Chris,

I only have 175W of lighting over my tank. I've had the same setup for
about 10 years now. The MH kit cost me about $200, including the bulb. I
still use the original. Yeah, I know that they degrade over time, but 175W
is more than I really need anyway. As for operation use, metal halides are
one of the more efficient light sources, when you consider the cost per unit
of light output. It's the high initial cost that puts them out of most
people's reach.

As for what I did when I was "poor" (ie a grad student), do a search on the
Krib for me. I've got a posting from 1992 that describes my pre-MH days.

Jeff


"Christopher" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
can I ask how you guys afford thousands of watts of lighting over a tank,
not to mention the costs of running pumps and other accessories?