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DIY Metal Halides


RnB

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Well I had a little fire last night so.... went over to Radium Lighting this lunch time to buy some bits.....

The plan is to build two 400W metal halide reflectors that will be very simmilar to the Diamond reflecters that Sanjay recently tested... for those who have never seen them they look like this

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They have a diamond panel in them... the idea being that they spread the light out over a much bigger footprint then a traditional piece of bent aluminium....

The aluminium is quite cheap comming in at $56 for a sheet, its 0.5mm thick so needs support at all the joins, I will be using small "strips" of tin so I can easily cut/bend these strips, and rivets to hold it all together...

I will post piccies of the ballast shortly.......

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  • 2 weeks later...

OK got a 2nd 400W ballast yesterday and temp reflecter units..... till i make my diamond ones....

I HAve TO SAY THAT 400w IS WAY BETTER IF YOU HAVE A DEEP TANK..

my tank is 28inchs deep and it makes a huge difference to the corals at the bottom which are loving it.... and all this with 6k bulbs...

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  • 2 weeks later...

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this is what a Radium ballast and reflecter look like.... about $260 without the bulb, this is the 400W model. its an HPS ballast but fires some HQI bulbs, radium and phillips....... WILL NOT FIRE ALL BULBS.... but its cheap and cheerfull.... so far its fired everytime .. running thropugh IKS control strip,

I now have two of these over my tank and have the special aluminum to make the diamond like reflecters.......

will post details shortly..... have a mate doing the 2d drawings so i know where to make the cuts.....

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