45g Tall tank aqueon hood 6 bulb cfl light strip

[Lunas]

Ok I tossed 6 18w cfl in a light strip they are too hot and the abs started to soften yeah a metal gutter would probably solve all my issues but no I am going to work with what I have...

First up ill switch to 13w bulbs dropping my light down a bit the 6 18 watt lit the tank up nicely but I'm thinking I might need a fan to push air into the top ill be putting a 12v source in for my moon lights but I'm thinking a small pc fan on either end of the hood or in the back...

 

[goofster]

Looks really nice. I can't wait to see how it performs.

 

[Lunas]

it took about 6 hours running to soften the plastic I maybe able to get by putting smaller bulbs in and the current bulbs might be ok with a fan...

 

[bankruptjojo]

there is a very good t8 option at home depot. the dimond plate reflector really helps this fixture give a high par rating. I have one about 22in for the substrate on 2 10 gallon sitting next to each other and plants are doing great, I deff suggest this fixture.

here is a link to fixture....


here is a link explaining par and in that link they have already measured the par rating of the fixture I suggested. its under the t8 par measurements. link....

 

[Lunas]

there is a very good t8 option at home depot. the dimond plate reflector really helps this fixture give a high par rating. I have one about 22in for the substrate on 2 10 gallon sitting next to each other and plants are doing great, I deff suggest this fixture.

here is a link to fixture....


here is a link explaining par and in that link they have already measured the par rating of the fixture I suggested. its under the t8 par measurements. link....

This is viable for home but the one I am currently working on is a tank I own in the lobby of the hotel I work at. I wanted it to be planted but the stock 24" t8 made for slow growth and over all almost too low light. The owner/boss would not say OK to the shop light. Also no home depot in my area humm this does give me an idea how to protect the plastic more been thinking about reflectors I could get mirror glass cut then glue it to the inside... I'll post an update after I put 13w bulbs in and run them for a while.

 

[bankruptjojo]

why no shop lights? looks? can you build a canopy for it?

yeah some chrome or something that can handle the heat. I do like your build but those plastic reflectors suck anyways. keep in mind that the reflector is one of the most important factors in how strong your light is going to be.

 

[Lunas]

I could build a canopy and that might even look better in the lobby but I would need to do it with hand tools and I thought of it but to mod the top that came with the tank was more reasonable for me to undertake at the time I may still build a canopy at some point as doing so does interest me but not at this point in time.

In other news I just got off work and after 10 hours running the 13w bulbs were no where near as hot as the 18w bulbs I was using I doubt ill need to even put a fan in there for the 13w bulbs but likely I will anyway when I put the 12v power source for the blue moon lights in.

Another reason I was going with standard cfl lighting was the cost and availability of replacement bulbs to replace 6 cfl if I go to a local store is 14 dollars for 6 if I order them online I can get them for 1-2 dollars a piece the same can not be said for dual t8 for each bulb I would spend 8-9 dollars a piece locally and 1-2 dollars online with free-12 dollars shipping and soon sales tax on top of that.

The way I did it was the cheapest and most economical that looked good anything else I could have done would be more expensive.

 

[bankruptjojo]

glad to hear the other bulbs are going to work.

I think I got GE 6500k T8 bulbs at my local hardware store for only $10 for 2.

 

[Lunas]

My town sucks I have 1.5 hardware stores and walmart the hardware store I do have is a franchise hardware hank they drove the ace hardware into the ground ironic thing they were across the street from each other... I have 2 lumber yards though. The other place I have is runnings farm and fleet they did not have black diamond and generally don't carry the full hardware store assortment.

So the 3 places that carry fixtures and t8 bulbs are walmart, kmart, and hank's hardware.
sold in singles t8
walmart 8.67
kmart 8.99
hardware hank 12.99
sold in 2 packs
hardware hank 24.99
walmart doesn't carry
kmart doesn't carry

 

[bankruptjojo]

that sucks I also live in a town with not much lucky I'm not to far form the city.

 

[Lunas]

here is some pics with the lights off so you can see some of the stuff I did