My Project:
30” x 12” lighting hood for my 37 gallon tank
Requirements:
1) Cheap
2) Enough Watts for good plant growth (about 2.5 watts per gallon, so about 93 Watts)
After spending countless hours on the net looking for cheap lighting (under 100 bucks), I decided that the only way to do it was build the darn thing myself. I mad the lighting part, but I have not built the wooden hood to go on top, so suggestions would be appreciated.
Here is what I bought:
5 T5 undercabinet lights from Wal-Mart - LOA 24" Light Stick 7020-6 - $8 each
(I am not including the price of buying better light bulbs – I personally bought a variety of cheap T5’s, T10’s, and T12’s that were natural sunlight, and various shades of purple and red for the plants)
You can see this item online at: http://www.energyfederation.org/loa/default.php/cPath/586_589
4 aluminum oven liners for a cheap, malleable reflective surface - $4
So I spent about 44$ so far, and I am at 100 Watts. Not bad.
I took the transparent plastic covering off of the lighting and used an old utility knife to cut the aluminum oven liners to my desired shape. Any patterns pressed in the liners are easily reduced by pressing them against a hard surface and rubbing your finger nails on them. Then I simply plugged all 5 into place and put them over my 37 gallon aquarium. A condensation tray was in place, of course.
My challenge now is to build a wooden case around it. The lights can be screwed into the top of the hood, they are designed to be placed inverted ~ they are undercabinet lights.
I am concerned about too much heat under the hood, and weather or not the lighting fixtures I have are reliable/durable. As soon as I hit the switch to turn them on, it instantly lights. I don’t know if that means my ballast is allowing too much current through the light for decreased efficiency. Would it be better to purchase a high quality ballast and custom system? I don’t know much about the wiring of fluorescent lights, I just want to get the most watts for my buck.
Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated.
30” x 12” lighting hood for my 37 gallon tank
Requirements:
1) Cheap
2) Enough Watts for good plant growth (about 2.5 watts per gallon, so about 93 Watts)
After spending countless hours on the net looking for cheap lighting (under 100 bucks), I decided that the only way to do it was build the darn thing myself. I mad the lighting part, but I have not built the wooden hood to go on top, so suggestions would be appreciated.
Here is what I bought:
5 T5 undercabinet lights from Wal-Mart - LOA 24" Light Stick 7020-6 - $8 each
(I am not including the price of buying better light bulbs – I personally bought a variety of cheap T5’s, T10’s, and T12’s that were natural sunlight, and various shades of purple and red for the plants)
You can see this item online at: http://www.energyfederation.org/loa/default.php/cPath/586_589
4 aluminum oven liners for a cheap, malleable reflective surface - $4
So I spent about 44$ so far, and I am at 100 Watts. Not bad.
I took the transparent plastic covering off of the lighting and used an old utility knife to cut the aluminum oven liners to my desired shape. Any patterns pressed in the liners are easily reduced by pressing them against a hard surface and rubbing your finger nails on them. Then I simply plugged all 5 into place and put them over my 37 gallon aquarium. A condensation tray was in place, of course.
My challenge now is to build a wooden case around it. The lights can be screwed into the top of the hood, they are designed to be placed inverted ~ they are undercabinet lights.
I am concerned about too much heat under the hood, and weather or not the lighting fixtures I have are reliable/durable. As soon as I hit the switch to turn them on, it instantly lights. I don’t know if that means my ballast is allowing too much current through the light for decreased efficiency. Would it be better to purchase a high quality ballast and custom system? I don’t know much about the wiring of fluorescent lights, I just want to get the most watts for my buck.
Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated.
.