Disbelief of lighting costs

[tsonnenl]

I'm currently cycling my 72 gallon tank and am looking in disbelief at what its going to cost me to light it adequately to make it planted. What I'm looking at now is buying a 48" twin tube fixture(~$80), two 110W VHO lights(~$30 each), and a ballast kit(~$150-200?).

Is that realistic? I can't believe anyone could justify spending that kind of money to go planted vs. unplanted. Sure, a planted 72g would look awesome, but so would a 2 inch high stack of $20's sitting next to an unplanted one.

Also, is there a good FAQ about ballast kits out there? I haven't had much luck searching for info on that.

I'd also love to hear any creative suggestions on how to do this without spending a ton. The only thing I'm inflexible on is the fixture. Aesthetics is why I want to go planted, so to sacrifice looks just above the tank seems hypocritical.

Thanks for all input.
Todd

 

[fishfreek]

Build your own fixture.

The cost of the bulbs is an ongoing cost. Just so you put that in your budget. Look at www.hellolights.com for ballasts. Some cheap ones run less efficent than some of the highe rquality and more expensive ones.

Trust me you want one that is effecent. Something you have not factored is the cost of electrcity. For example if you had an effecent ballast that took lets say 120W to light at 110W bulb then you would be using 240W of electric to light 220W of bulb. Now if you had a less effecent ballast that might use 130W per bulb then thats 260W. Over the period of a month and year that difference can really add up.

Lighting costs are the #1 expense when it comes to aquriums that need high light like planted and reef tanks.

You might also want to look at powercompact florecent lights. You get more light per watt with them vs VHO.

 

[Bearfan]

I'm a big fan of my powercompact florescent lights in my 72 gallon. They also don't run as hot.

 

[tsonnenl]

Its not the 80 bucks for the fixture that's the problem though. Its the ballast. I'm still not finding anything describing what to look for in a kit, or what is involved in attaching it to an existing fixture. Can you fit a kit to a standard All-Glass twin tube fixture, for example?

I'm ashamed to even ask it, but what would the result be if I just went with the NO tubes, aka 80W. I know it will be less than ideal, but what exactly are we talking about, assuming I go with mostly low light plants? Less than ideal growth? No growth? No chance of sustaining life?

 

[tsonnenl]

Bearfan, can you tell me more about your PC setup? Did you build your own fixture? I have a single tube fixture already, and now I'm thinking about squeezing 2 PC bulbs in there to make it work. Do you still need a ballast for PC bulbs?

 

[justDIY]

tsonnenl,

I'll be building a 2x 96 watt PC fixture this upcoming weekend, assuming eveything arrives in good shape!

although I haven't received my parts yet, I don't expect there to be any problems

I ordered all my parts from reefgeek.com, under $100 for the ballast, lights, sockets... ( have to admit, the lights were on a great sale $19.95 for a 6700k 96watt, down from $35.95)

the ballast I chose is a Fulham Workhorse 7 ... it's probably not the most efficient ballast out there, but from what I've read it does pretty good and is very flexiable, driving everything from old school t12's to new fangled t5ho's, plus everything inbetween

as far as efficency vs efficacy, as long as I get the bulbs as bright as safely possible, I'm happy ... if a 'cheap' ballast costs me an extra $50 a year to run but saves me ~$200 up front, I'll take the hit in the power bill ... a slow bleed is better than taking a big hit up front

check out their configuration system, you tell it what type and how many bulbs you want to run, and they recommend which ballast(s) you can use, and how to wire them

www.fulham.com

finding cheap light is like a quest for the fountain of youth, it's not possible, at least, not in the States ... bulb selection appears to be the biggest problem ... bulbs that are the color temps desirable for aquariums are only available through hobby related retailers, and they know this, hence you spend $20 to $50 for a single pc bulb, and $75-$300 for MH bulbs

ballasts are something I personnally don't by into the 'hype' of ... sure Icecap, JBJ, Customsealife and others sell very expensive ballasts for the 'hobby', but I've used traditional commerical lighting ballasts from GE and Sylvania without any problems, so what if they're not 110% efficient ... besides, how can something take in 110 watts, and put out over 120 worth of light, not to mention all the 'waste' that is heat generated by the bulbs and ballast, where are the laws of physics?

good luck in your search, I'm happy to help with whatever I can