DIY 150w MH now setup *couple pics*

I just finished my DIY MH setup tonight.  I started off by talking to faviasteve here online, he has the hookups on Mh stuff and took good care of me.

Overall, it cost <$150 for everything.  That includes ballast, ignitor, capacitor, wiring supplies, light switch, Regent lighting fixture, spring loaded MH socket, and Phoenix 14k 150w bulb.

I also am about finished with my stand.  Still need to finish the door, and then I'm going to start on the canopy, which will hang over the top.  The way I have the lighting mounted now it just temporary, and lets it overflow everywhere lol.

The tank is just a temporary one to keep my rocks healthy until my custom cube arrives (its running a week late)

Well enough talking,  here are the pics.


Flash On


Flash Off


The DIY pendant


FTS.  No coral, no fish, nothing but some coraline, little pods/worms, and my weird pink (looks purple in pics) sponges


Left side


From the top


Full shot of main rock for my cube


The safest (IMO) way to wire.  Solder, heatshrink, tape, cover in flex tubing, and tape again




the electronics, still need to organize the wires


and my lightswitch, which will be covered by the door of course.  I want to set up a timed one eventually, but this was easy and I didn't want to have to unplug it daily




Thanks for looking

Brady did a great job retrofitting the DE socket into the halogen fixture.

Edited by faviasteve

Looks good!

How hot does the fixture get? Does anyone know if the uncooled fixture could cause problems?

Shane H wrote: Your DIY project looks great! I have two questions: 1. How hot does the ballast get? You may want to place a ceramic tile or glass between the ballast and the wood shelf. 2. Why did you place the pendant at that angle? I would think you could concentrate the light over the tank if the pendant was placed at a full 90 degrees to the water. (it may just be a mounting issue). Good luck.

The ballast already has a 4x4" tile underneath it, it's just covered by the wiring in that pic

It's only at that angle for the time being.    I'm building a canopy that will sit 9" above the tank, and then I'm going to mount the pendant flush into the canopy so that you can't see the ugly backside.  I'll also probably move my wiring up there at that point and add 2 computer fans.

The housing really isn't getting all that hot,  nothing to be concerned about I don't think.


My water param's are almost good to go, but I move home this weekend to cedar city, and I'm gonna wait until then before adding any fish/coral.  I might hit up that new store in St. G for my fish.

From everythign that I can find, It says that the glass is UV resistant


Edited by bambbrose