DIY Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Strip Light Retrofit
- Thread starter BoredAgain
- Start date
hey i did this yesterday fer my 30! it makes the colors of the fish standout more and everything!
That's great...post pics and tell us about any changes you made to the plans so it can help other people that may need to do it differently.
I'll have something for you on Thursday...it's been a hectic week. I found a great and easy solution for mounting the lights...do you have a drill?
Just retrofitted my 38G hood with an old single 24" FL tube with 4 14W CFL 5500K bulbs, mostly following the advice from this thread. My modifications:
1) Used heavy-duty aluminum foil for inside reflector rather than paint it white.
2) No dual sockets with wire leads at Home Depot. However, one of the staff directed me to a ceiling fixture that had a dual socket with wire leads. Hard to believe, but the whole ceiling fixture was less than $5. I bought two of them, which ended up being cheaper than buying 4 single sockets alone. The only downside is that I now have two leftover glass ceiling diffusers which will eventually end up in the trash (not very environmentally friendly, I know).
3) My old fixture had a remote ballast near the plug. This was restricting the current too much for my four new bulbs, so I cut it out and spliced the wires back together with two of the extra end caps.
My 38gal never looked so good lightwise. Not up to the light quality from my 2x 55W setup from AH Supply on my 75gal, but that is probably because I prefer 6700K light to 5500K light in aquariums.
1) Used heavy-duty aluminum foil for inside reflector rather than paint it white.
2) No dual sockets with wire leads at Home Depot. However, one of the staff directed me to a ceiling fixture that had a dual socket with wire leads. Hard to believe, but the whole ceiling fixture was less than $5. I bought two of them, which ended up being cheaper than buying 4 single sockets alone. The only downside is that I now have two leftover glass ceiling diffusers which will eventually end up in the trash (not very environmentally friendly, I know).
3) My old fixture had a remote ballast near the plug. This was restricting the current too much for my four new bulbs, so I cut it out and spliced the wires back together with two of the extra end caps.
My 38gal never looked so good lightwise. Not up to the light quality from my 2x 55W setup from AH Supply on my 75gal, but that is probably because I prefer 6700K light to 5500K light in aquariums.
cdsilva,
I would suggest removing the aluminum foil and painting it white or using a mylar foil. Aluminum foil is a very poor reflector of light, but a fantastic reflector of heat. It would act as a very strong insulator, heating up the lights and shortening their lifespan. Mylar or white paint would be a better option.
I would suggest removing the aluminum foil and painting it white or using a mylar foil. Aluminum foil is a very poor reflector of light, but a fantastic reflector of heat. It would act as a very strong insulator, heating up the lights and shortening their lifespan. Mylar or white paint would be a better option.
:iagree:
Also, post some pics and let us know of things that you did differently. Like, on my 28g, I used the screw holes on the sockets with 2 inch long bolts to mount my sockets instead of the zip ties. There are many different ways to do this mod, the more listed here the better for everyone else.
In regards to the bulbs, if you shop around you could find some 6500 to 6700 CFLs.
1000bulbs.com is a decent site, but there are others. The issue is that they stock with installers in mind(IE; I'm constructing something and need 50 fixtures for an office). Typically these applications don't require specific colour-spectrum requirements.
If I can find them, I'll see about posting links to a couple other good sites for lamps/fixtures.
If you're interested in HID(say, a 70W MH), www.e-conolight.com is a great website. You can *very* easily dismantle the ballast/enclosure and install the guts/socket in your own enclosure. Essentially their floodlights are very cheap HID kits.
If I can find them, I'll see about posting links to a couple other good sites for lamps/fixtures.
If you're interested in HID(say, a 70W MH), www.e-conolight.com is a great website. You can *very* easily dismantle the ballast/enclosure and install the guts/socket in your own enclosure. Essentially their floodlights are very cheap HID kits.
