Mega powerful compact fluorescent on the cheap!

[nugpuffer]

When I was setting up the lighting on my 35gallon hex, which has a small footprint I found a powerful CFL lamp at Home Depot made by Lights of America which will fit in a very small space. The bulbs are still available at the Home Depot near my house and come stock in 6500K. The lamp I bought is rated 65 watts, and I believe they also make 85W and 100W varieties. These lamps are great for DIY setups where you are trying to maximize light in a small space without resorting to expensive metal halides.

From a quick internet search, this is what I got:
65 W 6500K CFL lamp and bulb (12.5" x 7.5" x 4") - $29.99
100W 6500K CFL Lamp and bulb (17" x 14" x 10") - $46.66

Here's mine in a custom enclusure:

 

[andyjh]

Nice find. I love using things without the high-cost "for aquarium use" stigma attached to it! Just wondering how heat is dissipated. Are there ventilation holes in the back of your DIY enclosure?
Andy

 

[tanker]

With the glass cover over the tank the intensity will be less.

 

[thebrandon]

I want to see a light fixture on some ones tank that will shine through lead

 

[nugpuffer]

With the glass cover over the tank the intensity will be less.

Yeah, though if I take it off, my fish will jump out.

 

[SMinNC]

Cool! I could turn them side ways and have 9 of them across my 30g.
585 watts and 19.5 wpg! sShoe... wheat!
I wonder if that would help with the intensity.

 

[Riiz]

Yeah, though if I take it off, my fish will jump out.

I think he meant the lens on the lamp, not the tanks glass tops.

 

[kj5kb]

Nice "thinking outside the box". We use these at work...never thought to remove the lens and put it face down over a tank.

They are made to operate sealed, so I suspect heat is not an issue...?

 

[DoctaQ]

too bad those bulbs arent self balasted or it could be even cheaper haha
and more DIY-ish and stuff

 

[nugpuffer]

I think he meant the lens on the lamp, not the tanks glass tops.

I did remove the lens on the lamp since my tank has a top.

They are made to operate sealed, so I suspect heat is not an issue

I cut a 1.5" hole in the rear of the wood enclosure just to be sure. The lamp gets quite warm on the outside, but not hot enough to matter.


Since I have gotten several PMs about the layout of my design, I'll go ahead and post some pics and info.

Basically I used 1 x 3 boards to construct the enclosure to the dimensions of the lamp housing so that the top of the boards line up with the lip of the housing. I then drilled a dozen or so holes around the lip of the housing so that it could be screwed to the wood frame. I used caulk in the seam between the wood frame and the lamp housing to avoid any light leakage.

For venting, I used a 1.5" hole saw to drill a hole in the wood frame and I covered the hole from the inside with black window screen mesh, again to avoid light leakage.

Wiring: The lamp had a light sensor on the outside, I removed it and wired in an on/off switch, however you could just paint over it.

I also rigged some LED christmas-type lights around the inside of the enclosure for moonlighting. These lights plug in separately to my digiatl timer.

Remember to paint the inside of the enclosure with flat white paint for good reflectivity. The lamp housing can be painted black with Krylon Fusion.

Mods, feel free to move this to the DIY section if you feel that is more applicable.

Check out the pics attached below.