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Cheap lighting option?

8K views 52 replies 8 participants last post by  Boredomb 
#1 ·
I been trying to find a fixture to use for my 40gallon breeder tank. The dimensions are as follows 36x18x16. This will a planted tank so need something that will work well for them. I was trying to find a dual T8 fixture in that size but haven't had any luck. I did find some T5NO fixtures that size but they are just a little to expensive and just a few more dollars and I could get a T5HO for it. I don't really want to go that route so was wondering if anyone had some ideas what I could use?
 
#29 ·
Yes your right that's a little more technical then I think I am capable of doing. My question is what could you gain from doing that? Also let me say this. This is what I am wanting for this a tank. A light fixture capable of given me medium lighting or just a little more. I just don't know the best way of doing this with least amount of money (If that makes sense). I just don't know how to achieve that?
 
#30 ·
I have read that one thread you wrote today and some others about the gutter fixtures and pretty sure I can do that. Seems straight forward enough. Which is why I was thinking about doing that but if that's not going to give me enough lighting. Is there something else I can do along those lines?
 
#31 ·
Well gain would depend upon what bulbs you are running. The 13 watt CFLs I have cost me less then a dollar each. I'm not totally up to date on the cost of ballasts but $10-20 sounds right for a single or dual T8 bulb ballast, PC and T5 ballasts cost more. Ballast is often the most expensive part of the fixture. They are also pretty bulky. These real ballasts generally have a pretty long life of 5-10 years. The 'driver' above would probably last a year or two before you would have to replace it. A lot would depend on how you wire it. It gives you free range over the amount of energy you put into a bulb. Its a little difficult to explain, but a 4' NOT8 produces 28 watts a 4' HOT5 produces 54 watts. The only real difference between these two is the amount of energy going into the bulb. The same goes for any bulb though. Usually referred to as overdriving. The overall efficiency goes down and so does bulb life.

Basically what I'm saying is you could take a $1 extension cord, the proper wattage CFL, and a T8 and get it to light. You could overdrive the bulb or underdrive it to you liking. Everything on a whole will be more compact. You could probably use NOT5 bulbs the same way.

That 13 watt driver actually had no problem lighting a 15 watt T8 though its under driven a little. And it light it better then the All-glass hoods do.
 
#33 ·
I have read that one thread you wrote today and some others about the gutter fixtures and pretty sure I can do that. Seems straight forward enough. Which is why I was thinking about doing that but if that's not going to give me enough lighting. Is there something else I can do along those lines?
The gutter fixture with just vertically mounted spiral compacts should give you enough light if you can get around 100 watts of CFLs in there that will put you in about the middle of the medium light range IMO. It would be pretty simple. Just remember reflectors. Doing things cheap is one thing, but being cheap to the point were you loose light output is another. All fixtures should have a reflector even if it tinfoil or something.

As far as what I have been showing in the last few posts, its an option if you want to cheaply run some type of bulb other then spiral CFLs like power compacts, T8's, or T5's.

That's interesting but how safe would that be on the long run?

Well how it is in the pictures isn't safe at all as its just held together with electrical tape and those wires are not even rated for that high of a load...lol. Done properly and within reason there isn't a risk as long as you keep humidity down.

I said 'within reason' as risk can go up a great deal if you overdrive. I frown on overdriving a bulb as in the end its generally not worth it. Its done more often then it should be but you take a dual T8 fixture and rewire it to overdrive a single bulb, that bulb gets double 'watts' than its suppose to but actual light increase is only going to be about 50%. It also shortens bulb life, increases heat, reduces efficiency, and there is a risk of the bulb breaking. So as long as you stay within reason and don't go buy a 30 watt CFL and hook it to a 15 watt T8 things should be fine.

Wattages don't match up exactly, but using a 18 watt CFL for a 15 watt T8 isn't a big issue. For certain bulbs this may actually have to be done. It will be easier to say once I've played around with it some more. As bulbs get thinner I'm pretty sure they need more voltage, thats why a T8 fixture doesn't light a T5. It may take a 20 watt CFL to properly light a 14 watt T5. If your over-driving its going to get a lot hotter than normal. The T8 I hooked up is underdriven so its going to stay much cooler then normal. Its been on for an hour and its barely warm to the touch. Though its a 15 watt bulb its probably only producing 10-13 watts.

