call for metal halides gathering dust in your garage

[conner]

i have a 75 gallon reef tank, with a refugium, fish, crabs, sponges, the works; and a ton of corals that require high light intensity! plus crocea clams. well, i need metal halides, but before i go and buy an expensive halide lighting, i was wondering if anyone had a 4 ft metal halide system either gathering dust in their garage, being used on a fish only tank, etc. i can pay you somewhat, plus i do have a 4 65 watt bulb current system that i have been using. i got it about a month ago, soon after which i figured out it was not enough lighting for my tank. if no one has a metal halide system, it is no problem, i can buy one. (eventually. not right now, but i can get one before my corals/clams get sick and die). also, my clams are to small to require halides yet, the largest being about 2 1/2 inches. thanks!
Conner

 

[skyfireblaze]

I don't have anything to offer. Sorry. But I was wondering if you had a canopy in which you'd install the MH's or if you were looking for a fixture?

Have you checked the used equipment selling forum here on RC? I have a 75g tank out in my garage right now that I'm thinking about setting up in place of my 37g. The only thing holding me back right now is coming up with the lights for it. Anyways, I was searching through the equip selling forum late last night (so the search would work for me) and saw several 48" MH or T5 fixtures that had been posted within the last 6 months. You might just have to keep your eyes open on there if you can't find anything local.

Of course, if you do find anything on the selling forum you'll have to let me have first dibs on it ... JK Anyways, good luck and I hope you find something quickly. You need it a lot more than I do right now as I only have my two clowns. Sounds like you've got some serious need for photons in the very near future.

On another note: Are you feeding your little clam phyto?

 

[conner]

i am feeding my clams phyto, and thanks for the tip about the selling forum!

 

[israelnajar]

I was thinking of saving this for the DIY nano build off but I guess I can share it early. I was planning to see if I could do this DIY for the halide.

http://aquarium.union.rpi.edu/articles/DIY_MH.html

 

[ksquared]

The DIY project on this link is very cool.

Just please be safe. Electricity and salt water make particularly poor bedfellows. Currents required to drive MH lamps can kill. Don't try a project like this if you're not confident in your electrician abilities.

And one thing the link fails to mention is that if you handle MH lamps with bare hands, the chances of a catastrophic failure is much higher than if you use some other method, like latex gloves, that keep skin oils off the bulbs.

Please don't kill yourself for your clams!