Shop lights for a planted tank?

[247Plants]

I used 2 of the dual bulb 48" shop lights on my 60 gallon for a total of 160 watts. I have found I get noticeably better growth with 110 watts of cfl.

Not to say the shop lights didnt work, I grew a ton of stuff under them. and I paid $9.99 per unit and $20 for 4 of the 6500K bulbs for them at walmart.

 

[Alan R]

I will be setting up a 55g planted tank in the very near future. I have read here that you can use shop lights from home depot for lighting. The fixture that I found is 48 inches long and has a metal skirt (for lack of a better word) around the top of it. It will hold 2 48" T8 bulbs. If I bought this fixture along with plant growth bulbs, would it be ok? Would I have to make any modifications to it? At a total of $40 including the replacement bulbs, it's about $75 cheaper than the fixture I was planning on buying. Also, what would be my best option for T8 bulbs?

I got the same set up just a lot less at Walmart. $10 for the 48" shop light and about $12 for 2 T8 6500k daylight bulbs. My plants took off when I got this and are doing great. However, be mindful there is a down side to everything, the algae in my tank has exploded. I'm not saying this is the best option. All i am saying is it is cheap and it does work. Like MG said though, you get what you pay for. I believe this to be the most cost friendly solution.

 

[laurenrocksth]

Cool. I think that I'm going to try the shop light thing first. If it works out, awesome and I just saved myself $100. If not, I'll chock it up to a learning experience and buy aquarium lights only in the future.