make sure the ballast is where it can stay cool. That's what will have the thermal cutoff in it. If it's still cutting off and on, it's either a bad bulb or ballast.
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    thanks. the 2 fans I had were lay ing down..im positioning them now so that they are on each end of the bulb point at it..blowing air on it.

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    so how does that work as far as the thermal cutoff. the ballast has to get a certain temp to cut off? how does it know how hot it is under the hood?

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    Many ballasts (but not all) have a thermal cutoff. They'll cut off if the ballast gets too hot. I don't believe the bulbs or fixtures themselves have a cutoff per-se, but I suppose they could cut off if they overheated anyway. I believe I'd concentrate on the ballast as the culprit. Either too hot or faulty.
    **KEEP ME AWAY FROM SUPER GLUE ... i tend to glue my lips shut !!**

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    I have the canopy open..the splash guard off and the bulbs exposed...it was still cutting off every 5 min..I installed a fan on each side. of the bulb..pointing at the bulb. the bulb has been on the past hour and yet to cut off. I havent put the splash guard back on yet and havent shut the canopy. but its progress.

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