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affordable lighting for those longer tanks.


formerly icyuodd/icyoud2

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formerly icyuodd/icyoud2

at $20 a 6 pack, the phillips 6500k daylight twist is a heck of a bargin.

 

my light stopped working today, and moneys tight this week (rent,car repairs,vacation reservations)

 

anyway i needed a light for my 30 long and didnt have much money to replace it.

headed to my favorate hard ware store. (home depot)

 

i saw the phillips 6 packs of 27watt twists. on the same shelf as one of those 4 bulb vanity lights. gave me a great idea.

 

for $12-30 home depot sells 3-8 bulb vanity lights. i picked up a 6 bulb fixture for $15. $15 in pine and $3 worth of ridged dryer vent.

 

1/2 hour later i had a pine box (depot did all the cutting). mounted the fixture inside the box. used a hole saw to drill holes in the dryer vent and slide it over the fixture. i replaced the drecoritive cups that hide the sockets (they do a very good job at holding the dryer vent inplace.)

 

$53 invested (thats canadian btw) which is a steal. an dual incondesent canopy at my lfs is $50.

 

heres the fixture, the daylight bulbs are the white lights. i threw in a coral life, a standard warm white and a noma blue for comparison.

 

i will however be running 4 daylights (with 2 replacements)and 2 of the blue noma bulbs.

 

didnt have the $$$$ for a new vho, so i made do. im very very pleased with the results. :)

 

IMG_5742.jpg

IMG_5743.jpg

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IMG_5747.jpg

 

thought it might give somebody cheap ideas on sump/fowlr lighting. the pics really dont do the lights justise. they are very bright/ nice in color.

 

the room wasnt dark when i took the pics.

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MarineManiac

very nice, i did the same thing, but used an old flouro 24" for my 20H and had 4 bulbs in it. 2 23wt and 2 10wt 50/50. was great until i could afford pc's

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Doesn't look bad at all....Do you have glass or anything between the tank and lights....and what is that blue bulb???

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formerly icyuodd/icyoud2

yeah the tank has a glass top. the blue bulb is noma's new line.

 

they have blue,red,green, etc. great light for adding a little blue or for evening lighting.

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travisurfer

so thats just over 130 watts with around $25 for replacement bulbs and home depot did all the work? thats pretty awesome. the main problem with aquarium lights is the expensive bulbs :slap:

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