lighting for a 150 gallon tank

[bcwalz]

I've come into a used 150 gallon tank at a great price and would really like to move my 50 gallon reef tank into it. It main problem I'm running into is with the lights. It had been used as a freshwater tank before and so only comes with a dual strip light. I know with the depth of the tank I want to go with metal halide lights. I've been thinking of 3 250 watt 20k pendant lights but can't swing the $1000 or more for new mh lights. Any ideas for a cheaper source or possibly used ones? Thanks!!!

[MadTownMax]

I'm not in WI yet - but hopefully soon......

you can get 250W industrial ballasts cheap - under $50 if you search for them and keep an eye on e-bay - these will be "raw" ballasts without an enclosure or power cords of any kind - so you will have to do some wiring.

Reflectors - you can find generic parabolic reflectors for about $40 including a socket -

Bulbs - I'd say the cheapest source is going to be watching the buy/sell forums here on reefcentral as people get bulbs and don't like the color - so they sell them basically brand-new for a discount - just be careful to buy from someone with a good reputation.

so - total on that would be around $150 for the ballasts, $120 for the reflectors+sockets, and probably around $150 for the bulbs - counting in all the extras (wire nuts, power cords, possibly enclosures for the ballasts ) you should be able to put togather your own "retrofit" 3 X 250W lighting for under $500