high pressure sodium bulbs

[pvtdonut]

anyone ever light their tank with one of these type of lights? i know its a type of HID lamp, similar to the metal halide... i was curious because i am trying to find stronger lights for my tank and maybe rig up my own kind instead of buying a huge name brand light for like 600$ i found a housing for this type of light, a 70w and 100w light bulb for this specific fixture in home depot. i also found a 40w metal halide bulb there too, but could not find a fixture for it, if i could find just a fixture for it online, maybe i would go with two of those. the fixtures were only like..50$ each...and the bulbs were 25$-40$ each. i want to hear some opinions before i go ahead and try this plan..

also any thoughts on mercury vapor lights? i was reading that it casts a nice blue/red tint but i read that the drawbacks are that it casts a lot of heat and they dont last very long in full spectrum, they would need to be replaced often...

in the long run, it will still be a lot cheaper than 600-800$ for a single light. i much rather do it myself..lol

i would like to hear some opinions about this before i go ahead and try this plan..

[pvtdonut]

if i can even, i would make my own type of canopy to house the light under, to try and keep it incognito and to keep it from looking like a UFO is flying over my tank to the human eye. haha idk. i jus dont want to spend a ton of money for lights.....

[lReef lKeeper]

i have 2 MH ballasts for sale right now !! CHEAP (for TR only $70) !! then all you would need would be reflectors ($30), sockets($10), and bulbs (depends on which bulbs), but i can throw in a couple of XM 10k bulbs with the ballasts until you decide what you want to go with). you could have a nice MH setup for about $220 after you buy the above items.

[poppin_fresh]

I have looked into using HPS in the past because I have a couple fixtures I got for free. The problem I ran into over and over was that the HPS bulbs do not come in spectrums we want for our tank. Most of the HPS bulbs are really high in the red spectrum (for green houses) which would promote algae, not coral growth.

The same, lack of spectrum, issue occurs with MV bulbs also. Unfortunately manufacturers seem to be more focused to the MH bulb.

[pvtdonut]

ah ok. thanks for clearing that up for me. =] just wanted to make sure. but im glad im not the only one that has thought of this idea.

[CarmieJo]

I think we all look at how to do it better and cheaper. Many people do DIY lights. It is a good way to save money, especially if you are handy.

[pvtdonut]

yea, i been searchin around for a good diy metal halide project tut....one that is highly detailed and idiot proof...so i cant electrocute myself..hahaha