Used: 3 175w MH and 2 VHO setup ... how much would you pay?

[tjkohler]

On my lunch break today I pass this little pet store and decide I'd run in there real quick to look at their price for a 29 gallon tank (possibly use it to hold some LR for me). Talk to the owner a bit and come to find out he used to have saltwater and ... He's got a 6 foot hood that used to be over one of his tanks. It's got a Hamilton Ballast and has 3 175 watt MH and two 6 foot VHO's.
I thought I could canabalise it to put in my future 75 gallon. He's going to clean it up and see what still works. Here's a couple questions:
1) Can I make the VHO's 'shorter'?
2) What would you pay for this assumming the ballast and moguls still work?
Thanks!

 

[dirtybilge]

I would not get involved in cutting up a 72" and turning it into a 48". Look on www.----.com and enter metal halide, you'll get about 115 hits lok thru them and you'll find somthing I am sure of it.
Ed

 

[q]

As far as shortening the VHO's just buy shorter bulbs which you would want to do anyways since you don't know how long the bulbs have been used.
If you can shorten the hood then maybe you can make him an offer. If it were me I would just offer to buy the ballasts and sockets then make your own hood. I would not buy used bulbs cause who really knows how long the bulbs have been run (unless you trust him).

 

[dburr]

If you shorten the bulbs you will need new ballists!
The only things you can use are the MH, only 2, and the hood if you shorten it.

 

[blondenaso1]

Say you'll give him like $75 or a little more depending on the condition and see what he says. You can always keep the endcaps/moguls and sell the bulbs on ---- and even throught the canopy on there too. Then just build a new canopy.

 

[coral boy]

I just bouhgt the same setup but it had 4 MH and 4-72" VHO and the hood is black and the ballast are huge i payed $350.00 works great and looks great

 

[q]

dburr: Why would he need new ballasts? If he is shortening the bulbs thus they then require less wattage to fire so the ballast should work fine. I am only really familiar with IceCap stuff so if hamilton is different then please excuse me.

 

[dburr]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but...
I think the different length bulbs have different wattages right?
You just can't mix and match as you please. In some cases yes, like a 30w ballast will still power a 40w lamp.
Whats a 6ft VHO, 140w? A 4ft bulb is 110W, their is to much power. I wouldn't mess with electricity, it just doesn't sound safe.
Any electricians out there?

 

[shadow678]

If it is an IceCap 660 ballast, the VHO ballast will not overpower the bulb in dropping it down to 48". If it is running 2 6' bulbs(330watts), then dropping it down to even 2 48" bulbs(220watts) would not do any damage. If it a Coralife 2-lamp VHo ballast, then you could only lower it to 2 60" bulbs at 280 watts. If it is an IceCap, I'd say go for it, you could even run 4 48"(440watts) bulbs if you like.

 

[coral boy]

Each VHO ballast can power up to 440 watts of light (with maximum of 16 feet of lamp length). Thus, EACH ballast is capable of running EITHER one, two, three or four lamps if the 440 watt limit is adhered to, plus if the proper lamp harness is used. So I whould say if you are going smaller you should have no problem

 

[shadow678]

Not true on the Coralife ballasts, as they are seperated into 4 and 2-lamp setups. IceCaps, that is true on, they are only limited in max. total length and wattage, which is actually 464watts. This is why IceCaps are much more versatile than the Coralife, and typically more expensive.