Is This a Bad Idea?

[Captain Hook]

I want to buy a quality lighting setup for my 20 gallon and build the enclosure myself to save some money.

I am considering the 36 watt kit at AH Supply, which will give me almost 2 watts per gallon. The problem with this kit is the bulb is only 16.5 inches long and will leave quite a bit of room on each side of the tank (24 inches long). Will pose a problem for me when I try and grow plants? I will be trying to grow mostly easy to grow, fairly low light plants.

You may be wondering why I do not just get the 55 watt kit. It is the same price but gives me more light than I want because I do not want to have to add CO2 or have problems with algae.

Are there other places, preferably locally here in Canada, where I can buy quality electronic ballasts and light kits? I found ordinary shop lights that would be cheap and give me exactly 2 wpg but they are not nearly as high of quality.

[djlen]

I just looked at the AH site and noticed that the 13watt kits are 8" long. 8 X 3 = 24", and would give you 39watts.
Question is, would it fit over your 20 without hanging over the ends? I would call them if it sounds possibly do-able. They are very helpful in this regard and might be able to advise you of a way to make it happen.
Just a thought...........

Len

[MrGoodbytes]

In Canada, www.mops.on.ca has pretty good prices, but I haven't been there for a while, so I am not sure what their catalogue contains.

Graeme

[mrsdorothy]

On my 20gal I just went with the AGA 24"
double strip light. They're 18" bulbs which
gives me a total of 30 watts. 1.5 watts
per gallon.

[Captain Hook]

Graeme thank you for the suggestion of mops.on.ca. I checked their site and they have a 24" two bulb strip for $80, which is the same as I could get in-store at Big Al's and save myself the shipping.

I am now considering one of these 2 light strips from Big Al's instead of the basic shop light from Home Depot. Do you guys think these All-glass lights would be worth more than double the price? I went to the All-glass website and it says the 24" one holds 18" bulbs that are only 15 watts each. The Home Depot 24" holds that size of bulbs that are each 20 watts, which will give me better growing conditions. Think I should just get the Home Depot one?

Edit: No where does it say anything about an electronic ballast in the All-glass strip lights so I am thinking the Home Depot one will do. You can see the All-glass Twin Tube lights here:
http://www.all-glass.com/products/hoods/index.html

[MrGoodbytes]

I got two double 36" NO strip lights for my 35 gallon which saved me a fair bit of money. You just have to make your own fixture and buy a glass canopy.
I convinced my dad to do something similar for a 10 gallon we were going to set up. We got two T8F15 flourescent shop lights, a ballast to run both bulbs and the end caps all for about $34CAN.

[Captain Hook]

Mr Goodbytes I am very interested in how you set up the lights for $34. Did you have to buy the components separately and put it all together yourself? Where did you get everything from? Was it an electronic ballast?

Home Depot has a 24 inch shop light for $28, all I would have to do is add the bulbs but I don't think it is a very high quality light.

[MrGoodbytes]

He hasn't actually set up the fixture up yet, but all you would have to do is mount the magnetic ballast and endcaps onto the inside of a DIY canopy, connect some of the wires and hook the ballast up to a wire and plug (I think the plug was included in the $34, along with the starters). This would provide 30W of NO flourescent lighting 4 a 10gal.
Also, we got the parts separately at Home Depot.
If you want 2WPG and a 20gal, you would have to upgrade to the T12F20 tubes and maybe the ballast. I think I can recall the prices from memory:
-2x flourescent starters: ~$4
-1x magnetic ballast: ~$15
-2x pairs of endcaps: ~$4
-2x T8F15 NOF tubes: ~$8
-1x grounded plug: ~$3
He had some cord at home so we didn't get that. The ballast was rated for different bulb combinations so you might not have to upgrade that. Wires were included with it also.
While browsing the nano-reef forum, I discovered a thread on how to build a low cost CF lighting system. I'm not sure about cost but it's a possibility. Took a little digging, but have a look at http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=11400&highlight=DIY+light . Don't hang around the forum too long, 'cause you won't care about your plants anymore, you'll be setting up for corals ;).

Edit: I can't remember how much it cost (~$70CAN?), but I have included a pic of my current light fixture on my 35gal. I dunno it it will work.

file://C:/Picture 003.jpg

[Captain Hook]

Thanks for all the info goodbytes. When I went to Home Depot a few days ago I saw a complete strip light which sounds very similar to the parts you have pieced together for me. It will give me the 24" shop light, which will probably give me cheaper components but still 2 watts per gallon for about $30. However, when I was there I didn't see any individual components like you have layed out. I may try to visit Home Depot again and this time actually talk to someone in lighting and see what they think. I would like to use quality stuff so it will last and work flawlessly.

[Starry]

I didn't read through all the posts, but I'd like to address to length situation. If there's even 2 or 3 inches of space at the sides that's "bulb-free," stem plants will grow slanted towards the middle. I have two 8" bulbs on a 20" long tank, and the Limnophila grows very slanted at the sides, I don't like it. Although you may not have that much of a problem with low light.

[Captain Hook]

Thanks for the advice starry. I plan on growing many stem plants such as Limnophilia and certainly do not want them growing slanted.

As an option I always have the Home Depot 2 light strip which is 24" long and will cover my tank nicely. Before I get one of these though I am going to check out some lighting stores and see what they have to offer. I am still hoping for high quality parts like an electronic ballast but will settle for the Home Depot cheapo.