8yr old, but unused, Coralife Aqualight CF fixtures, are they ok/worth anything?

[mjstech]

So I got out of the hobby about 8 years ago. Had just about 500 gallons total between many tanks, including reef/seahorse.
I got the bug again, and should have a standard glass 29G setup in a week or so. My RO/DI system should be here Saturday. I will be running FOWLR for a bit, but do plan to get into corals/mushrooms/zoos again. And may get a larger tank down the road as we all seem to do.
I forgot about two fixtures I had back then and never used them. They have lived in a closet here in AZ.
Obviously it seems nobody runs Compact Fluorescent now-a-days. I got out when VHO/MH was common, which is what I ran on my bigger tanks and CF/T5 was going starting to go mainstream and LED was just being talked about. Eventually I will go LED too in my new tank...which, wow, they have some nice ones out there.

I have a 24" Coralife Aqualight Deluxe Series 130W (2x65W) Compact Fluorescent. And the 48" Coralife Aqualight Deluxe Series 260W (4x65W) Compact Fluorescent. These were the models before they added the Lunar Lights to them. These are the 10000K Day and Actinic.
I knew back then that the bulbs were supposed to be replaced every 6 months to a year when in use.
I am wondering if these bulbs are going to be ok, just being old, as in they will perform like they were new?
And of course neither of these fixtures will fit on the tank I will be setting up soon, I need a 30".
I don't think there really is any market for the fixtures I have... does anyone think there is? I may also ask in my local group forum too.

Here is what the 48" fixture is.

I am debating on hacking the 48" down (by cutting) or the 24" (by adding some new bracing or something) up to 30"... both seems easy enough, run 2x 65w and being done with lighting until I want to upgrade to LED due to wanting to get into corals.
- OR -
I really think I may hack the 48" and create my own wood canopy and run all 4x 65W (260W) over the 29G tank which would get me near the old ' ** Watt per Gallon of Water to be "ok" for corals'. If I did this I would probably keep the 24" fixtures just for parts/bulbs. The tank I will be running is 18" deep.
I just don't know if that old saying still applies, it seems more people go by PAR/depth now.
If I hack for either of these methods should I keep the lights raised up off the tank, like they did with the legs from coralife. Or keep them resting on the tank frame. And would you keep the plexi plastic 'protecting the bulbs'.

I just hate that I left these hiding for so long and become out of common. The 48" kit still has the $299.99 sticker I paid for it.

Thanks for any input.

 

[goby]

I had great success running 2X55w pc over a 20 gallon. i think if you put all 4 X 65w, you should be ok to grow just about anything in a 29 gallon.

Bulbs should be like new. The phosphors get "Excited' when the tube is electrified, and this creates the colors we like, the color shift happens when the phosphors get exhausted. As they havent been powered, they should be like new.

From what I can tell, your biggest problem is going to be finding bulbs moving forwards.

like you, I was out of touch with the hobby for quite a few years, just getting back to it, and I have a ton of old PC fixtures, but it seems the bulbs have fallen out of favor for the LED's lately, and thus are a bit harder to find.

You should be good for a year or so with those tubes, so maybe its worth it to start up a tank, and see how it goes!

 

[mjstech]

Well I have the 48" taken apart. I just built a canopy for the 29g today. Used 1 x 6 for the sides and plywood for the lid. Stain is drying now. I guess now the hard part is going to be cramming all 4 lights in as a 'retrofit'. Last time I did retrofit it was an 80g like 10 years ago with 2 MH and 2 VHO and I had a ton of space. I want to relocate the ballast to inside the stand ( better protection from water) rather than hanging in the back and risk any little drip, spill, salt creep. Also were the fans more to cool the ballast or the bulbs in its original usage. I have the reflector cut in half also, I was wondering if I should protect the bulbs with the plexi it came with. And wow. It seems like I will have a lot of wires to manage, cut and extend. Sigh.

 

[SkullV]

For me all those fixtures are worth is the housing and the 110v wiring that is already in them. I use old housings for retrofit lights that I build for myself and others.