lighting

[brndfrb]

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I am going to do salt water and right now i have a 36'' florescent light you know the one that comes with the tank. I am not trying to spend hundreds of dollars on a light so the guy at my lfs told me to buy a double hood and keep my single and use two actinic white and one actinic blue bulg. well the double hood is like 130 dollars. what can i do to save some money?? Please help me

 

[kidafius]

if you are doing fish only, you should be alright with some cheap florescent lights. If you do ANY corals or anenomes or some of the other critters with LR and stuff, you probably just have to shuck out the dogh.

I would ask Anenomeman. I think he is using some yard lights from HD. They are super bright and only like $35 or so. He'll have more info on those than I do.

also, check out ebay and www.hellolights.com for some good prices on good lights.

 

[fishtender]

I Had a similar prob when I set up my 55g. I got creative. I measured the top and had four pieces of glass cut and hinged two together length wise They fit perfect on the top. Then I went to the hardware store and found a double bulb shop light. I purchased the correct bulbs and was still had enough room for the original strip light to fit up top. A little contact paper for the faux woodgrain look and 'voila', a much improved lighting system for under 50 bucks.

That worked for a while. Since then I have added many inverts that are requiring stronger light. I just had to order lights again. My great idea was only a short term fix. If you plan on including species that require strong light it may be more advantageous to by it now.

I am happy with the route I took but that does not mean it will be practical for you.