Need lighting badly...

Yo still have to buy the bulbs for salt, I did this for a fresh tank and I would assume you can for salt too!

Buy yourself 2-3 2 bulb 48" fluorescent shop lights. Use the ballast and the bulb clip and mount them into a hood that you would make like this one I made: <a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.theexoticfish.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=929" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=29&t=929</a>

of course you would use different color lights like 17000K instead of the redder lights that I am using but that is how I did it.

 

I am retro-fitting some old hoods for screw in compact flourescent daylight bulbs you can get in home depot, cut and paste this link:

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100527338" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... =100527338</a>

They are 6700k and have 10,000 hour burn times and the 23 watters are only $4.50. You'll still need some actinics, 6 of the 23 watt cfl's and 2 40 watt t-8's (2 56 watt t-5 vho's would be better) would suffice for soft corals and a few hard corals.

Have you looked on ebay, a 4x65 watt power compact can be had pretty cheap, just don't get the "Oddysea".

 

Gotta be careful with those 6700 bulbs. After running for a while the rating will drop and do nothing more than grow algae.

 

Hey Anthony,

I haven't used them yet, but have been researching them. Do you think color spectrum will drop much faster then a t-8?

 

The bulbs from the link you provided, yes. They won't have much useful life. I saw someone else recently added 4 of those to their tank, in shop light type fixtures... They got a hair algae outbreak not long after adding them.

Especially with saltwater, I wouldn't recommend a 6700k bulb.

 

You would need bulbs but this is a good deal on a pretty good fixture http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1717

PC isn't the best choice but you could also do one of these retro kits http://www.ahsupply.com/96watt.htm

I would try to find a cheap set of 150w MH pendants used or do a 2x150w MH retro. More expensive but you wouldn't have to upgrade in 6 months.....trust me you will want to.