Help/Ideas Needed for DIY Lighting

Staggie

Staggie

Go Da O
Sep 30, 2005
46
0
0
43
Adelaide, South Australia
Hi Guys 'n' Girls.

First off I'll start with my setup. I've got a 180gal 6x2x2, Painted Black background, Dark Gravel & slate everywhere. It is a cichlid tank, with an O, Pair of Con's, Pair of Blue Acara's and a salmon cat in it.

Now for the question, I'm going to get a wooden hood made for it to match the stand so i need some ideas about some sufficent/economical DIY lighting for the thing. I've looked at pre made lights and nearly died when I saw the price for a twin 72" light unit (takes 4x 36" fluro's). I was thinking about painting the inside of the hood white and installing 2 or 3 4' fluro units into it (my father is a sparky so can get the units pretty **** (btw why is d amn classed as profanity) cheap, and get him to wire it all up for me). The only concern i have is there going to be enough light to penetrate that depth of water???? I've currently got 2x 2' light units on it atm and well it still looks dark as, and there is pretty much no light in the middle of the tank.

I have seen a lot of people talk about metal halide (is that spelt right) units but is the initial outlay of $$$ worth it?? ie how long do the globes last, how much power do they use etc?

One last thing, One day in the future I want (dont know if it will ever happen) to turn the tank into a reef tank, so basically I need a solution that will be fine now and not need to be upgraded if or when i do decide to go reef.

Cheers in advance,

Kym

P.S. The hood is getting custom made so basically i can get what ever I want/need made to fit around the lighting.
 
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I'd check out AH Supply. They sell a nice kit of Compact fluorescents for DIY and they've got very reasonable prices: I think you'd have a hard time assembling the same kit for all that much less.

Are you thinking planted thoughts?

A reef needs a good bit more light than you'd want in a Fish Only freshwater tank. You could start with 2x96 or 4x55 and then add more later.
 
Cichlids prefer it on the dim side, certainly not bright enough to use as a reef tank. Compact flourescents are great but even at AH they're expensive compared to standard T-12 / T-8 set-ups. If you're not going plants (tough with those cichlids) I'd ask your Dad to see if the electrical supply house can get the flourescent end caps with the rubber grommets (sp?). If so, then your set for 48" tubes. It's also a good idea to keep glass covers on the tank beneath the wood canopy. Even with a good coat of poly' wood, and certainly electrical fixtures, are questionable long term with the high humidity above a tank.
 
Cheers Guys for your help.

I spoke to my dad last night and he can get me the 4' Fluro units for like $13 each, So what i'm going to do is put three in hood all staggered so i get some what of an even distro of light over the tank. I plan on leaving the glass on, main reason being my oscar like to splash water everywhere when i feed him.

Thanks again for the advice.

Kym
 
T-8's are a lot more efficient than T12s (much more light per watt). If you're going Normal fluorescent, don't bother with the T12s, especially if you might want to add more down the road.

White paint is a fairly good reflector. Good reflectors make better reflectors.

You want an electric ballast, not a magnetic ballast. It makes a big difference.
 
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