T12 40watt Shoplights?

[Ogrt48]

I was looking for something decent but cheap at home depot to use to light my 55g. I found a 48inch long shoplight which is the perfect size so I bought it. It was only $8.00 It uses 2 hallogen lights, T12's 40watts. Are these fine for the aquarium. I have no plants, just sand and fish. It seems to light it up really nice.

 

[simonbrown403]

They should be fine, i have three 25 watt halogen over a 150ltr aquarium, the only problem with them is they do get hot, so they need to be a distance away from the aquarium and they give off a large proportion of blue light that will promote algue.

 

[SkiFletch]

I was looking for something decent but cheap at home depot to use to light my 55g. I found a 48inch long shoplight which is the perfect size so I bought it. It was only $8.00 It uses 2 hallogen lights, T12's 40watts. Are these fine for the aquarium. I have no plants, just sand and fish. It seems to light it up really nice.

I'm confused... T12 refers to a certain thickness of flourescent fixture, which is not the same as a halogen, so a bulb cannot be T12 and halogen at the same time. If it was an $8 shoplight, its a T12 flourescent. In that case, you shouldn't have overheating issues, but watch out in the summer depending on how hot the room gets. You might want to set the bulbs off the tank a bit. As for quality of light, they're fine and dandy for viewing only (no plants)

 

[Ogrt48]

I was looking for something decent but cheap at home depot to use to light my 55g. I found a 48inch long shoplight which is the perfect size so I bought it. It was only $8.00 It uses 2 hallogen lights, T12's 40watts. Are these fine for the aquarium. I have no plants, just sand and fish. It seems to light it up really nice.

I'm confused... T12 refers to a certain thickness of flourescent fixture, which is not the same as a halogen, so a bulb cannot be T12 and halogen at the same time. If it was an $8 shoplight, its a T12 flourescent. In that case, you shouldn't have overheating issues, but watch out in the summer depending on how hot the room gets. You might want to set the bulbs off the tank a bit. As for quality of light, they're fine and dandy for viewing only (no plants)

Ah thanks guys. Opps, I meant flourescent, I dunno what I was thinking. I don't really plan on having live plants, most likely fakes.

 

[impmonkey]

I run one of those fixtures over my 65, but I put two 6500k daylight bulbs in it and it has really upped my plant growth.