cheap planted tank lighting from walmart

Easydoesit

AC Members
Mar 17, 2008
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okay, im in the process of setting up my first moderately planted tank. most of the plants, if not all, that i will have in my tank are low-med light and easy to grow, but i got 3 wpg, just for the heck of it.. and in case i ever want some high light plants.

anyways, i was worrying about lighting prices. i went to walmart for some flipflops)which they didnt have any just plain ones) and i decided to check out the lighting section.

my walmart near my house isnt like the 24 hour walmart thats about 20 minutes away, but it still had some lighting choices.
they had different types of flourescent bulbs, not the screw in kind, the kind with the pokey things. 18", 24", and some smaller, and the 48". they had a "plant/aquarium" type, a "sunlight" or "daylight" type, and some others. they also had mini LED blue nightlight bulbs and setups for cheap(moonlighting)

so heres what i got..
2 18"(bulb size) flourescent under cabinet portable fixtures for $7 each. they came with an energy efficient bulb with the equivalent of 60 watts. i believe it was actually 15 though.
i also got 1 18 " "daylight" 15 watt(60 watt equivalent) bulb and an 18" blacklight bulb, each were either $6 or $7.

i got one fixture for my Os tank, and one for my planted tank. i got the blacklight for my Os moonlight, even though i have yet to use it, and the "daylight" bulb for my planted tank because it said "full spectrum".

they also had the fixtures in 36" i believe, but i didnt see any 24".
the fixture comes with a plastic piece for over the bulb, and they call it a "light diffuser", but you can also take it off and change bulbs.


just thought id let you guys know about my find.
 
sorry, i dont have a camera that hooks up with my mac.
but the fixture is just basically a white rectangle with a space for the bulb. you could fit it in under your hood somehow, its not big
 
Looks something like this:
77597_x.jpg


I've got a 20" fit under a shelf where my 2.5gal sits, with a 20watt T5 in it.
 
the blacklight as the moonlight looks nice, it doesnt make the water purple or anything, but it gives it this nice dim dark shadowed lighting. very dim, looks good.
without the diffuser part on the light, it made my water look cloudy, maybe bc of all the teeny tiny bubbles my HOBs make? idk.. but with the diffuser on it was good

try it
 
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