cheap lighting for small tanks...any sugestions ?

[sid 201]

I've got a 60*30*30 tank I'm planning to use .

Ive knocked up a lid and am looking at the lighting before finishing ,at the moment i'm testing a 8w fluro sealed work light in there-which is ok -just!! :-?

I was thinking of fitting two energy saver type bulbs in the lid instead (they should fit)

-my main concern is the holder/wiring-would this be safe (for people and fish) in possibly a highly humid/damp enviroment.

I'm planning to visit the local electrical wholesalers early in the week to see if theres any thing suitable for either this or to build a small fluro set up in to the lid .

Some of the light's Ive seen in the shops have been in the $50-$65 region and as this tank is only(hopfully) for the short term I'd rather put the cash towards the bigger tank

If theres any other tight wads out there who have rigged up dirt cheap & SAFE lights in their tanks-how'd you do it?

[Caryl]

I always have glass or perspex between the water and the lights.

[sid 201]

Ah ...should have added there'll be a clear lexan(perspex)cover on top of the glass tank-with a small lift off pannel for feeding and maintenance

[SNOWKIWI]

Hi Sid, If you are going to use lighting supplied at mains voltage, I would suggest that you use an R.C.D. to supply the lights, then, if your lights get too damp or worse fall into the water, you and your fish will be safe from electric shock.

[meesheelly]

go to bunnings or mitre 10 mega.

There are lead lights and other things thta can be modified cheaply

[alanmin4304]

You would be better off with bulbs as a 2 ft flourescent wont normally fit into a 2 ft lid and a 1 ft is not enough light for plants.

[AMAZONIAN]

Hi Alan

Go to the "WAREHOUSE" they have a cheapie portable flourescent which I am sure you can adapt as easily as I did. :roll:

Suits a 24 x 12 x 12 just purrrrrfect. :lol:

Cheers

Errol

[AMAZONIAN]

:oops: :oops:

Sorry that was supposed to be a PM.

[SpidersWeb]

hah no way

I wanted to hear that too!

Off to the warehouse it is this weekend is 'tank lighting'. I've got 5 4ft T8's to install and wire up but gotta get decent lighting for my baby tanks too (which are also handy for growing young plants).

[sharronpaul]

We have used energy saver lights from the supermarket. They come in a variety of colours, and the ones we found were 6400k cool whites. In one tank, we manage to get around 100w of flourescent ligt for maybe $35ish inclging the batten holder fittings from mitre 10.

Just our 2 cents.

[sid 201]

We have used energy saver lights from the supermarket. They come in a variety of colours, and the ones we found were 6400k cool whites.

just rigged somthing like this this evening after work-doing a test now to see how hot thw tank lid gets. :roll: as I kept it as low as i thought I could get away with-about 2.5 inches above the top of the tank

will paint the lid over the weekend -should be good-I'll post photos when Ive got it all together

[richms]

Arlec battern holders $3 each (I think) and cheap energy savers are 5 for $9.99. Add some 2 core flex and a plug (or butcher an extension cord to save a few $$

[sid 201]

just need to add heater and fish....

[SpidersWeb]

Where did you get the light fitting from?

EDIT: I see Dick Smith Electronics has them in their catalogue now, nevermind!

[richms]

Where did you get the light fitting from?

EDIT: I see Dick Smith Electronics has them in their catalogue now, nevermind!

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... duct/M7026 - much cheaper at bunnings if you can.

Also the energy savers like that put out a lot less usable light watt for watt then a long linear fluro since a lot of the light hits itself. Thats why the "20w=100w" concept is totally flawed with those things.

If you go to the warehouse you can get 23 watt 6500k lights in the elite ones, they are $3.99, just read the packs because most are 2700k which is crusty orange.

[sid 201]

The fitting itself came from bunnings-the holder to attach to the lid I made at work from some scrap stainless,lamp and lead from the Wherehouse.

total cost less than$20, lid & base Mdf+scrap wood about $10 including paint

[Aaron_fish_mad_guy]

I get cheap $6 Fluro inspection lamps with really long leads from bunnings... I get 4-5 at a time, they last 5-6 months blow . I just replace them. Works for me and they are sploshproof , whatever splosh is ha ha But its on the packet!

[shiuh]

hi guys i have many of this inspection lamp here for sale $4 ea Brand New still in original wrapping.

good for moderate lighting.

refer to this picture here where i DIY my own

or the article regarding the whole setup here.

http://www.guppy.co.nz/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=152

[richms]

Those inspection lights use a really inefficiant electronic ballast, built for cost, not performance.

You will find that they are like the cheap energy saving bulbs - 30 watts in for 20 watts of fluro lighting.

Better to get one big tube so there is just one ballast loss to worry about.

[AMAZONIAN]

If they are the "Ware Whare" :oops: (Warehouse) inspection lamps, they are value for money and they are cheap enough to not worry about one "Crapping Out", just throw it out and put another one in. 8)

As they are electronic ballasted they disipate very little heat and the top layer of the tank doesn't get over heated.

They are slightly better than "ENERGY SAVER LAMPS" due to the way they are designed.

I use them and they are clipped to the tops of the tanks with heaterstat suction clips. :lol:

Works a treat.

[quack]

yeah i have one of those cheapies. they work well for what they cost. and like you said if it does stop working just get another one.

[shiuh]

yea....nothing wrong with using cheapies...as long as they do the job, i have them all over my breeding setups...just to light up the tanks and fish, water doesnt get into them as they are properly sealed.......

btw....no much rise in power bill because they use so little energy.

[Robert Smith]

I've plugged this idea a few times. 12V metal halide. It costs almost nothing (<$20) and is only 12V so safe to wire up over a tank yourself.

See this post for more detail

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/non-fl ... html#67537

[richms]

I've plugged this idea a few times. 12V metal halide. It costs almost nothing (<$20) and is only 12V so safe to wire up over a tank yourself.

See this post for more detail

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/non-fl ... html#67537

They are not metal halides.

You can get some real 12v metal halides if you ask at a car certification place, since the retrofit kits that are so popular in japan are not legal in nz to use on the road, so they end up pulling them out and replacing with normal halogen headlights. A mate picked up 8 of them in various condition in excahnge for a tray of liquid gold.

However the bulbs in those have little reflectors etc in them to make them work with car headlight reflectors so the output is anything but even. Worked ok for garden uplighters which is what he wanted them for tho.

[Robert Smith]

Sorry, a slip on my part. These are tungsten halogen bulbs.

What makes them special is their high "whiteness" (3500K) compared to ordinary tungsten halogen. I assume that they run them hot to get the extra whiteness (compared to 2200 to 3200K for ordinary tungsten halogen). You could probably pump them even whiter with higher voltage, but life is bound to suffer. One good thing about tungsten halogen is the broad spectrum emission. They have a blue filter to remove the UV they generate.

Most importantly, they're small and cheap, cheap, cheap (~$2) and come in a range from 5 to 50W.

I've also tried compact 12V CCFL, which does give better light (5000K) but do not live up to their supposed "long life" and are not so cheap (~$20 each). They claim 17K hrs (5 years in my use cycle), but I replaced two sets after they died in only a month (took them back and exchanged them) and the most recent ones only lasted 6 months before they dimmed a lot and I just binned them.