Upgrading a Full Hood Strip Light

Retrofitting means taking parts out and replacing them with other parts.

I'm very happy with the kit I got at AH Supply and have made it one of my many missions to spread the word. In this case you would take the everything out and just keep the casing:



That's just a regular strip light:



There was an extensive thread on this last week where Slip made a strong argument for retrofitting with VHO (Very High Output) flourescent. In his version you'd switch the ballast (powerpack) and the bulbs, and possibly the endcaps (plugs). I like the CF (Compact Flourescent) and will continue with that for the time being.

I checked out the All-Glass site and thought the Single, Double, and (new?) Triple strips all looked the same width, but they don't spec the width. I also noticed they added a limited selection of CFs.

I put my lamps in a wooden canopy I made for them, but I kept the glass top to keep the water from evaporating up into the electronics and the fish out of the wires.

You should be able to get quite a bit of light into a strip using either option, but it is finite. If you want it really bright you'll need a bigger canopy, which really isn't bad either. How much light do you want over how big of a tank?

I think in this case a kit from ahsupply would be over-kill. So your tank is like 24" long? If so you can get a normal output (NO) full spectrum 30w light from Home Depot for like $15. Damn I'm jealous

I'm leaning toward the 96w kit from ahsupply, but I'd like to know what ballast they use and if I still need a 36" fixture to make it work.

Retrofitted Strip?

Aloha e Carpguy,

Are the pictures you posted two views of the same strip light? I had discarded the idea of using a retrofit kit on my 30" strip light because I didn't think it would fit (widthwise). If that's what you did I would be very interested in hearing how difficult it was. Sounds like you're pretty happy with AHSupply.

Originally posted by superjohnny


I'm leaning toward the 96w kit from ahsupply, but I'd like to know what ballast they use and if I still need a 36" fixture to make it work.

Click to expand...

They use the Fulham Workhorse 5 ballast.

Aloha e Bruddah Chrispy

The two pics are of a 24" strip and are from AH Supply's website -- they're of a 55w retrofit. The 96w is a little smaller than 36" (will fit 36), the 55w fits 24", the 36 fits 18". I don't think there is a solution to a 30" outside using the 55w and leaving 3" dark to either side.

I wouldn't buy a 36" fixture just to gut it. They sell a wooden canopy for less. The 96w bulb is about 34" long so it needs a fixture at least that long.

The size is always the constraint with flourescent lighting. I don't think there is a 24" 30w NO light. With NO the wattage is generally about the same as the length. With CF its more like double. I don't know too much about VHO but it seems similar to CF in output/length.

I've been sort of assuming planted tank all along. If you just want a brighter tank, these are pretty high light levels. I like the glow and think it would look good in either case, (planted or not) but its a lot of light. If you have a single tube NO strip you could just retrofit it to be a double or apparently even a triple. You need a ballast (powerpack) that will run the total wattage and new endcaps (and bulbs). You can use the longest setup that will fit. It looked to me like All-Glass was using the same shell for all three strips and just adding bulbs. Or you could buy a light. It depends on what you want.

I built a wooden canopy for mine. I'm going to post pics and plans if I ever find the camera cable. It looks good and works pretty well (a few minor adjustments). I went with the 2x36watt kit because I was concerned about too much light, but when I do it again I'll probably go with the 96w.

And ditto Elmo: they use Fulham ballasts.

Mahalo for the info carpguy! I do have a planted tank. I'm planning on going to 55w (because I really don't want things growing out of control). I'm now debating between the $79 All-glass strip, or the DIY option with AHSupply.