Once I've played around with it some more I'll make a thread with more certain explanations and some DIY/step by step. Wiring is a lot easier then it looks. Ballasts and drivers are really forgiving on wiring. You can rearrange wires in different ways and it will still light. Theres more combinations that work then don't work. Even if you have no idea what your doing you can likely still wire a light just through trial and error.
 
#38 ·
Mikaila you say that mounting the spiral lights vertically is tie best ways as it has less restrike that way. Also they won't fit vertically in a rain gutter. Well I was thinking what if I made a hood for the tank that the rain gutter would fit in plus lifts the lights up higher to be mounted vertically. I know they would still hang down a little lower that way but would it work? Also mounted like that I could use the aluminium roll in the rain gutter and probably some on the underside of the hood for reflectors. In your opinion would this work?
 
#39 · (Edited)
Yeah that would work. This is the big downside to using CFLs. You get more light out of them mounted vertically, but there are not many fixtures they can fit in vertically....

I use CFLs over my paludarium and one tank. All are mounted horizontally. It is less efficient but the tank is only 12" deep. It also has a lot of wattage. Its a standard 15 gallon with 2x13 watt CFLs and a 15 watt T8 it has essentially 3wpg. Probably more now since I modified the T8 a few days ago and its likely being overdriven now(even though I recommended not doing that lol). This however is an example of how flawed the WPG rule can be because I run that tank as low-tech. My high tech tanks on the other hand has 2wpg and 2.75wpg and are hard to manage long term without CO2 and fertilizers.

Also I'll probably make this more frustrating but mounting spiral CFLs vertically in the hood with the base up is going to have a significant impact on their lifespan. That position puts the ballast in the worst possible place because its going to get very hot.

I've been playing with CFL ballasts for a couple days now. So far I've been really liking my idea of rewiring these. Though I have gotten mixed opinions about it elsewhere. I rewired that T8 fixture to see how long that ballast lasts. Though it should last a reasonable time considering costs and it also runs cooler then if it was in the CFL. I expect at least 2 years out of it. You were originally thinking NOT5 bulbs and if it was me I would go this route if your local menard's or similar carries the 2 pack in the 6500K option like mine does. It would require wiring the CFL ballasts to cut costs. In my tests I had no problem lighting a 28 watt 46" NOT5 with a 26 watt CFL ballast. Issue here is it was underdriven and I never did test how many watts it was actually running at. If you are actually interested in this option I can test a 21 watt 34" NOT5 with a 23 watt CFL ballast too see if you are actually getting 21 watts out of the bulb. I suggest this method because including the cost of the 6500K 46" NOT5 bulb I could light it for $15 using just local supplies. It would just need to be mounted in the gutter with reflectors. Mounting the bulb would be the only difficult part is I've no clue were to get T5 endcaps or bulb clips locally. You can always source them online though. I would actually redo my CFL fixture to run NOT5s using this method but Menard's only had the 6500K bulbs in 46" or 34" options. I need 22" bulbs:-?.
 
#40 ·
I havent had the time to go to lowe's or home depot this week to actually check out my options as to what is available here locally as I have not had a day off in 10 days. I plan on going this weekend though. I not sure what bulbs they carry right off hand either. I wouldn't mind doing the NOT5s if they have them. I know they carry T8s as I get them for my 55 gallon fixture there. You would definitely have to walk me through this step by step though because like I said that's way over my head. LoL. When I find out for sure what I can get I can get back with you on my options.
 
#41 ·
So I was looking on the internet last nite to see if I could find the end caps and the clips and this what I found. Aquarium Lighting End Caps - Aquarium Light Bulb End Caps Fluorescent Tube End Caps and Connectors for all types of fluorescent tubes including terry clips
Not sure if these are what you were talking about or if they will work or not. I am going to go out here in a little bit to see what I can find locally.
 
#42 ·
Yeah sorry seems the term 'endcap' is more specific to aquarium use. You just need sockets like these. They are on most all t8/t12 light strips where you insert the tube then twist it so it snaps into place. Then it comes down to if you have the fixture exposed to the water as condensation is gonna shorten the life span of a lot of your materials. As long as there is some sort of moisture block like the tank lid if you have one then it will be much better.

I couldn't find anyone selling T5 clips that are not plastic so I wouldn't bother with the clips.

