cheap lighting

[RockabillyChick]

what is the cheapest way to go about getting aproximately 100-125 watts of light over my 45g tank? i've considered AHsupply, buying a 36" dual light strip at home depot (two actually) building my own fixture and covering the inside of my hood, which i'm also building, with mirrors.

i also need to decided whether to go with the little screw-in power compact bulbs, or the normal t-8 tubes? AND, where can i get 30w t8 6700k bulbs for a reasonable price?

 

[twig]

I got a jebo lighting hood for 200 bucks(cdn) it's for an 80 gallon though and it's 220watts

 

[Mgamer20o0]

cheapest would be the t8 bulbs from home depot.

this is great info on lights. something i saw on another post.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewt...&start=0&sid=221f73932f96b51e4d756933f9e73879

i have also seen people use the screw in bulbs. i just cant find it. i think the t8 will give you more options down the line. if you need more light.
http://tristan.homelinux.net/fish/tank/retrofit/index.htm

if you have the money ahsupply is a great place to get top of the line stuff.

 

[RockabillyChick]

i don't need that much light. i think 100-120w of t8 bulbs will be more than plenty. this is SUPPOSED to be a low-light, low-tech tank, but because i will have about 50% of the surface area covered with floating plants, i want to bump the lighting a little bit to help more of it penetrate. it is also a rather tall tank. 50w of t12 light on my 20 long, which is only 12 inches tall, is actually rather high lighting (the tank is super bright) so i'm thinking i'm going to have to go a bit higher on the light in the 45 because its almost 2 feet tall.

so home depot has 30w t8 bulbs with 6500-7000k color temp?

 

[attack11]

don't use mirrors, they're extremely inefficient. use white paint if you wanna go cheap.

 

[Karnage]

also, you might try this; I inherited a dual fixture incandescent hood lined with crinkled tin foil, it very obviously casts a good deal more light into the tank than the same exact hood/bulbs on my unplanted tank without the foil.

 

[jaymasta]

Aluminum foil is better then mirrors....
isn't it Rockabillychick :thm:

 

[RockabillyChick]

its called ALUMINUM foil. sorry, that's a pet peeve of mine. there is no tin in it at all, it is made of aluminum! aluminum foil!

 

[beatle]

I highly recommend the AH supply kits. I have one 55w over my 37 and it's great. I just ordered a 2x55w kit for the 55g I'm planning as well.