This is what I came up with Kai. You need a canopy for em but you can always build an "economical" one for right now and build a nicer one later. I'm no lighting expert so maybe some other people will say if these are good or bad. Most of what I've come up with is advice from Josh so if someone doesn't agree with these setups you can blame it on him :lol: jk

This is all stuff from www.hellolights.com

1st setup (800 W): Magnetic Ballast System
2 X 400W (M59) Metal Halide Retrofit Kit ~Probe Start (Item Code: 43-30450) $89.00 = $178.00
2 X 400 W Metal Halide Bulb for probe start ballast ≈ $88.00 ≈ $176.00
Total Cost ≈ $354.00 @ 6.4 W per gallon

2nd setup (1200 W): Magnetic Ballast System
3 X 400W (M59) Metal Halide Retrofit Kit ~Probe Start (Item Code: 43-30450) $89.00 = $267.00
3 X 400 W Metal Halide Bulb for probe start ballast ≈ $88.00 ≈ $264.00
Total Cost ≈ $531.00 @ 9.6 W per gallon

3rd setup (800 W): Magnetic Ballast System
2 X 400W (M135) Metal Halide Retrofit Kit ~Pulse Start (Item Code: 43-40450) $115.00 = $230.00
2 X 400 W Metal Halide Bulb for pulse start ballast ≈ $94.00 ≈ $188.00
Total Cost ≈ $418.00 @ 6.4 W per gallon

4th setup (1200 W): Magnetic Ballast System
3 X 400W (M135) Metal Halide Retrofit Kit ~Pulse Start (Item Code: 43-40450) $115.00 = $345.00
3 X 400 W Metal Halide Bulb for pulse start ballast ≈ $94.00 ≈ $282.00
Total Cost ≈ $627.00 @ 9.6 W per gallon

5th setup (500 W): Electronic Ballast System
2 X 250 W HL Metal Halide Retrofit Kit (Item Code: 43-43002) $175.00 = $350.00
2 X 250 W Metal Halide bulb ≈ $80.00 ≈ $160.00
Total Cost ≈ $510.00 @ 4 W per gallon

6th setup (750 W): Electronic Ballast System
3 X 250 W HL Metal Halide Retrofit Kit (Item Code: 43-43002) $175.00 = $525.00
3 X 250 W Metal Halide bulb ≈ $80.00 ≈ $240.00
Total Cost ≈ $765.00 @ 6 W per gallon

You can go here for some T5 retrofits to supplement the metal halides. Not too bad of a price. If you buy a pair, you could sell the pcs you have right now and it'd kinda be like gettin the T5s for free with some extra cash for the metal halides.

Also, if you do want to order the T5 retrofit or anything else from www.reefgeek.com let me know. I need to order from there and we could split the shipping.