tank lighting

[basslover34]

I have those same strip lights on one of my tanks (small Planted tank in the kitchen) for moon lights... they work amazing (not horribly bright but WAY better than most I've tried)

 

[iwiied]

can anyone comment on these light , i'm trying to setup a 180 gallon the elcheapo way as well, using the same exact light that the op is using except i put 2 of those fixture so they wil over lap in the middle.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=230305007804

 

[basslover34]

can anyone comment on these light , i'm trying to setup a 180 gallon the elcheapo way as well, using the same exact light that the op is using except i put 2 of those fixture so they wil over lap in the middle.

Works well... so in the true spirit of a cheapo (like me) "GET ER DONE!"

 

[mrunlucky07]

Wall mart has 4' electronic ballast shop lights for under $10. If you want a little more light out of them look up ODNO, (over driven normal output) Its where you run one ballast to each bulb instead of splitting the output. So you end up with each tube giving almost double the light output. The 6500k t8 double bulb packs are $6 at hd. So for about $25 you get a 4' 120w t8 light. Pretty cheap and effective.

 

[LemonHead]

Wall mart has 4' electronic ballast shop lights for under $10. If you want a little more light out of them look up ODNO, (over driven normal output) Its where you run one ballast to each bulb instead of splitting the output. So you end up with each tube giving almost double the light output. The 6500k t8 double bulb packs are $6 at hd. So for about $25 you get a 4' 120w t8 light. Pretty cheap and effective.

I did a search but couldn't come up with an answer.
I plan on doing the same set up but looking for 30" set-up, are there such sizes?

 

[mrunlucky07]

I did a search but couldn't come up with an answer.
I plan on doing the same set up but looking for 30" set-up, are there such sizes?

I know with the walmart lights you can cut down the fixture to whatever size you like because the ballast/endcaps are one unit and slide off. I cut down a 48" fixture and ran it with 36" bulbs for awile.

You can also go this route for elcheepo, Its a 24" 104w PC that cost me about $20 and is very easy to build.

http://www.cichlidforums.com/showthread.php?t=26789&highlight=104w

I have had it on a timer 10hrs a day on my planted tank for over a year with no complaints.

 

[CichlidFanatic]

$10 Shop light from walmart with $6 in bulbs from HomeDepot.
cheap and it works great over my 110

 

[snake_charmer]

Would I be able to just lay these on top of the glass without any negative results from heat? I'd also maybe like to spraypaint it black so it's less noticable.