Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  I got rid of the loops on the ground wire and connected them properly in the picture below (the green wires with the blue hat).

 

Also, to tidy up the wires going to the reflector, I am going to take the little hats (whatever they're called) off and connect the wires using these waterproof butt splices instead.  It will allow the wires to run in line and will look nicer.  It will also protect against any splash that might get up there.

 

After that's done, then I can worry about twisting the wires together and making it all look nice.  How does that sound, y'all?  I'm not a total lost cause, am I?

My canopy and under my stand is not perfect, but at least I have tried to run wires away from water and tie them up with drip loops when necessary.

A little bit of extra care now will save you a lot of $ later, and maybe a life or two.

One more thing, I don't know how all you guys with hanging light fixtures sleep at night. Unless I had netting across my tank, I would be always wondering when something was going to fail when I was away or when I bumped it with a broom, ladder, or whatever...I love the look on some tanks, but it still would freak me out.

 

I can't get the thought the electrical connections our of my mind. At the risk of being over critical I want you to know that you should resolve the wiring issues before powering up your light, even for testing purposes. I would hate to hear about a fire or electrocution happening.

 

Those retrofit fixtures while widely used are not intended to be the complete lighting solution. They are intended to be secured into an existing fixture or adapted to a canopy and the installer is responsible for making sure safe connections are made. Look at the ballast. Clearly it is designed to be secured in a chassis and not set on the floor. Connecting the ground wires by passing the loops through each other does not create a reliable ground connection and having the wires protruding out of the fixture connected with wire nuts dangling above the tank is a disaster waiting to happen. I hate to be overly critical but I wouldn't power on these lights, even for testing until you resolve these issues.

 

I am sure there is someone in your area with enough experience in setting up these fixtures that would be willing to assist you. If not I would be willing to come help you decide how to safely set it up this weekend, but PLEASE do not run that fixture until it is safely set up.

 

I am a bit of a safety nut when it comes to electricity. I would get some Gray PVC electrical conduit and junction boxes to enclose the wiring and make sure any metal that electricity can come in contact with is grounded. You can't be too careful with electricity especially around water.

 

There have been some developments in the past few weeks.  First, I put some Utah sand and rock in both the sump and the display.  I seeded it with a few scoops of my own sand and some sand from Dion.  My other tank, remember, is only a 37, so I don't have much sand to spare.  I also did a few water changes in the 37 and put the water from those in the frag tank.  I picked up a little $5 fixture from Home Depot with a Daylight bulb and left it on for about a week straight.  It worked like a charm.  I had a bit of an algae bloom, and now I've got tons of bugs running around.  I got in on the Reefs2go group buy and grabbed 60 snails--30 Nerites and 30 Ceriths.  Now the algae is under control and everyone is happy.

 

Here's a picture of the sump.

I have only put sand in the left side because the right side is near the return.  I don't want the pump to get clogged so I will only keep LR in the right side.  It's not in the picture, but I also put a bag of AC next to the return.  I got $20 worth from Mike Sanches (RockStarFish) and it will probably last me five years.  Wow!  More than I was expecting!

 

I also ordered a pretty cool timer/power strip that showed up today.  In addition to providing power, this will control the timing of the lights, which will allow me to run the RDP 'fuge.

 

Today the lights came.  Mary (my wonderful girlfriend) and I spent some time putting together the retrofit kit.  It was a bit of a challenge and required a trip to Home Depot.  I'm still not loving the setup, but at least the lights are hung.  Here's a pic.  I know it's hanging crooked.  I'll fix it.

 

I like the idea of hanging the light with chains--they're cheap, adjustable, and I think they look cool.  I got too much, as you can see, but the look is growing on me.  Obviously, I still have to figure out what to do with the wires.

 

The ballast and wiring.  I have a bit of concern about one connection.  See the next picture.

 

The connection of the two green wires is a bit odd.  Rather than simple copper wire, these are two connectors that look like aluminum or something.  They both have a loop on the end.  I just shoved one loop through the other one and it works, but I am nervous.  This seems like a total fire hazard.  There's electricity running through there, but there's no cover for it.  I've been thinking about wrapping it in electrical tape.  Any thoughts?

 

While I'm voicing concerns, I am wondering if anyone knows what is going on on the inside of the acrylic here.  The inside of the whole tank was COATED with coraline when I picked it up.  Like an idiot (maybe just a novice?), I filled it up with water before scraping off the coraline.  Duh, right?  Anyway, the coraline was tough to get off, but I scraped it off okay.  This white film is what's left.  I don't think it's coraline, though.  When I get really close, it looks like there are thousands of tiny shallow microfractures in the acrylic that may have filled with...something.  Coraline?  Anybody seen this before?  Any idea how to get rid of it?