I gotta get a new light soon....or get a new hood....

Well for a long while I have thought about obtaining a new lighting system for my tank. As many of you are plenty aware of I run a metal halide over my 20 gallon aquarium which is like holding a jar of water near a star.....ok maybe not that hot...lol. However this thing does transform a hefty inch or so of my water level into gas within days. Not to mention that due to my halide's high light output it scorches any coral above half way up my tank. This has caused much of my lack of room to keep many corals I want.

Now yes my Halide is awesome when growing coral and is not generally used for looks. But it is preventing me from keeping other corals I want to such as Brains and Recordia due to lack of space. (Remember, half way above my tank is the death zone for coral?). So I was hoping for some suggestions on ether.

  What type of lighting might I want to change to in the future? I really don't have all so much room above my tank, and my budget is limited. What ever lighting it is I don't care too much for looks, but need something that can work out for soft and hard corals.

  I was thinking maybe a hood or screen could dilute my halide's light intensity enough there would not be a "Death zone" halfway above my tank. Finally my monticap would stop being such a space hog if ether of these would work....

Hmmm the first thing that comes to mind is a cheap old duel power compact of a quad T-5 HO fixture. The T-5 may cost a little more than you want to spend unless you can find some one getting rid of theres from a break down or upgrade. The power compact may be easier to find and cheaper bu in the end the bulbs can be spendy and specialized. I might be able to dig around and find you something, maybe a partial trade of shrooms?

I love your analogy on the tank and light. I do like T-5s maybe you could find one used at a decent price.

Yeah or you could rewire a ballast and make you own custom light,a sort of fall project?

Thanks to Badxgillen for letting me borrow is custom light...now I can probably move my monticaps up once I rearrange my rock. Then i might have some room for more mushrooms and perhaps those brains I want....