Coloration, Intensity and Getting the Shimmer of Lighting Just Right
I personally love the shimmer of
Metal Halide Lighting and I love the intensity of T-5
VHO Lighting. So why not combine the best of both worlds. I found in my storage a Current USA Nova Extreme T-5
VHO rated at 436 watts (four 54 watt 10,000k T-5
VHO bulbs and four 54 watt 460 nanometer
Actinic T-5
VHO bulbs and four 1 watt White Moonlights). But when driving home with it I managed to break four out of the eight bulbs.
So while starring at this beautiful piece of plastic and broke glass I decided to take advantage of the situation and retro-fit my two Hello Lights 150 watt
Metal Halide Lighting ARO Electronic
Ballast (150 watt XM 20,000k
Metal Halide bulb) into the Current USA Nova Extreme fixture.
The end result of my Frankenstein experiement is a combined lighting system totaling 520 watts (216 watts of T-5
VHO lighting and 300 watts of
Metal Halide Lighting) and 4 watts of LED Moonlighting) supporting a 24 hour lighting scheme of Dawn, High Noon, Dusk and Night with the assistance of four Marineland timers.
Photograph - June 17, 2007 - 48 inches wide Current USA Nova Extreme Lighting fixture combined with two Hello Lights ARO Electronic Metal Halide Lighting fixtures. 
Photograph - June 17, 2007 - 16 inchdes deep Current USA Nova Extreme Lighting fixture combined with two Hello Lights ARO Electronic Metal Halide Lighting fixtures sporting two exhaust fans to decipate heat. 
