New idea for lighting

[lostfish]

I was thinking of making my own custom hood for my 10 gallon tank. I read the post about the home depot lights that are 6500k, does home depot make and 10000k lights?

 

I was thinking about buying 6 of those coralife 50/50 20 watt flourescent screwin bulbs. I can fit those in my hood so that they run down the length of my aquarium so light should be spread out evenly. Also I work for a manufacturing company that specializes in aluminum, so I can take some scrap high polished aluminum for reflectors. Do you think 6 of these would be overkill for a 10 gallon tank? The cost of this product would be right around $65 for the lights, I already have everything else.

 

I guess on a side note I wonder if 6 of those lights would put out a lot of heat.

 

Do you think this is a viable lighting solution?

 

Thanks everyone

 

I havnt even started my tank yet and I am already hooked. I cant wait to actually put some water in my aquarium .

 

Thanks

 

LF

[Cellenzweig]

Hello!

 

6x20w would definately be ok on a 10g. It's pretty hard to have TOO MUCH light when dealing with PCs.

 

I personally think you're heading down the wrong path with the screw in mini-compacts. I recently had 4x20w on my 10g. It was pretty bright, but it quickly got dimmer. After a few months 1 of them was dead and the other three seemed MUCH dimmer than when I first got them. I don't think they do too well when exposed to humidity. You could enclose them, but you'd have to have a fan and you would lose light intensity to the glass or plexi.

 

I have since switched to a 2x65w aqualight from Coralife. This is MUCH better. It is extremely bright and best of all, it has two bulbs with seperate ballasts and cords. This allows you to run actinics only for an hour or 2 before and after daylight, simulating dusk and dawn. Many corals glow brightly under actinics. You can't experience this with 50/50 bulbs. Since then, I have bought a similar unit by Jalli (2x55w). This is on my fuge now, but I bought it for the growout I'd like to set up eventually.

 

Just giving you a heads up because the first time I saw a tank under actinics, I said to myself, "I wish somebody had told me about this BEFORE I bought the screw-ins." What you end up going with is your decision- but I suggest you take your time and look around first. Have you checked into Retro-Fit Kits. Here are a few links to companies that sell reasonably priced lighting.

 

www.hellolights.com

www.ahsupply.com

www.drsfostersmith.com

 

Hope this helps...

[Von digity]

I agree with Cellen,

I think I read somewhere that the screw in type pc bulbs really waste alot of light compared to the traditional pin based bulbs. The longer the bulb, the more efficient it's output is going to be. So 6 20 watters is going to be like 120 watts. 2x55 or even 36 watters will be fine. You say 65 bucks for 6 20 watters? I say go to http://petsupplyliquidator.com/htm/aparts_...tballast.htm#b2 and buy their pre wired 2 x 36 watt retro for 65 bucks. It comes with a workhorse 5 ballast that can be re-used for a combination of pc lighting up to 120 watts. All you have to do is attach it to the reflector in your DIY canopy via pc bulb clips (hellolights.com) and your set.

 

*edit* the only thing is you only have one ballast, so you can't turn bulbs on/off individually. It still fits your budget perfectly though.