generic equipment

[so238]

Argh! People say no one really reads the aquaria.tech newsgroup, my post
there never got answered and here's the 2nd best place to repost...

Some of us know that much equipment packaged and marketed for us
aquarists is overpriced, and cheaper generic industrial/home DIY
versions are available. Therefore we grow plants with shoplight
fixtures, etc. Is there any other generic equipment available that's
cheaper than the aquarium-market equivalent? For example mercury/halide
lamps?

Sebastien

[RedForeman ©®]

|| Some of us know that much equipment packaged and marketed for us
|| aquarists is overpriced, and cheaper generic industrial/home DIY
|| versions are available. Therefore we grow plants with shoplight
|| fixtures, etc. Is there any other generic equipment available that's
|| cheaper than the aquarium-market equivalent? For example
|| mercury/halide lamps?
||
|| Sebastien

For metal halide, there's no substitute, meaning, there is no cheaper... A
construction friend, who has a tank, priced MH for me, and in an aquariam
trade, it's cheaper by 5% than it is in the construction trade....

--
| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
| ==========================
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[Tom]

"so238" > wrote in message
...
> Argh! People say no one really reads the aquaria.tech newsgroup, my post
> there never got answered and here's the 2nd best place to repost...
>
> Some of us know that much equipment packaged and marketed for us
> aquarists is overpriced, and cheaper generic industrial/home DIY
> versions are available. Therefore we grow plants with shoplight
> fixtures, etc. Is there any other generic equipment available that's
> cheaper than the aquarium-market equivalent? For example mercury/halide
> lamps?
>
> Sebastien


Are you just curious about generic "lighting" or does it have to be MH
lighting?

About the cheapest way to get the most lumens for your money is by
overdriving normal output flourescent bulbs. There is tons of info
available on the subject, so I suppose you already know about it.

Tom

[Spyder2x]

"Tom" > wrote in message
news:U1N3d.20057$wV.14948@attbi_s54...
>
> "so238" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Argh! People say no one really reads the aquaria.tech newsgroup, my post
>> there never got answered and here's the 2nd best place to repost...
>>
>> Some of us know that much equipment packaged and marketed for us
>> aquarists is overpriced, and cheaper generic industrial/home DIY
>> versions are available. Therefore we grow plants with shoplight
>> fixtures, etc. Is there any other generic equipment available that's
>> cheaper than the aquarium-market equivalent? For example mercury/halide
>> lamps?
>>
>> Sebastien
>
>
> Are you just curious about generic "lighting" or does it have to be MH
> lighting?
>
> About the cheapest way to get the most lumens for your money is by
> overdriving normal output flourescent bulbs. There is tons of info
> available on the subject, so I suppose you already know about it.
>
> Tom

Maybe So238 knows about it, but I don't.....here I come Google...

--Jim--

[so238]

[snip]
>>Are you just curious about generic "lighting" or does it have to be MH
>>lighting?
>>
>>About the cheapest way to get the most lumens for your money is by
>>overdriving normal output flourescent bulbs. There is tons of info
>>available on the subject, so I suppose you already know about it.
>>
>>Tom
>
>
> Maybe So238 knows about it, but I don't.....here I come Google...
>
> --Jim--

I'll look at that one, sounds interesting but didn't know about it.
I was thinking about other sorts of generic equipment--example: heard of
pondkeeprs using 'industrial' pumps that were 2/3 price of pond pumps.
Although come to think of it there are few other things likely to have
generic equivalents.

Seb

[Tom]

"so238" > wrote in message
...
> [snip]
> >>Are you just curious about generic "lighting" or does it have to be MH
> >>lighting?
> >>
> >>About the cheapest way to get the most lumens for your money is by
> >>overdriving normal output flourescent bulbs. There is tons of info
> >>available on the subject, so I suppose you already know about it.
> >>
> >>Tom
> >
> >
> > Maybe So238 knows about it, but I don't.....here I come Google...
> >
> > --Jim--
>
> I'll look at that one, sounds interesting but didn't know about it.


Sorry, thought everyone in the world had heard about that. :)

This will get you started. It works perfectly. I have two setups running
ODNO (Over-Driven Normal Output) lights at present, one overdriven 2x and
one at 4x. In future, I'll probably just use 2x units as it seems to get
the most bang for the buck and almost normal tube life.

http://www.plantedtank.net/odno.html

....and here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48133

....and here:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=194

That should get you going. I'm surprised everyone does not use this
technique with their flourescent setups if they need the light.

Tom