RobD Posted August 31, 2003 Share Posted August 31, 2003 Hey All, I've been putting together a tank for my desk and I found a great deal from Costco. For $16.99, you can get a worklight that has a very small electronic ballast (3"x1 3/4"). As I was taking it apart, I read the label off the base of the bulbs and they are 6500k bulbs! This may be old news, as I think I've seen posts about taking these things apart before, but it seemed like a good price since it included useable bulbs. The Costco item # is 713422, if you want to call and see if they have it in your area. They have it in the Pacific NW region. Lighting for $16.99 and a 2.5gal tank from Petsmart for $9.99 is a good start on a tank for a desk. R Link to comment
Foogoo Posted August 31, 2003 Share Posted August 31, 2003 Originally posted by RobD a 2.5gal tank from Petsmart for $9.99 is a good start on a tank for a desk. R Hmm...the 2.5 gallon is $32 at our Petsmart...no kidding Link to comment
RobD Posted August 31, 2003 Author Share Posted August 31, 2003 Originally posted by Foogoo Hmm...the 2.5 gallon is $32 at our Petsmart...no kidding Wow! What's happening down there? That way too much for a simple glass tank and lid. Link to comment
~_~ Posted August 31, 2003 Share Posted August 31, 2003 Probably just a pricing error or something. Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 yeah, thats nuts, its only 9.99 by me as well. Link to comment
hickncali Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 no he is serious, i picked mine up for 9.99 at petco, and at pets mart it was somewere around 34. its insane. Link to comment
msf Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 I realize this is an old thread but Rob, would you be able to post a pic of your DIY lighting from Costco desk lamp? Link to comment
tonyjulz Posted September 24, 2003 Share Posted September 24, 2003 don't have any costco here, what company makes this worklight? Link to comment
msf Posted September 24, 2003 Share Posted September 24, 2003 Just bought two of these puppies for $34 at Costco in Canoga Park, CA. Rob is right, it comes with a small ballast that will go in a separate box. Lights start completely flicker free. Add a couple actinics I have 52W for less than $50. Thanks for the heads-up Rob! Link to comment
Retlaw Posted September 26, 2003 Share Posted September 26, 2003 Will 6500K be enough to keep hard corals, or even clams in a nano? Link to comment
MrConclusion Posted September 27, 2003 Share Posted September 27, 2003 It's not a question of 6500K being "enough." The K numbers are not brightness, they are color. K=color temperature expressed in degrees kelvin. The "K" number is the answer to this question: "How hot would I need to burn a tungsten filament to produce this color?" HOWEVER! "K" ratings are not an official weights-and-measures control category, so anyone can claim whatever they want. Therefore, claims differ by manufacturers. For instance, actinic (deep blue) fluorescents were named 7100K long ago before 10,00K (white) bulbs were on the market. So the numbering is not a consistent, linear scale. Generally: Home incandescent lights = 2400 - 2800K Home halogen lights = 2600 - 3200K Warm White Fluorescent = about 3000K Cool White Fluorescent = about 4000K Daylight Fluorescent = 5500 - 6500K REEF LIGHTING: 5000K looks yellowish-white 6500K looks white 7100K looks DEEP BLUE and is usually called "actinic" 10,000K looks crisp white 12,000-14,000K looks bluish white 20,000K looks blue TO SIMULATE: Tide Pool & Surface = 5000K Shallow ocean light (less than 10 feet) = 6500 - 10,000K Moderate depth ocean light (10-20 feet) = 10,000 - 14,000K "Deep" natural reef lighting (20+ feet) = 20,000K T. Maxima and T. Crocea clams are shallow water dwellers, they need 10,000K or lower. But, they need very intense light. The general consensus is thet they do well with metal halide lighting, and maybe PowerCompact fluorescent or VHO fluorescent if you have a lot of lighst and place the clams as near to the bulbs as possible. However, if you are serious about clams you will eventually have MH lighting. T. Derasa and T. Squamosha clams are deep water dwellers, and require less light. They also get HUGE and grow quickly, which is a problem in a nano tank. I do not think that 2x13 watt will be enough for any clam, unless you have the bulbs VERY close to the clam, and otherwise optimal reflector and tank setup. If you want $50 - $80 clams, you should be ready to spend more than $20 on lighting or you will be disappointed. Hard corals are another issue, because there are many different species with different light requirements. But you will not be able to keep anything with moderate or high light requirement. Link to comment
casbarian Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Wish I saw this post before I spent 45 bucks for two Hellolight kits. Link to comment
msf Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 As a follow up... to use this kit with a 13W Actinic from Hello Lights, I had to buy a 20W NO Magnetic Ballast from Home Depot for $3.50. Link to comment
Chamkeeper Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 I had a 'dual work light' from Bayco, purchased at Lowe's. It was a POS!!! Died after a month of operation. Bulbs were fine ballast was junk. The bad news is it looked just like the one you have. Link to comment
maroonclown Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Yeah, I think those ballasts are meant to operate 3-4 hours with sporadic use. It's like those ultra long-life LED flashlights. The bulb might be able to last for 500,000 hours, but the batteries ony last 5000 hours. Has anyone considered taking apart one of the ballasts for those PCs that screw into a light socket? Those are long lasting and electronic ballasts. I assume you would just need to wire it to a 13 watt PC socket. Let me know if it would work. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Was there ever any decision if this electronic ballast works well or not? C. Jerome Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 whoa jerome, you just updated this thread after 9 and a half months of inactivity Link to comment
msf Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 my two ballasts is still are still running since my original posts. Link to comment
bladze Posted July 24, 2004 Share Posted July 24, 2004 I need these kind of ballast for my fuge. Damn california suck Link to comment
RobD Posted July 24, 2004 Author Share Posted July 24, 2004 Wow this thread made a comeback! It was ages ago since I posted this. To update the one poster asking, I still have this ballast and lights in a bag in my kitchen pantry closet, aka my junk closet, along with the 2.5. I got distracted with the 70w MH and the refugium for my 7 gal minibow, and the summer has been too nice to do "inside" stuff much. Maybe this winter... For the poster asking about lighting for a fuge, when I set mine up I got a 13w desk lamp from Staples on close out, it was $3 or $3.5 something like that. That's working out well, and the less than 6500k bulb that came with it is really working well to grow stuff. One bulb seems to be ideal for it (I run the light 24x7). Stop by there and see if they have a box up above the aisle that isn't a model on display. That's how I snagged mine before it hit the clearance table. It's a magnetic ballast and it runs a little warm, so keep that in mind. I just read in another thread that electronic ballasts are not compatible with 13w bulbs, so keep that in mind as well. Hope that helps. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.