Well, looks like ghetto is back

[Melonbob]

This whole economy thing sucks! Mining took a really hard hit in the past month, started to crash about three days after Mel took a new job in it. Anyways we are really rethinking our tank, and although we are definately going to go through with it, my plan after the Catalina was to go with some really kick ass t5's. The only area of my tank I was going all out on. Now I'm back to looking at used MH......sigh.

[yote]

That sux Bud.
Dont guess y'all use MHs in the mines?

[Fastlight]

I agree the economy blows right now. Id have to agree and go used now for know. And when the time is right get your kick ass lights. Its not a matter of if but when. (at least thats how it is on my lights)

[ccCapt]

Now I'm back to looking at used MH......sigh.

What's the problem with MH lighting? There are no lights more powerful. I've been using MH for 20 years. If you DIY, they are way cheaper than T5. $25 for a ballast on Ebay and $30 for a parabolic reflector/mogul base from Hello Lights.

[RyanG]

Bob Halides arent ghetto at all! If you can find a way to save some cash on ballasts and splurge a little on reflectors you be right in the same boat as with the catalinas. I think actually think that if you went with T5 retros with the Icecap individual reflectors you could get away with them for similar pricing to doing halides. Just something to think about.

If you decide to go Halides I have two 250w magnetic ballasts that I will give you a great deal on. THey need a little bit of rewiring to make them look good(work great just ugly as sin) Let me know, if you dont want them Ill use them elsewhere.

EDIT There are also plans out there to build knockoff versions of highend reflectors too. All you need is to cut the aluminum and rivet them together.

[Fastlight]

Ccapt I guess my ? is how good are them $25 ballast? Trust me I love saving money and I assume you must use them. The thing is dont the higher end ballast have a longer life and I also read somewhere that a cheap ballast can actually change the way your mh looks color wise. Trust me with my new lights i just built if i can throw 2 150w mh under there i wont need to buy a 400 fixture and then as Yote says I can spend that money else where

[Oscarsdad608]

I know vho and t5 are different, but I was using vho and switched to halides. I love the growth I get from the halides and would want to go without the shimmer.

[Bifferwine]

I would reconsider that, if I were you. The cost of T5s is much lower, if you look at it on an annual basis, for example.

The bulbs for MH are 2 to 3 times as expensive as T5 bulbs, and need to be changed twice as often. I spend $300 every 6 months in replacement bulbs.

MH use soooo much more power than T5s, it's ridiculous. I run my MH for only 8 hours a day, and it has added an extra $200 a month to my electric bill.

Even if the upfront cost of T5s are a bit more expensive than used MH, you will more than make up the difference just in a few months of electric bills.

[Alexander]

Well bob I hope one day you can get your lights and maybe then I can get some solatubes installed with supplimental led lighting.

[ccCapt]

Ccapt I guess my ? is how good are them $25 ballast?

Good enough that I have the same 1, and it's still working perfectly, that I started with 20 years ago. I bought the 2nd when I upgraded from a 3' 50g breeder to a 75, then I bought a 3rd when I upgraded to my current 125.
As far as color differenct between different ballasts, look at this chart. It compares the performance of the same bulb using 4 different ballasts. CCT is Correlated Color Temperature, which is the actual Kelvin temp of the bulb as tested. The magnetic ballast will make the bulb look slightly more blue compared to the electronic while the electronics give a little better PPFD.

The bulbs for MH are 2 to 3 times as expensive as T5 bulbs, and need to be changed twice as often. I spend $300 every 6 months in replacement bulbs.

That is highly debatable. Typically, a 48" 54w T5 bulb runs about $20. 3x54=162w @ $60. 1 175w MH runs about $60. Basically the same price.
From the article Metal Halide Lamps - Aging Over Time by Sanjay Joshi
"The lamps were operated by standard magnetic (ANSI M59) ballasts, and lit for 12 hours/day. Before using the lamps, the spectral output was measured, and the data collected is shown in table 2, and the spectral distribution is shown in figure 1."
and...
"The initial plan for these lamps, was to measure the output when they were put into use and then measure the final output when the lamps were replaced. Based on my past experiences with metal halide lamps, the plan was to replace these at 15 months of use."
and...
"The data showed some surprising information. The output PPFD of the lamps showed a slight increase in one of the lamps, while the other stayed almost the same. If one were to use a quantum meter to measure the output to determine if the lamp should be changed, it would show little change in output even after 17 months of use. The spectral plot shows where the changes occurred over time, and as expected there is a drop in the blue spectral region, but there was an increase in the spectral range from green to the reds, which made up for the lost output in the blue region. This also clearly shows in the drop in color temperature from the 10000-11000K range when new to 6000-7000K range after 17 months of use."

MH use soooo much more power than T5s, it's ridiculous. I run my MH for only 8 hours a day, and it has added an extra $200 a month to my electric bill.

I don't claim to be an electric expert by any means, but doesn't 200w cost the same to run wether it's a 200w light bulb, 200w microwave or 200w heater? A MH ballast may pull more power to fire the bulbs, but once they are lit, how does a watt of light from that cost more than a watt of anything else?