diy lighting

[[email protected]]

I got a 75 gallon freshwater thats got a mixture of flourite and gravel
with all live plants.

currently i know i am way under lit...my dad is making me a nice wooden
hood to replace the perfecto light strip.

i want to wire up a better light setup for my live plants and possibly
an LED moonlight setup..

what is the best way setup that i can possibly peice together maybe with
parts from a local home center or LFS???

i am very handy and can wire about anything, however I am not too
familier with the various types of aquaria lighting....nor do i know
what I will need for my 75 gallon tank.

any ideas would be a huge help thanks!!!

[Michael]

Go with 4 compact fluorescent bulbs (two double bulbs). I assume a 4
ft. length. Use 96 watt bulbs at 6700K and you should be good to go.

wrote:
> I got a 75 gallon freshwater thats got a mixture of flourite and gravel
> with all live plants.
>
> currently i know i am way under lit...my dad is making me a nice wooden
> hood to replace the perfecto light strip.
>
> i want to wire up a better light setup for my live plants and possibly
> an LED moonlight setup..
>
> what is the best way setup that i can possibly peice together maybe with
> parts from a local home center or LFS???
>
> i am very handy and can wire about anything, however I am not too
> familier with the various types of aquaria lighting....nor do i know
> what I will need for my 75 gallon tank.
>
> any ideas would be a huge help thanks!!!

[Richard Sexton]

In article >,
> wrote:
>I got a 75 gallon freshwater thats got a mixture of flourite and gravel
>with all live plants.
>
>currently i know i am way under lit...my dad is making me a nice wooden
>hood to replace the perfecto light strip.
>
>i want to wire up a better light setup for my live plants and possibly
>an LED moonlight setup..
>
>what is the best way setup that i can possibly peice together maybe with
>parts from a local home center or LFS???
>
>i am very handy and can wire about anything, however I am not too
>familier with the various types of aquaria lighting....nor do i know
>what I will need for my 75 gallon tank.

You're really not gonna save any money buying stuff retail and
cobbling it together. What you probably want to do is find a place
that sells used office equipment and buy some light fixtures.

Shoot for CFL (Compact fluorescent) bipin tubes - U shaped and
T5 diamater. Next best would be T8's, and if all that fails use
regular old T12 fixtures.

Take them apart, stuff them into your canopy and you're done.

Used fixtures usually run about $10 ea or so.

--
Need Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

[Tristan]

That is true. I bought 19 jewelery display cases from J C Pennys when
they closed a store and relocated to another new store. I pickedup
nice glass cases with a varied assortment of ballasts sockets
switches, and bulbs. I use the glas for lots of projects (tanbks,
fuges etc) and stocked up on the ballasts which mmost are electronic.
MOst all had Power compact bulbs and electronic ballasts and some
cases even had timers on them. So check display cases that are often
thrown out behind department stores you never know. Its nice getting
ballasts that are like new and dirt cheap. Oh, I only give 12 bucks
each for the majority of ther larger cases.

On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 14:16:33 +0000 (UTC), (Richard
Sexton) wrote:

<<>>In article >,
> wrote:
<<>>>I got a 75 gallon freshwater thats got a mixture of flourite and gravel
<<>>>with all live plants.
<<>>>
<<>>>currently i know i am way under lit...my dad is making me a nice wooden
<<>>>hood to replace the perfecto light strip.
<<>>>
<<>>>i want to wire up a better light setup for my live plants and possibly
<<>>>an LED moonlight setup..
<<>>>
<<>>>what is the best way setup that i can possibly peice together maybe with
<<>>>parts from a local home center or LFS???
<<>>>
<<>>>i am very handy and can wire about anything, however I am not too
<<>>>familier with the various types of aquaria lighting....nor do i know
<<>>>what I will need for my 75 gallon tank.
<<>>
<<>>You're really not gonna save any money buying stuff retail and
<<>>cobbling it together. What you probably want to do is find a place
<<>>that sells used office equipment and buy some light fixtures.
<<>>
<<>>Shoot for CFL (Compact fluorescent) bipin tubes - U shaped and
<<>>T5 diamater. Next best would be T8's, and if all that fails use
<<>>regular old T12 fixtures.
<<>>
<<>>Take them apart, stuff them into your canopy and you're done.
<<>>
<<>>Used fixtures usually run about $10 ea or so.



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

[Larry Blanchard]

Richard Sexton wrote:

>>i am very handy and can wire about anything, however I am not too
>>familier with the various types of aquaria lighting....nor do i know
>>what I will need for my 75 gallon tank.
>
> You're really not gonna save any money buying stuff retail and
> cobbling it together. What you probably want to do is find a place
> that sells used office equipment and buy some light fixtures.
>

I made a tank light by using one of those bathroom fixtures that use several
bulbs in a row. Six 15 watt screw-in fluorescents gave me 90 watts for a 40
gallon tank. I made the hood enclosure from plywood.

I got the fixture at a garage sale for $5. The bulbs were about $30, IIRC. A
3 prong cord was $6-$8. The plywood I had. I did buy 3 "moon" LED lights at
retail, but that's not a necessity.

DON'T try this unless you have electrical experience. Find a friend who knows
what they're doing. Electricity and water can be a deadly combination.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

[[email protected]]

A&H supply has the 55 w PC lighting kits that are very easy to assemble
a simple box can be made to house things, these fixtures anda
reflectors are well worht the $ and they have great service.

Regards,
Tom Barr

www.BarrReport.com



wrote:
> I got a 75 gallon freshwater thats got a mixture of flourite and gravel
> with all live plants.
>
> currently i know i am way under lit...my dad is making me a nice wooden
> hood to replace the perfecto light strip.
>
> i want to wire up a better light setup for my live plants and possibly
> an LED moonlight setup..
>
> what is the best way setup that i can possibly peice together maybe with
> parts from a local home center or LFS???
>
> i am very handy and can wire about anything, however I am not too
> familier with the various types of aquaria lighting....nor do i know
> what I will need for my 75 gallon tank.
>
> any ideas would be a huge help thanks!!!