au01st

OK, well being a college student on a budget, I stopped by Home Depot tonight on the way home from work. I see this nice 48" shop light with dual bulbs for $22, so I get it and some bulbs.

I've already test fit, and the housing fits perfectly over the tank and my AllGlass lids (bulbs don't touch anything, no lips overhanging, etc, perfect).

Is there any reason aside from heat why I can't use these, instead of 2 24" strips that will run me $90? I'm monitoring the temp very carefully, and will likely devise some way to raise the lights a bit in the next day or so, I was just tired of a dark tank. With only 1 bulb, this thing looks great.

32watts, 6500k is what the bulbs say.

au01st

Pic, FWIW

Chief_waterchanger

Looks good. As long as the heat isn't an issue I don't see any reason to not go the cheaper route.

Good idea, and very crafty.

au01st

Just checking. I'm going to get some kind of shelf mounts tomorrow to suspend the light 6-8" above the tank, as well as allow for a shelf, lol. I'm a pretty crafty and industrious guy (my room is littered with car parts, lol, so I thought the shop light would look perfect) and I guess a few years of engineering school have had side effects.

clinton1621

the longer lights probably wont be any hotter than two 24 inch lights... they might actually run cooler since they are not as enclosed as the 24's would be, they are the same type of bulbs that "fish tank lights" use anyway they just charge way more for them at the pet stores

au01st

OK, well after closely monitoring temps, it seems they rise about 1-2 degrees with the light on (possibly due to the heat from the magnetic ballast vs. electronic?) so I will have to get the light hung sooner than I thought. For now, I've taken the legs from a model rocket launch pad (angled triangles about 10" long with a steady slope to 3" at one end and they're open, almost look like frames) to allow the light to be raised off the tank some, so this should help. I will try and get the lights hung within a few days, depending on when I can get the supplies; I'll be taking measurements tonight. Also got my driftwood in today. I spent about 4 hours last night cleaning/boiling it. I put it in a 5gallon bucket, then used 2 large pots to boil water, poured the water in and scrubbed with a potato brush (new, not used), then let them soak. I did this every half hour for 2 hours, then the next two hours I simply poured out the old water and poured in the new water. The final go I let it sit overnight, and this morning, there was barely a slight hint of tannin. I decided it was not enough to bother me, and if it did, it would come out with water changes, so I went ahead and put it in.

You can see the pieces on the side holding the light up


Driftwood, you can also see some new inhabitants, the angelfish

au01st

Well, that still didn't lower the temps, so I removed the lid on one side and that seems to have done the trick, back down to 79degrees. I'll have to make sure not to bump the tank, but it should be good for now.

clinton1621

a 1 or 2 degree rise during the day is not bad.... it occurs naturally in ponds and lakes with sunlight and drops a degree or so at night.... maybe try lowering your thermostat on your heater a degree to keep it lower when the lights are on

au01st

I tried that, even had the heater turned down to 75, lol. I keep my house a little warmer (85 degrees) during the day because I have no trees surround it to provide shade so the a/c would run constantly if I had it at a temp comfortable for me. Just this past month, the bill was $320 and that's with those energy reducing bulbs, keeping lights off, etc, etc. It was just a hot month, usually it's around $220. The temps in both tanks were running right around 80 degrees and I actually had to put a fan on the 10 gallon because when I was cycling it, it was getting up to 84-85 degrees (no fish in it of course). Stupid southern heat...

I'm going to try and get the stuff to hang the light this weekend, hopefully have it done Sunday or Monday night...classes start Monday and I really want to have everything done before the first week is up and I have to start studying...won't have as much time for messing with this stuff...

Butterfly

I have a white one just like it suspended from the ceiling over one of the 55g and it works great
Some one here used very nice decorative Brackets to hang one but I can't remember who it was.
carol

au01st

I found some stuff on sale at Target, decorative hooks and chains, and they're on clearance. The hooks are $1 each, and the chains are a 3' length for $1. So, $6 for that stuff and I hope to work on this tomorrow morning (got plans tonight). Total cost right now with 2 bulbs and everything is looking to be around $35, much better than what I was looking at with a pre-made hood.

Butterfly

My shop light came with bulbs
Carol

au01st

Mine did to, but they were very yellow, so I used 6500K.

Butterfly

Cool!