halogen to halide conversion???

[chainsaw5vent]

i was wandering through home depot, and stopped in the lighting section. i saw double ended halogen work lights from 150-500 watts. are these the same size as the halide bulbs that we desire for our tanks?:thinking:
if they are, they would be a great way to save money to get your reef going.

 

[thegrog]

They are not even close.
In addition, halides run much hotter than halogen (hard to believe)

 

[squidd]

Actually... the 150 watt DE HQI MH bulbs are a "direct fit" to the 500 watt halogen "fixture" and bulb base...
The glass front of a halogen yard light will give you the UV protection this type of bulb needs, you just need to figure a way to "mount/hang" the fixture as a "pendant"...
The reflectors are not nearly as effective as the "purpose built" MH pendants are...
You would still need to purchase a 150 watt MH Ballast to run the fixture/bulb combo...The MH bulbs will not fire without it...
There is no comparable fixture/pendant for the 250 bulbs that you will find at HD...
A 150 watt MH bulb will run cooler than a 500 watt Halogen bulb and give much more "useable" light...(photosynthetic available radiation)