thanks, i may end up hooking them up to timers, im just glad to have them working. its inspiring me to think about some live plants in my tank now
DIY Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Strip Light Retrofit
- Thread starter BoredAgain
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thanks, i may end up hooking them up to timers, im just glad to have them working. its inspiring me to think about some live plants in my tank now
I desperately need to upgrade the lighting on my tank. I'm torn between going the cheaper route and doing the process in this thread, or going with the AH supply retrofit kits which will cost a lot more and take me a longer time to get to.
The big sticking point for me is that after reading about the importance of reflectors on the ahsupply website, how does this compare? How do you get alllllll these watts to go into the tank and penetrate the water, without good reflectors?
The big sticking point for me is that after reading about the importance of reflectors on the ahsupply website, how does this compare? How do you get alllllll these watts to go into the tank and penetrate the water, without good reflectors?
Well you don't...plain and simple. But this setup works out well for the plants, and the people that don't want to shell out a lot of money, and that's what's important here. With any setup, you aren't going to get all available light in the tank, but some fixtures are better at it than others.
I grew a jungle of a lot of different types of plants with this setup, so it worked well for me.
okay. well it seems like a much more economical route because even the AHSupply setup I need will cost $400. So heck, I think I'll start building one this weekend! I think I'll build 2 custom wood enclosures rather then refit and existing light strip. Because there aren't reflectors, should I add more watts than I normally would? I'm thinking 12/14watters in each canaopy.
You can definitely try it on a tank that size, but I've never done it. Might need some people to chime in on their experiences with light penetration in larger tanks.
