[Horace]

Well guys I am once again out to save some cash and it seems I may have found another way to easily save yourself $400+ ! I am putting togeather a DIY 2x 150w DE and 2 x VHO combo for cheap (in comparison to what you will pay for a fixture that accomidates this setup anyway.

This setup normally runs ~$800!!! I have been shopping around and let me tell you for the HQI setups they want a fortune.

These setups are nice because thier very high PAR/Watt output. From what I have gathered, a 150w HQI bulb can put out more PAR than a 175w SE (mogul) based bulb. They are a tad more expensive, but they will save you some cash on your electric bill.

For my tank (75gal, 19" deep) the 150w HQI will be plenty of light to have whatever I could ever want. It also should be low enough of a wattage to not overheat my tank to the point that I need a chiller.

So Here goes guys...

To deal with the problem of eaily dealing with the UV shield required for the DE bulbs we will use a VERY cheap halogen light fixture. The fixtures shown below can be easily modified to accomidate an DE bulb. Simply remove the guts and replace with the DE socket also shown below.

(UPDATE) 03/30/2005
It appears you may not actually need to take out the guts!!! The original sockets that come with the Halogen units should work, However you may need to break some of the ceramic material away from the socket for it to fit in properly. But hey... thats one more than you dont NEED to change out. For the 250w bulbs you may have to though..

http://www.reefland.com/forum/attach...tid=5073&stc=1

http://www.reefland.com/forum/attach...tid=5074&stc=1





The next thing you will need is 2 150w M81 ballasts to fire the bulbs, or 2 150w electronic ballasts. Many people will tell you different things about which way to go on this choice. The simple facts are that the M81 will give you higher PAR (light intensity) while the electronics will be a bit lower intensity but save you a bit of cash on your electric bills (~10%), and they also run cooler, and are said to increase the life of your bulbs a bit. This makes sense because they do not drive the bulbs quite as hard. But if you are after the most light for the lowest wattage, the M81 is the way to go. I will leave that decision up to you :P

I understand that you can get the M81 ballast for a very reasonable price at www.graybar.com I will list the prices as soon as I find out myself.

As for the reflector...This can be done in a variety of ways. I have a couple ideas but am thinking of just buying a top of the line reflector off of ebay. This will probably run about $50 but I think it may be worth it to get a good reflector. No sense in getting high PAR lights if they arent even working near to thier maximum potential. Here is an example of a reflector I am thinking of getting..It cost $56 shipped



Now for the VHO part of this...You will need 4 VHO sockets to hold the two VHO bulbs.

Here is a kit avialable on Ebay for ~$75. This kit has everything you need to setup your VHO bulbs!!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting




You can save alot of money by creating your own reflector out of sheet aluminum and use polishing materials to get it to reflect better. I may still go this route, I have not decided yet :P


Design:
--------------

Here is what I had in mind as far as design goes. I may design some sort of hood to encase all this but at this point, simply drilling holes in the rear of the halogen fixtures and attaching them to the top of your canopy ceiling. You will cut out the exact shape of the halogen lights so they can be inserted from the bottom of the reflector. The lip of the halogen light will hold the reflector from slipping off. So essentially the lip of the two halogen lights will support the weight of the reflector and VHO assemblies that will be attached to the reflector. Here is a general idea of what I am talking about...
http://www.reefland.com/forum/attach...tid=5072&stc=1







So the materials are basically as follows:
--------------------------------------

- 2 Regent 500w halogen fixtures from Lowes - $10/each (WHAT A DEAL!)
- 2 DE bulbs - the price can range dramatically pending on brand and kelvin of the bulbs you intend to use. but a good guess would be ~$60/each
- 2 110w VHO Actinic bulbs. ~$35 each (you can get them cheaper too)
- 1 sheet aluminum or reflector $50

(UPDATE) 03/30/2005
I have found the M81 ballast kits for as cheap as $35 on the net at wholesale distributors. If you dont want to mess with a kit, you can find F-CAN ballasts (fully assembled and enclosed) for about $71. I will list the sites I found them at once I am 100% sure I can get them and they will work properly. But after all we are DIY'ers right, might as well build an enclosure and save yourself $70 :P

- 2 M81 ballasts ($35 raw ballast kit - $70 assembled/each
- 1 VHO ballast/socket kit ~$75

Total = ~$400

This may still seem expensive but believe me when I say that is a freggin steal for a dual 150w HQI and dual 110 VHO setup.

Well guys that is all for now.. I will be updating this as I get more parts in so I can show you the build in progress. God I love DIY :P Even if it wasnt much cheaper it is alot more fun :P

[Horace]

Sorry guys... I will re-upload the pictures here so you dont get that Reef-Central icon... DOH!!! I thought I could get away with not uploading them twice... I guess not hehehee

[scubadude]

Originally Posted by Horace

Sorry guys... I will re-upload the pictures here so you dont get that Reef-Central icon... DOH!!! I thought I could get away with not uploading them twice... I guess not hehehee

Very nice design, and layout Horace. You are becoming quite the DIY freak! Keep that passion of yours burning bro. After your first initial post on this and your quote of retail near $800 on similar setups, I breezed through hellolights trying to put a system together for cheaper than $800, thinking you maybe didnt catch a few things but you are pretty much right. So you are definately on the right track. The only thing I can say is if you havent already read some of the HQI DIY threads there is a really long one on RC that me and paul (LTSPD) spent alot of time on as well as others and it has some great info. I will also add that this setup should not be too close to the water for fear of heat issues. Also remember that if you blow air directly on HQI bulbs then there may be consequences. I believe Ninong did some research on it about it possibly affecting the spectrum of the bulb? I do like the confined area of the DIY enclosure for the HQI but also think that you wont be utilizing much of a spread with them, which is fine...you might have hotspots where SPS grow better...another challenge for placements of corals thats all.

[Horace]

Originally Posted by scubadude

Very nice design, and layout Horace. You are becoming quite the DIY freak! Keep that passion of yours burning bro. After your first initial post on this and your quote of retail near $800 on similar setups, I breezed through hellolights trying to put a system together for cheaper than $800, thinking you maybe didnt catch a few things but you are pretty much right. So you are definately on the right track. The only thing I can say is if you havent already read some of the HQI DIY threads there is a really long one on RC that me and paul (LTSPD) spent alot of time on as well as others and it has some great info. I will also add that this setup should not be too close to the water for fear of heat issues. Also remember that if you blow air directly on HQI bulbs then there may be consequences. I believe Ninong did some research on it about it possibly affecting the spectrum of the bulb? I do like the confined area of the DIY enclosure for the HQI but also think that you wont be utilizing much of a spread with them, which is fine...you might have hotspots where SPS grow better...another challenge for placements of corals thats all.

Thx man! I was planning on having fans but not aimed directly at the bulbs. I had planned on just haveing them circulating air inside my canopy. My canopy is VERY vented so I should not have too much of a problem there. The whole back is open and the top has roughly 1"-2" gaps between the boards.

On the note of spread...I had not really thought of that, but it could be a small issue to deal with...but I dont imagine it will be super hard to deal with. Pending on how high I keep it from the water, the spread shouldnt matter quite so much.

[makko75]

What are DE lights and where can I get them?