DIY MH from Lowes

[KEITHMC]

Found this at lowes for $62

wife found an Anemone she just had to have for the clownfish tank i havent setup yet so it got put in my refugium that dosent have a light yet so here we go

here are the guts from the thing

came with the bulb and the replacment cost is $25
here are the raw materials i used scrap plexiglass not shown

here is the ballast

and the test rig

and about 30mins later with some flashing and plexiglass

and the finished thing in place

and the happy resident

all in all i have about $80 in this project!!

 

[stewie24]

Nice work but do you happen to know the temp of the bulb? I"m guessing its a daylight like 5000 to 6500K?

Stewie

 

[KEITHMC]

not sure it is just a bandaid for my Anemone untill i can get his tank ready then it will be used to grow macro alge

 

[kgross]

Looks pretty good. Hopefully though you can get that sebae anemone to get its normal brown color back. It is bleached and there is a very good chance it will not survive for long.

Kim

 

[mhj1580]

congrats the same company also offers a 175 MV version that one can use to do the same thing the only thing extra from this project is the 10MFD 400VAC capaciter. to convert it to MH as the ballast is a M39 / H57 combo unit Be carefull though because the MV version is packaged and looks the same as the MH

 

[jdenton]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7028957#post7028957 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mhj1580
congrats the same company also offers a 175 MV version that one can use to do the same thing the only thing extra from this project is the 10MFD 400VAC capaciter. to convert it to MH as the ballast is a M39 / H57 combo unit Be carefull though because the MV version is packaged and looks the same as the MH

I have been looking at this, but wasn't sure how to proceed. Can you point to instructions for how to do this modification?

Thanks

 

[Timothy01]

plexi wont block the uv rays correct. and wont the plexi sag over time...i know its a temp but some people may look at this as a perm fixture.....nice job btw

 

[KEITHMC]

the plexi is on the outside of flashing for support the fixture while running is only warm to the touch the remote balast is very warm almost hot i may need to add a heat sink to it

 

[RichConley]

Pull that light off and start heavily feeding that anemone.

Its a sebae, and its bleached out really badly. It needs food, lots of light will just kill it right now. When it gets brown again, resume the light.

 

[KEITHMC]

light will be off once i get home not going to take it back to my lfs they would just resale him and he would die! how often should i feed him he takes silversides readly?

 

[RichConley]

I wasnt gonna say take him back.. just that you've got a long road ahead.

Feed him half silversides, and feed him every day if he'll take it. Just throw it at his tentacles, and if he takes it in, he wants it. He cant get any energy from light right now, he needs to get it all from food, so put him in the shade, and feed him heavily, and keep good water conditions, and he should get better.

I hate the fact that 90% of the ones i see in the store look like that.

 

[KEITHMC]

sad thing is i am sure the lfs knew all this b4 they sold him to me. well if they know half as much as they clain to know!! =(

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7031321#post7031321 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley


I hate the fact that 90% of the ones i see in the store look like that.

you know, until i saw one in the wild, i thought they were supposed to be white....

 

[RTaylor]

Timothy,
With a SE bulb you don't need UV protection, It is already built into the bulb (outer glass).

 

[CKreef]

any pics of wiring? and what did you do with the ballast and capacitor?

 

[KEITHMC]

in the 5th pic the balast and starter are mounted on a board! used 2 old pc power cables 1 to ac the other to the fixture

 

[Cody Ray]

Very cool!

 

[tabndust]

nice project

you dont need the plexi since it is a se bulb

 

[KEITHMC]

the plexi is on the outside of the flashing for support otherwise the thing would be too flimsy

 

[KEITHMC]

the balast was gettin too hot mounted to the board so i put it back in the housing that was designed to be a heat sink anyways and made a plexiglass cover for it!!