Cheap DIY lighting idea?

[CatatonicBug]

Ok, I just thought of something here in my basement, but I need your opinions on the idea. I am all about cutting corners to save money, and I like to build things, especially wood and electrical, so I thought of a possible inexpensive lighting solution.

The big rage for home lighting now is the CFL bulbs, with the spiraled element that screws into a standard light socket. I mistakenly bought a set of 2 of these, with a 6500K rating, and the light is horrible in my house, but just might work for an aquarium! Each bulb is 26 watts, and I have a 47g tank, so if I could arrange a set of 4 small standard light sockets under a DIY hood with a reflector, do you think that would be a good light source for my tank? I looked at ballasts and stuff to make a T8 fixture, and Home Depot doesn't sell anything higher than a 5000K T5 bulb, so I thought I'd look at this as a possibility. What do you all think?

 

[rich311k]

It has been done. It will work nicely. Do to the re strike because of the twisted bulbs you do loss light, but they will light up the tank nicely. You will want to put in some kind of reflector to offset any kind of dark spots and maximize the light.

 

[neilanh]

Exactly what Rich said. This is a decent DIY solution that can work. The reflectors are the key.

 

[CatatonicBug]

It has been done. It will work nicely. Do to the re strike because of the twisted bulbs you do loss light, but they will light up the tank nicely. You will want to put in some kind of reflector to offset any kind of dark spots and maximize the light.

What's a re-strike? Is that the inverted V behind the bulb in the reflector?

 

[rich311k]

Since the bulbs are twisted some of the light strikes other parts of the bulb and does not shine into the aquarium.

 

[CatatonicBug]

Since the bulbs are twisted some of the light strikes other parts of the bulb and does not shine into the aquarium.

Oh.. hehe.. I thought I was being told to "do the restrike". As in, create a device called a re-strike. Now I get it! I think I have a project for this weekend! Thanks!

 

[Critterlovr]

What is your desired result, to save amps or to use what you have?
I recently found (on ebay of course) some led units in a tube for cheap. They burn 11 watts, contain 100 led's and have the approximate output of a 100 watt bulb. Since I needed to replace the existing bulbs anyway, I decided to rig them (2) up under the reflector over one of my 75's to see how they looked and was quite surprised. It may not be hot enough for a planted tank but for show, it looks fantastic. Hopefully, the 100,000 hour lifespan of these will save me a buck or 2.......

 

[CatatonicBug]

My desire is to save as much money as possible, and get enough lighting for my 30" deep tank to grow plants in. Even the idea of spending $30 on a lighting fixture that's only 20" long seems a bit crazy to me. I can't seem to find a multi-tubed flourescent fixture at my LFS, and the bulbs are super expensive. I know my 15w, 18" fixture is way too little, and I want to ramp it up without spending too much. I can build a screw-in fixture with 4 sockets for under $20, using the stuff I have and as long as it will work, I can also say, "I made that!"

 

[LazySlacker]

Something like that will definitely work. I have implemented something similar in my own 10 gallon aquarium. I used an old-ish incandescent lighting fixture and just screwed in 2 Coralife 20W CFL bulbs, colormax variety. I lined the inside with aluminum foil. I only had to spend about $18 on the two bulbs and now I have 40W in my 10 gallon tank. It looks really nice. Some people have said the colormax bulbs are too warm in color but I disagree. It makes my tank look more alive than it looked when I had a single flourescent bulb. When they first come on they're very warm but as they stay on longer the color cools down noticeably.