DIY canopy or hood.

[roadster3043]

Greetings.

First off, I do not know anything about woodworking nor electrical wiring.

I've been thinking of building a canopy or a hood for my 46gal. bow front(36"L x 15"W x 20"H) under $190.00. Since the tank is a bow front I think the canopy will be less likely to happen.

I want the canopy/hood to have a couple of PC lights and a MH. Can the bulbs, ballasts, etc. be bought at Home Depot? or will I need to purchase the bulbs somewhere else?

TIA

[loganj]

HD is not an option for MH or PC. Check out the following links for lighting.
www.championlighting.com
www.ahsupply.com
www.hellolights.com
www.il-solutions.com
Also go to ebay and do a search for whatever type of lighting you are interested in. I haven't bought anything there, but I believe Micheal Prater has...you might ask him about it for more info. I hate to say it, but I think $190 is gonna be at the low end of the budget for the lighting system you described. From what I have seen, one MH ballast/socket assembly and a bulb will run close to that. I know you can get two 96w PC's from ahsupply for about $190 as I recently ordered that setup. I would strongly suggest that you do some research on wiring and electricity in general before trying to wire any of this stuff up. These ballasts operate at very high voltages and can really ruin your day if they bite you.
Logan J

[Chrismac]

You could go to walmart and buy plug in Floresent shop lights and set them with a timer I bought a 48" Double fixture for 12 bucks Canadian. just mount it in and there you go. you should take a look at places like that. they will do the job. and cost alot less.
Good luck.
Chris.

[loganj]

A NO shoplight would be enough for a FO tank. If this tank is 20" deep, there will be very little light penetration at the bottom with only 80 watts of light. An attempt to keep corals, with the possible exception of mushrooms, would not be successful with that amount of light. Also, since this is a 36" long tank, the 4' fixtures wouldn't fit. I believe that the 36" NO bulbs are only 30 watts.
Logan J

[d9hp]

If you decide to go with the MH route, definetly look to eBay, you can get two good 250 watt bulbs with a ballast, and reflector for a good price. In fact here is you a link.

250 watt bulbs
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=3212

175 Watt bulbs
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=3212

400 Watt bulbs
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=3212

good luck!