Home Made Lighting

[SkiFletch]

Just wondering if any of you have made your own lighting for your tanks. I was really thinking about doing this myself since I love to make things with my own hands and would really like to build my own hood. The hood part itself is just basic carpentry which I have no problems with, but my concerns are with the lighting electronics. Where does one find ballasts for sale, and are there practiced methods for connecting the ballast to the bulbs? Just curious if any of you can point me in the right direction as I research. TIA

 

[drag]

i made my own hood out of wood. the ballast and sockets you can find at a good saltwater fish store if you dont have one ill give you some liks too see. now if you plan to stain and varnish it. thats where the hard part is you have to use all NON- TOXIC products. i had hell finding these, in fact i dident find them i ordered them from http/www.safenontoxic.com/buy.html

i have vho lighting in my tank which i used an Icecap 660-009 ballast, and lighting from http/www.uvlco.com/aindex.htm

ice cap ballast info
http/www.icecapinc.com/aq.htm

i have a 30 gal reef tank w 3 3' lamps

metal halide lighting is better but much more expensive. my tank does great w/ this setup. i plan to get a much bigger tank later... might consider metal halide for that tank.