alright thanks alot jdak. im either gonna break down and by some new lights and ballats and get some live rock or just get a protein skimmer. are there protein skimmers out there that you only have to clean the collection cup and not do much else?

Ryand. I've found almost all my high quality expensive lights in my local fish store's dumpsters. I know the bulbs are old, so I double or triple them up and get many more months out of them.

I've found T-5's, T-8's, T12's of many different lengths.

I live in Los Angeles. If you live in or near a large city I'd check those dumpsters!