DIY lighting - anyone have experience?

[rvadog]

I need 2-3 lights for my ever expanding fish room. I'm not growing any plants. I think it should be relatively cheap to build my own LED lights but not sure where to start. I can do some easy wiring and soldering if that helps.

Alternatively, is there a cheap way to light display tanks.

 

[twentyleagues]

After purchasing all the bits and pieces and putting in the time in labor and design, it'd probably be cheaper to go with led shop lights or strip lights. Especially if you are not growing plants. If you were doing plants or had salt and were doing corals I'd say it may be worth the investment to build your own. To just light fish that's to much money and time.

Oh and btw cheap led 4' shop lights at most big box stores run about $25-$40 and will grow plants. Usually look pretty good too with a pretty standard 5000k spectrum.

Led strip lighting on a roll isn't to expensive either. Lots of kits out there some even come with wifi control. The wifi ones typically also allow you to control light spectrum or create custom colors, set on off times, and allow you to dim them.

 

[ADawson23]

I built this setup with all amazon parts. I might have $80-$100 bucks in it.

 

[Chet E.]

Sylvania makes a candelabra bulb in a "daylight" color which uses less than 6 watts. I use one bulb to light a 20g tank adequately. Two would be better. Four might be too much. The water sparkles very nice too. It's like a mini metal halide. They cost about $5 each. The socket is about the same, a cord, a switch, ... Wish I could buy it premade!
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I've converted my old incandescent aquarium fixtures by using a socket adapter. Very easy. (I attached a picture with two bulbs over a 58 gallon.)
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After building a fixture having a dozen of these bulbs to light a 54 gallon corner aquarium I found it was definitely too bright when all the bulbs were on at the same time. The cost for that fixture really added up too! In the end I found two bulbs were plenty.
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[fishguy1978]

LED shop lights from HD or Lowe's are super cheap and work really well. Or Beamsworks on Amazon are fairly reasonable. I have 2 fixture made from rolls of Current USA LED strips and they are way to dim. I use them on my L. Tanganyika tanks.
I have this fixture in my garage and over my 29g rack. You can daisy chain up to 9 fixtures.

Commercial Electric 4 ft. 64-Watt Equivalent Integrated LED White Shop Light Linkable 3200 Lumens 4000K Bright White 5 ft. Cord Included 54103191 - The Home Depot

Commercial Electric's 4 ft. LED Linkable Shop Light is designed to replace outdated fluorescent lights with crystal clear energy-efficient LEDs. For quick activation, use the pull chain for an easy grab.

www.homedepot.com

Current USA lighting below:

 

[twentyleagues]

I built this setup with all amazon parts. I might have $80-$100 bucks in it.
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What are the projector lamp style ones?