Diy Cfl lighting

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invisiblekid00

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
9
Location
michigan
I have a tall 29gal with a few low-med light plants and the generic cheap hood light finaly craped out on me(light sockets corroded and such). My money saving plan is to build a simple wooden hood and mount four e26 sockets with 6500k cfl bulbs(should be able to do it all for $20-$30)

I'm just wondering if anybody on here has done any similar projects and share any experiences. Is this a good idea or bad? Pros or cons to this setup? Suggestions on wattage?(60w?100w?brightness)



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Don't add too much wattage unless you want to add CO2.

I would think 60-90 watts TOTAL would be safe ???

I only have little tanks, so with talker tanks I'm not sure what's best.


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That brings up another question. Do i go off actual wattage or wattage brightness(13w cfl = 60w brighness)?

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My guess is acual wattage as it corrolates with regular florescent bulbs... But I've been wrong before... Lol

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Brookster123 said:
I have a 4 socket light that will fit the hood if you want it. I converted the standard florescent housing..
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306848
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Click to expand...

Thats a great idea. I'll take anything for free. Or I may just convert mine. The picures in that thread look very similar to my tank setup. Does that seem to be enough light?

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Cool idea, I think I'll try this with some of my tanks. One question tho do you think that this setup will produce better lighting then tube lighting for a tall tank like a 20 hex?
 
Beauty of cfls is you pick the power..

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My main concern with this tank is light penetration. ( the tanks depth is 18") If I used CFL's in a tank of this depth should I invert them or would they be fine at a horizontal angle?

Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread Invisible kid but this question may also help answer part of your question to.
 
Fishey bricks said:
My main concern with this tank is light penetration. ( the tanks depth is 18") If I used CFL's in a tank of this depth should I invert them or would they be fine at a horizontal angle?

Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread Invisible kid but this question may also help answer part of your question to.
Click to expand...

I would think as long as the bulb has reflective material behind it to reflect as much light as possible to the tank it wouldn't matter what orientation the bulb is in. And no you're not hijacking. I'll take any info on cfl lighting to get the most "bang for my buck".


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Thanks for all the info guys(or gals). It's been helpful. I've gutted the old hood lamp preping for cfl... Should be a fun project.

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pittbully13 said:
Here's a good thread on spiral cfl par data The Planted Tank Forum - View Single Post - PAR Data-Spiral Power Saver Bulbs, lighting question

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Click to expand...

pittbully13 said:
Cfl are most effective vertically, but when mounted in a hood like yours, they are best horizontally for aesthetics and safety. Post #80 shows my diy fixture Pittbully's planted tank journey - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community

Pittbully's planted tank journey

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Click to expand...

Thanks Pittbully for those links, these will be a great help when I start setting up my next tank
 
Oh, and there is one more top related question. Sense some of the tanks that I have, that I am getting ready to set up don't have tops. And I can't seam to find any glass the right size. Would reptile screens work, or can you think of any thing that would work better? All I need is something to support the lights.

Thanks for the input.:)
 
Fishey bricks said:
Oh, and there is one more top related question. Sense some of the tanks that I have, that I am getting ready to set up don't have tops. And I can't seam to find any glass the right size. Would reptile screens work, or can you think of any thing that would work better? All I need is something to support the lights.

Thanks for the input.:)
Click to expand...

Personally I would not use reptile screens because theres no splash protection. Most hardware stores sell panes of glass in various sizes and thickness and will likely cut it to size for you or you can cut it yourself with a glass cutter (they will likely have those too). I'll be replacing the glass strip my new cfl lights will sit on when I'm done building them. I took the hood off to scrub the water stains off and pushed a little to hard... Cracked it right down the center... DOH!... Lol

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