can i make a wooden canopy with some of them T12 (or is it T8 i cant remember) shop lights. i was thinkin of getting about 3 of them. id have about 180 watts i think. its the 48in shoplights you see at walmart like $10.
shop light canopy
- Thread starter austinpetemo
- Start date
Use T8 lights. The skinnier ones. They have more light output with same wattage used. If you can afford it, use T5 even better 
Just a little note, the ballast on those burn out QUICK I use them on two of my tanks and have replaced them 3 times in a year. I have started replacing them all with T5.
Did you also get them from walmart? I rarely go to stores like that, but i would say you get what you pay for. I bought 3 2x48 shop lights from our local hardware store three or so years ago and have had no problem. I saw lowes has black t8s on sale for 12-13 dollars. Might check them out. 48" t-5s are spendy but are nice. If you are on a budget go t8 but i wouldn't get them from walmart.
home depot sells 2 tube 48" t-5 shoplights for about $24 with the bulbs.Im using 3 now and they are great.measure about 2"x2"
my 125 and 55 gal tanks all have diy shop lights above. i mounted mine in plastic fence posts with one side cut out. the only issue is that most shop lights, and balasts dont offer much of an output. so if u want to go hight output later on for plants or something its not the best idea, at least thats my experience.
CWO4GUNNER
USN/USCG 1974-2004 Weps
One reason I stayed away from the 48" garage shop lights was the weight of the metal housings was a bit obnoxious IMO. The 24" plastic fixtures I bought at Walmart ($7.24) are actually made by "Lights of America" and only weigh about 1 pound each and the bulbs are easy to handle and I have never has a ballast fail yet, so light weight I just Gorilla Glue them onto the canopy. But I know allot of you are looking at light output which make me wonder why those folks don't just place their aquarium across from a sunlit window with heavy blinds to control exposure. The sun make the most awesome light compared to what bulbs put out. Oh and I swapped out the standard slightly fatter bulbs with the brighter 20W aquarium spectrum almost a year ago with no problems on my 120 tank. http://www.lightsofamerica.com/Products/7020.aspx
how many watts a peice are those little things tho? cuz i would like to max my wattage for minimum price.
i bought a 15 dollar 2x48" t12 from homedepot and replaced the ballast with a 4x48" one, and use t8 bulbs. puts out an impressive amount of light for being about 30-40 bucks for ballast and fixture. I've been happy with it, though I have thought of replacing the unit with a 4x48" t5 ho, but they are expensive.