Wal-Mart lights, continued

[swordfish]

I dropped by Wally world this evening and had a look at everything they sell which either housed or powered any kind of flourescent bulb 18 inches or shorter. I saw a lot that could be bought for even less than $10 (per lamp and ballast), be stripped down to the essentials, then re-housed in a hood with the ballast(s) supposedly mounted on the back. Just about all of those ended up being work lights, not reading lamps. Of course, like a dorque, I also forgot to write down the brand names, but I do indeed think one of them was Bayco.

 

Of the two brands I looked at, they were basically the same: They each had one compact lamp that had to be 13w or less, 7 inches long with a 2 pin biax connection. I have not researched just what is available as far as wattage per lamp and connections from the online aquarium suppliers as of yet or if they have two which would fit the bill.

 

Like anyone with a knack for DIY-ness and a desire to "beat the system", I pondered if there was any way to make all of this fit into the hood my AGA 7 bow came with. Retrofitting it all, if there is any way to do so, is something I can handle. The only thing that makes me think this cannot be done is that everyone who has talked about successfully gutting and then hacking such lights into service thus far has also thrown around the words "custom hood" quite a bit, but I am just not quite the "custom hood" type of guy.

 

The only thing I see as being a sticking point is mounting the actual lamps to the inside of the hood with an acceptable degree of solidity. I can just stick the ballasts on the back in a Radio Shack project box or maybe even buy a new single ballst to power both the lights. But what to mount the lights to in there? They will not need to be protected from moisture since there will be the rest of the canopy and a piece of glass between the lights and the water.

 

So, ultimately, can this be done the way I am envisioning it? Do they make lights that will fit into these connectors, and which are 13 W or less, under which corals can thrive?

 

Thanks much,

 

Jeff

[adinsxq]

you could probably fit two in a minibow stock hood. two $10 setups... $20. probably want to upgrade the bulbs... let's say you order two 13w 50/50s from hellolights at $8 with $5 shipping. so far that's $41 for 26w of ghetto diy light over your tank. if it were me, i'd spend a few more bucks on a 32w csl retro @ ~$50.

 

it's just been my experience that gutted lights suck. the ballasts are junk and the bulbs are usually unsuitable. if you still want to diy, i'd spend $10 on a good remote electronic ballast, a few $ on a silicone endcap, a good 28/32w bulb, a couple of bulb clips.

 

[Yup]

Great advice!!! Most of the wally retro's are for tanks and refuges that have very little space to add lighting.