DIY lights in hood

W

Waps

AC Members
Feb 28, 2007
45
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0
Adelaide, South Australia
I'm thinking of upgrading my tank to something alot bigger. Well I will be at some stage.
Been getting prices.
For lights its going to cost me round A$280 for enough light to keep plants growing.
So I'm wondering if I'm able to use standard house fluro and fixtures?
I will build them into my hood and they will sit just above the Aquarium glass top there for not exposed to moisture.

Do the lights lose any impact they have on the plants by having glass between? I wouldn't think they do but it can't hurt to ask.
 
A lot of folks use standard flourescent light fixtures and have good luck with them. You won't lose much light through the glass if it's kept clean. The light will simply be defracted differently (no big deal). I'm sure someone here could provide you all sorts of links from people who did the very same thing that you'll be doing. Anyone?
 
As long as the glass top is kept clean, it won't affect the light that much. Algae tends to grow right on the glass, at least in my experience.

I compared the cost of standard house fluorescents with proper plant bulbs like Flora Sun vs. compact fluorescent retrofit kits and the cost per watt isn't that different. You do gain the benefit of the polished aluminum reflectors that come with the kits. Adding those to a standard house fluorescents would up their cost a bit.
 
I am in brisbane and i picked up 4ft T8 LANSON house fluro fittings with electronic balast for $28.00 aust each from Lawrence & Hanson trade electrical store and used aquarium tubes. electronic balast last longer,run cooler and cheaper to run and seem to make the tubes last longer.
 
TEL said:
I am in brisbane and i picked up 4ft T8 LANSON house fluro fittings with electronic balast for $28.00 aust each from Lawrence & Hanson trade electrical store and used aquarium tubes. electronic balast last longer,run cooler and cheaper to run and seem to make the tubes last longer.
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The best I can find are 2x36W.
I'd need 2 of those units to get 2W per G.
But was looking at more like 3W per G

What watts are the ones you got?
 
I'm using a 4ft ex-office fluorescent hood with aquarium light tubes. I've seen others selling for about $25 on ebay, but with local pickup.

I've managed to fit in 2 more tubes with a bare fluorescent light setup from the local lighting store, which I've seen for $20 to $30. This gives me a total of 2 x 36w plus 1 x 40watt tubes. (I could replace the 40watt tube with 2 x 36 watt tubes, but my plants are doing fine.)

I'm lucky enough to get my pink plant tubes for $15 each (but with a 40minute drive) and white 10'000k tubes for $18. I've seen bright fluorescent tubes at Bunnings rated at 6'500k plus. They were called daylight or so.

The hood is coated with glossy white paint inside, and white should reflect the light back into the tank. As I read on another post, white does not absorb light colours, eg, when you look at snow.

It sits on top of the aquarium glass perfectly. The glass does get some dew drops underneath, but only when it's really cold weather.

My plants have been growing like crazy and double in size every fortnight.
 
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