what to look for in a 4 foot light and bulb

[paul_r]

wasnt sure where this should go

My 2 foot light blew yesterday, it was lighting for my 4 foot tank, i know wasnt really ideal but enabled me to see me fish, i have no plants or anything

All i want is a basic 4 foot light that will sit on top of tank (it has a lid)

anything anyone can recomend, how much can i expect to pay. the cheaper the better obiously, second hand is fine as long as it works

[Caryl]

I have two 4ft fluorescent lights (double) that are in reflectors and they just sit on top of my glass lid. The reflectors are old and are deeper than the tubes so when sitting on the glass, it is the reflectors on the glass, not the tubes. If you don't know what I mean I can take a pic if required.

They were bought from Mastertrade and the tubes are just bright white or daylight.

[paul_r]

ahh yes i see what you mean, similar to my blown light atm, it has a plastic guard on bottom of reflectors.

what sort of price can i expect to pay for a single or double 4 foot light unit? the 2 foot single one was enough for me, im expecting a 4 foot single will suit me perfectly as the 2 foot light did not cover all the tank (obviously)

[ryanjury]

Check on trademe and check your local building recyclers or even just hunt around, you should get a double 4ft probably with tubes for $20-30, most of mine were free, one I found in a skip when I was dumping rubbish others were just lying around and I was at the right place at the right time to take them off peoples hands..