Home Depot Shop Lights info - Aquarium Advice

snorkel · 10-15-2005, 11:15 PM

Hi,
I recently got a 75 gallon and decided to try a shop light from Home Depot,
I went down and they had some low end ones for 7 bucks with electronic ballast and a intermediate one for 16 bucks, the 16 dollar one actually has a metal cage on the bottom and fit perfectly on the 75(just looks ugly) with no modification, the grate kept it off the class top slightly.

I checked out the ballast and it was the same as the cheap 7 buck one. I purchased two phillips sunshine t8 bulbs (5000K) and they were really bright and made the tank look great. Now here is the deal, these cheap shop lights had a slight buzzing from them, but you had to be withing a foot or so to hear it. I bought the shop light as a tempory setup until my triple tube strip light arrived from Big Als(the shop light is now in my garage over the work bench

Anyway, I got the All-Glass strip light and it looks great, but I can honestly tell you internally it is pretty much the same as the shop light, it makes the same slight buzzing and the output from the exact same bulbs I had in the shop light is exactly the same, the cheap shop light had no problem driving the bulbs.

The point I am getting at is the shop lights from home depot can be a good choice if you want to take the time to slightly modify them so they look good. If I was to keep it I would have painted it black and removed the pull chain switch with a rocker type or push button one. Also some end caps would need to be made, or you could just pull the guts out and put them in a wood canopy/hood or even a section of rain gutter with end caps.

I really think that the shop light with the sunshine bulbs (5000k) would be able to grow some plants without problems, it was really bright.

Snorkel

greenmaji · 10-16-2005, 03:38 AM

they would have strained to be enough light for low light needs plants.. over a 55 gallon it would have done fine for the same purpose.. Overdriving the individual bulbs would have made it more use for planted tanks.. a set of 2 of them with the approprate ballasts (4 4-F32T

are used over some peoples reef tanks or the equivilent in a canopy..

snorkel · 10-16-2005, 11:44 PM

Yep, but the major point is that the strip lights from All-Glass are basicly the same as the cheapo shop lights

I have 3 of the 5 dollar natural sunshine bulbs in my strip light now and it is super bright, but it is not substantially brighter than the twin tube shop light was.

Later,

Snorkel

10-15-2005, 11:15 PM	#1
snorkel Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Milwaukee USA Posts: 41 Images: 8	Home Depot Shop Lights info Hi, I recently got a 75 gallon and decided to try a shop light from Home Depot, I went down and they had some low end ones for 7 bucks with electronic ballast and a intermediate one for 16 bucks, the 16 dollar one actually has a metal cage on the bottom and fit perfectly on the 75(just looks ugly) with no modification, the grate kept it off the class top slightly. I checked out the ballast and it was the same as the cheap 7 buck one. I purchased two phillips sunshine t8 bulbs (5000K) and they were really bright and made the tank look great. Now here is the deal, these cheap shop lights had a slight buzzing from them, but you had to be withing a foot or so to hear it. I bought the shop light as a tempory setup until my triple tube strip light arrived from Big Als(the shop light is now in my garage over the work bench Anyway, I got the All-Glass strip light and it looks great, but I can honestly tell you internally it is pretty much the same as the shop light, it makes the same slight buzzing and the output from the exact same bulbs I had in the shop light is exactly the same, the cheap shop light had no problem driving the bulbs. The point I am getting at is the shop lights from home depot can be a good choice if you want to take the time to slightly modify them so they look good. If I was to keep it I would have painted it black and removed the pull chain switch with a rocker type or push button one. Also some end caps would need to be made, or you could just pull the guts out and put them in a wood canopy/hood or even a section of rain gutter with end caps. I really think that the shop light with the sunshine bulbs (5000k) would be able to grow some plants without problems, it was really bright. Snorkel

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10-16-2005, 03:38 AM	#2
greenmaji Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: May 2005 Location: Central Kentucky Posts: 5,937	they would have strained to be enough light for low light needs plants.. over a 55 gallon it would have done fine for the same purpose.. Overdriving the individual bulbs would have made it more use for planted tanks.. a set of 2 of them with the approprate ballasts (4 4-F32T are used over some peoples reef tanks or the equivilent in a canopy..

10-16-2005, 11:44 PM	#3
snorkel Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Milwaukee USA Posts: 41 Images: 8	Yep, but the major point is that the strip lights from All-Glass are basicly the same as the cheapo shop lights I have 3 of the 5 dollar natural sunshine bulbs in my strip light now and it is super bright, but it is not substantially brighter than the twin tube shop light was. Later, Snorkel