New lighting...installation

[OCSupertones]

I finally got my hood for my 135 gallon finished yesterday, so i thought i would install some lighting.

I knew that i wanted flourscent tubes, so i went to Home Depot and bought 2 setups. each setup had room for 2 bulbs and came with the ballast, reflector, and wiring. The setups were designed to hang over work benches and for industrial use.

They cost me $7.45 each. Here is my cost for 160 watts.

Light setup x 2 - $14.90
Screws - $ 2.67
Timer - $ 6.19
Power Strip - $ 6.45
Electrical tape - $ .63
Total - $ 30.84

$30 and about 1.5 hours isnt bad for 160 watts. The degree of difficulty was next to none, it was extremely simply, and a novice would have no trouble completing this project.

[Sumpin'fishy]

Thanks for the info, I plan on doing the same thing in the future. I also want 160w and that's very affordable. Could you let me in on the brands that you bought? I would appreciate names and model numbers if you still have the info. Thanks again.

[OCSupertones]

the cheapest ones they sell :)

actually i dont know the brand names/model numbers, i seriously bought the cheapest ones they sell...i'll look on their website for them.

The lights were a "daylight" type light, i was looking for 6500k and thats what these were...let me check their website...

[OCSupertones]

This looks like the one i got.

Mine doesnt have a chain to turn it on/off and mine says "Not for use with 34 watt bulbs"

well i cant link to it, go to Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com)

Then go to:

Lighting and Fans > Flourscent Lighting > Shop Lights > 1' x 4' 2-Light Deluxe Fluorescent Shop Light (the top one)

I think thats pretty close to mine, except mine was $7.45

[Sumpin'fishy]

I'll probably just have to go and look around. Thanks for the input, though!

[Dwarfnut]

Good job... glad it worked out for you. One thing to be careful of is that you don't get too much moisture near those fixtures... they don't handle it well! Also, depending on your hood, you might need to install a fan or two as these lights tend to generate a lot of heat! How do I know... well, just got done replacing mine!

I'm not sure of the brand I used initially, but I could not keep them cool enough I think and they would burn up the ballasts in pretty short order. I just recently went back to HD and bought a couple of the slim-line ballasts for the 2 40W bulbs and then some end clip thingys. I wired my canopy myself (it was real easy!), installed the clips and then mounted the ballasts on the back of the canopy on the outside. i then installed the 4 bulb and WOW, that's a lotta light! Looks great over the tank tho! Overall, I think the ballasts were like $11 ea and about $1.50 for a pair of the clips (need four pairs...), so it was still under $30.

Best of luck,
Bill C.

[Heady]

OCSupertones, what size bulbs did you go with?