Need cheap, effective (possible DIY) lighting for 125g

mikeb210

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 20, 2008
71
0
0
NC
I want about 2 or so wpg but I can't afford a light fixture that will fit. I have seen a few of the CFL incandescent replacement DIY mods, but is there anything else? Thanks for the assist!

-Mike
 

bgcoop8784

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 22, 2009
469
1
0
39
Augusta GA
go to home-depot and check out some shop light fixtures, they sell some that are higher wattage than others and just put the bulb of your choice in it, paint them black and they don't look that bad, then if you ever build a hood you can take them apart and use the parts in your hood, that's what i did.
 

mrunlucky07

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 19, 2007
375
0
0
VB
What the others said are two good ways. If you are trying to do it cheap shop lights are about the cheapest.
Walmart has a basic 80w electronic ballast 4' shop light for $10. There are some options to increase their output. If you look into ODNO (overdriven normal output) you can run 1 ballast per bulb instead of 2 bulbs so you are getting almost twice the light from one bulb. Its pretty easy with the walmart lights since the ballast is part of the endcaps. One shop light then gives you 160w of light in theory, I measured it to be closer to 130w with t8s though. Home depot has 6500k natural daylight bulbs for $5 a pair, which are good for plants. So for $50 you can have 2w per gallon of light with 4 tubes over a 125gal.
 

tscharf

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 17, 2009
1,291
2
0
Bowie MD
got to petsmart. they have small lights there that are effective and they have em in different colors. i dont know what there called but u buy the hub by itselft for 15 which has no lights and then u buy each of the lights seperate and plug them into the hub. there made for fishtanks and they have suction cups so you can mount the on the tops or sides or w/e. I have a blue one that i use to simulate lunar light but they also have normal white, green and red. Each hub can hook up 3 lights. But there nice because you can buy as many or as few as you need.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store