Do-It-Yourself Metal Halide Lighting for a Reef

Metal halide lights are powerful enough to create glitter lines over the aquarium substrate and rocks, just as the sun would do in nature. These bulbs are known as "high intensity discharge" lamps and have a color temperature that ranges from 5000K to 20,000K. Metal halide lamps in the upper color range produce a blue light, which is perfect for reef dwelling invertebrates, such as living corals. As these metal halide lights give off a great deal of heat, they are not always incorporated into a closed canopy and many aquarists choose to suspend or stand their metal halide lamps above an open top aquarium.

Things You'll Need

  • Aquarium, 36-inches long by 10-inches wide
  • Horizontal metal halide light unit
  • Two plastic metal halide leg glides
  • Two glass strips, 0.72-inch thick by 10.25-inched long by 3-inches wide
  • Sand paper
  • Bottle of acetone
  • Clean cloth
  • 100% Non-toxic silicone sealer
  • Dust-free work surface
  • Towel
  • Electrical timer
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Instructions

    • 1

      Carefully sand the edges of both glass strips with the sand paper.

    • 2

      Pour a small amount of acetone onto the cloth and wipe down both strips of glass. Remove any fingerprints and dust from the sand paper.

    • 3

      Squeeze a thin bead of 100 percent silicone sealer across both the top and bottom width of the first strip of glass.

    • 4

      Position this piece of glass across the aquarium, pushing it down horizontally onto both the back and front glass panes, on the right hand side of the tank.

    • 5

      Squeeze a thin bead of 100 percent silicone sealer across both the top and bottom width of the second strip of glass.

    • 6

      Position this strip of glass across the aquarium, pushing it down horizontally onto both the back and front glass panes, on the left hand side of the tank.

    • 7

      Turn the horizontal metal halide light unit over and place it carefully onto the towel on the work surface.

    • 8

      Locate the leg glide slots on the underside of the light unit and slide the right hand side leg glide into place.

    • 9

      Locate the leg glide slots on the underside of the light unit and slide the left hand side leg glide into place.

    • 10

      Place the metal halide light unit right way up and position its leg glides carefully onto the two strips of glass that have been secured to the top of the aquarium with silicone.

    • 11

      Place the metal halide's electrical cord at the back of the aquarium, on the outside of the glass.

    • 12

      Place the plug from the light unit into the electrical timer.

    • 13

      Set the timer to operate from 07:00 to 19:00.

    • 14

      Push the electrical timer into your wall power outlet. Turn on the metal halide unit.