Best I can do with the T5 and figuring out its output is to compare it to other bulbs I have which are not T5s. I can't use any watt values as those are not going to correlate to actual light output. I've just been using my camera to see how much light gets thrown onto a piece of white paper in a dark room.
 
#43 ·
My opitions locally

I made to Lowe's and Home Depot today. I couldn't find any T5 sockets like that in the photo. This is the only thing I could find.
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Auto part

But I think those are for T8s or T12s?
Then I looked for fixtures for the size tank I need in T5s well Home Depot had one.
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Wallet

The fixture was $30 so not too bad but the only lights they had for this is a Soft white bulb. There is also an issue for me on how to wire it up? There is a couple of other stores I can look at for bulbs themself but didn't have a chance to make it there today. Any thoughts in this fixture will it work?
 
#47 ·
Has anyone used one of these fixtures Coralife Freshwater Double Aqua T5 Strip Are they any good? Would this be okay for what I am wanting?
I have these on several of my tanks. The tanks came with them. They are a little lacking on the deeper tanks. My planted 100 gallon which is 60" has 2 of these 30" T5 fixtures plus a 48" T-8 and I am able to grow low light plants.

The bulbs for the fixtures aren't cheap and I haven't found grow bulbs locally that fit.
 
#45 ·
That fixture from home depot would work, but I would completely take it apart and remount it without the metal frame in a rain gutter. In the end you still need to swap the bulbs on it which I why I would try the CFL ballasts. The only real thing you gain from the T5 fixture is its ballast and endcaps. And your right about all the endcaps you found they are T8 or T12. T5 you will likely have to buy online. As far as the bulbs if anyone has them Menard's does. Most the other stores have just up till 4100K bulbs. I've only seen the 6500K at Menard's.

Your looking for this just 21 watt size.


Wired the above lights to a 26 watt ballast I took out of a CFL. Wiring is pretty simple but if your wiring experience is pretty much nil it may be challenging. If you have or know anyone who has a soldering iron it would be helpful.


I know a trick to skip the use of endcaps/sockets, but the connection is not quiet as good. Its harder on T5's too since their pins are so close together. Mainly though you need some way to mount the tube to the hood and most commonly thats done with the sockets. Unless you can fashion something to clamp around the bulb itself, or to slide back off the ends and release it. IMO its not the wiring thats hard its the mounting of the bulb to some sort of housing lol.
 
#46 ·
Ok so I will order those sockets you posted in your last post. I will also have to go looking at a few more stores looking for bulbs. LoL I have never heard of Menard's until I heard you talk about them. Well I look to see where the closest one to me. Evensville IN which is 250 miles away from me. So yeah going there is not an option. LoL
I will see if I can get a chance this week to go look for some bulbs.
 
#49 ·
The coralife fixture would be adequate and is generaly considered a good brand. T5 bulbs usually run around $7 each or more HO bulbs often cost more.

The last fixture that was posted is too much light IMO. Long term it will be hard to manage. Its also the wrong kinda bulbs so you would want to change those. Then its also really thin which may look cool but also indicates a loss of performance. You need room to reflect light.
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#50 ·
When you say adequate I know they would work but would they be enough for middle lighting?

Also I looked at the one HO fixture and didn't like it and also saw it had the wrong bulbs. To honest I want to say away from HOT5's anyways.
 
#52 ·
I don't think it would put you in middle light. Again due to it being very a very slim fixture. It took some googling but I found its dimensions and its a mere 1" high. But before you go buy endcaps I would first find bulbs locally. I suggest reading this as it will help you with estimating what kinda light you need and what type of fixture will get you that. I would emphasis the importance of the third figure and how exactly they classify reflectors. It doesn't matter if you end up buy a fixture or building one. How it is designed is just as important as its wattage and bulbs. This is why in my retrofit thread I went into detail on how to bend the reflector. Also ideally you want the bulb at least an inch away from the reflector.
 
#53 ·
I've read that thread and my high school education just isn't enough for me to fully understand that. Basically it goes over my head Mikaila. I've got bigger problems to deal with now then worrying about lighting. As my truck just broke down and I have no way to fix it. I am afraid I am going to have to take a break from doing anything with my aquariums other then wc and feedings. Thanks for all that you have done Mikaila!! I truely appreciate it!! Also am sorry you have done all this messing with T5s and Cfl ballasts for nothing. Hope you can fixture out how to make it work your benefit.
 
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