starting a 55g, need lighting

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fresh_fish

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Jul 11, 2008
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greetings, i finally decided to pull an old 55g tank out of the garage and bring it back to life after a decade of storage. its previous life was a DIY high tech setup that i helped with but all that is left is the aquarium, stand, Magnum HOT filter and some rocks. unfortunately the hood was disposed of in a past move.

i am aiming for a low-tech planted community tank with no CO2 on a fairly tight budget. from what i have gathered i should be shooting for around 2wpg at 6500k. i checked the local hardware stores and they carry T12 6500 45w bulbs. would a cheap shop light with two of these be sufficient? any other lower cost lighting ideas?
 
BoredAgain said:
I prefer CFLs, check my signature. :) DIY is definitely the way to go.
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i read your DIY lighting thread and that is a sweet setup. i need to go back to the hardware store and re-check the CFLs, they had a ton and i just skimmed over them and didnt see any. if i go that route then i need to find an aquarium hood to work with and scrap the shop fixture idea. i guess Petsmart is probably the place to go for a hood.
 
fresh_fish said:
i read your DIY lighting thread and that is a sweet setup. i need to go back to the hardware store and re-check the CFLs, they had a ton and i just skimmed over them and didnt see any. if i go that route then i need to find an aquarium hood to work with and scrap the shop fixture idea. i guess Petsmart is probably the place to go for a hood.
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Thanks. You could also just buy the shop light and use it as an enclosure...whichever is cheaper. I going to be doing that myself when I get a new tank...I'm not buying strip lights anymore. ;)
 
jm1212 said:
you could try aquatraders.com

they've got some pretty inexpensive CFL lighting setups that will fit your tank nicely. you'll have to replace the bulbs, but they have a four pack of 6500k for about 30 bucks.
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this? http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=295

and these? http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=660

those lights are a great deal and $95 before S&H for the combo is worth considering. i would also need to buy 2 glass tops with that i believe.
 
That's not a bad deal if you aren't up for a DIY project at the moment. I'm not sure how well this fixture would handle an open top.

Looks like you get free shipping on those as well.
 
after further research the $95 combo from aquatraders.com is a great deal but the quality is quite low from what i have read. DrF&S has a similar Coralife 2x65w with 2 bulbs for $135 which i may be willing to spring for.

what about T5, will i need 4 bulbs then?
 
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You see, the price keeps going up the more you research. Before you know it, you'll be $300 in the hole when you could have just spent $50 and been happy with the satisfaction of a good DIY project. :) With the money you save you can get a canister filter. That's what did it for me.

But if you still want to purchase a fixture, go for the best bang for your buck. Lighting is pretty hard to screw up, and if it does end up breaking down, should be easy to fix yourself.
 
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