Lights For The Poor

[CBBP]

Okay.. I noticed a lot of people here have problems getting lighting and the main problem seems to be that they need bigger tubes and thus a bigger hood or a whole new top which can be almost hundred bucks if not hundreds! So I thought about it and decided. I will just make use of what I have.

First off, the florescent lights that your tank currently has. If you noticed this thing is very big for such a small bulb. It is a total waste of space if you ask me. So I started off by taking the fluorescent light out of the current light cover. I then took a roll of metal Duct tape and covered most of the inside of the light hover. It is a mildly reflective surface that can easily be cut to fit the light cover dimensions and is decently cheap. I then disconnected the old plug and wire from the fluorescent assembly. I also removed the switch form the old hood. This gave me two holes to work with, I would need these. I had to I had to drill a bit to make it bigger for the light sockets switch fit through but it was not hard, just take a drill big that is almost as big as the hole, insert it, then swivel, this will ream the hole out big enough for your need. I then attached the light socket to it via one of the holes. I then looped the wires around and connected it to the old lights wire and plug. I then inserted the light bulbs. Ta da! I got the wrong bulbs.. haha…. I ordered these so yeah…

http/www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...&N=2030061&Ne=2

Pictures!!
http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/BTC...ls/32932da0.jpg

 

[TammyLiz]

Nice. I had considered doing something similar with my 10 gallon tank. It would bump it from 18 watts of normal output to 22 watts of high output flourescent light, right? How much did you spend on the socket and everything, by the way? And where did you get that little clip? Is the pull chain part of it?

 

[CBBP]

Nice. I had considered doing something similar with my 10 gallon tank. It would bump it from 18 watts of normal output to 22 watts of high output flourescent light, right? How much did you spend on the socket and everything, by the way? And where did you get that little clip? Is the pull chain part of it?

It is all part of the socket unit.. I foudn it at home depot.. you can probably do it online..

and it might boost your electric watt usage but it is light watts you want.. those bulbs use 11 watts but give off 40 watts of light. get it?

it cost me about $35 because the socket units were 14 a piece.

 

[CBBP]

Nice. I had considered doing something similar with my 10 gallon tank. It would bump it from 18 watts of normal output to 22 watts of high output flourescent light, right? How much did you spend on the socket and everything, by the way? And where did you get that little clip? Is the pull chain part of it?

It is all part of the socket unit.. I foudn it at home depot.. you can probably do it online..

and it might boost your electric watt usage but it is light watts you want.. those bulbs use 11 watts but give off 40 watts of light. get it?

it cost me about $35 because the socket units were 14 a piece.

no body liekd my idea huh?

 

[TammyLiz]

Yeah, if I bought another hood for a 10 gallon tank I'd do incandescent because of that. But I already have two flourescent ones.

For 35 I might as well totally replace the hoods with the incandescent ones, though. I can buy a tank with an incandescent hood together for $25 at petsmart. Then I'd just have to buy the bulbs.

Either way its cheaper than a lot of good lighting setups. But buying the one that's already done is easier.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

is it just me or are the bulbs you used yellowish ? what is the color rating for those bulbs ? cool white maybe hehe

 

[Discomafia]

I'm familiar with those compact flourescent bulbs, the energy saving ones. They should be 2700K...

 

[CBBP]

is it just me or are the bulbs you used yellowish ? what is the color rating for those bulbs ? cool white maybe hehe

Yes.. that is why I bought lights with a higher K. 10000 K now..