suggestions for cheap lighting

i want to convert my 125g fish tank into a planted tank. right now, i have the
cheap flourescent tubes which came with the tank (34w) the fish store sells
high output strips for about 99$ each (need 2 for the tank size)....can i buy
these high powered bulbs at say a hardware storeand put them in my flourescent
light fixture? or is there a way to get good lighting cheaper?

finally, are there any plants that thrive on low light?

See economical lighting suggestions at my web site:
http://www.geocities.com/nguyenhg/

Yes, there are low light plants: Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias nana are
some.

Hoa

"SJS0678" wrote in message
...
i want to convert my 125g fish tank into a planted tank. right now, i
have the
cheap flourescent tubes which came with the tank (34w) the fish store
sells
high output strips for about 99$ each (need 2 for the tank size)....can i
buy
these high powered bulbs at say a hardware storeand put them in my
flourescent
light fixture? or is there a way to get good lighting cheaper?

finally, are there any plants that thrive on low light?

There are several methods you can choose to light up a large tank,
having plenty of room to fit lights on means you really don't need to
invest in compact flourescent technology at all, actually, you may
find you get terrible coverage compared to using several T8 or T12
fixtures you can buy at home depot or other places. One solution could
be to use regular T8 bulbs and fixtures, 6x32W tubes would probably be
a nice amount of light for a 125g. Otherwise using less tubes you
could overdrive the bulbs:
http://www.gpodio.com/overdrive_twin_strip.asp

If you choose to go with PCs, then http://www.ahsupply.com is probably
still the best around for DIY parts.

Regarding what kind of plants will tollerate low lighting, some of the
ones I keep are listed in this thread:
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.c...4&m=3756019464

Otherwise the Tropica site has a search feature that allows you to
list plants based on their light requirement. http://www.tropica.com

There are many to choose from, and 1WPG in your tank will grow much
more than 1WPG in a smaller tank.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

(SJS0678) wrote in message ...
i want to convert my 125g fish tank into a planted tank. right now, i have the
cheap flourescent tubes which came with the tank (34w) the fish store sells
high output strips for about 99$ each (need 2 for the tank size)....can i buy
these high powered bulbs at say a hardware storeand put them in my flourescent
light fixture? or is there a way to get good lighting cheaper?

finally, are there any plants that thrive on low light?

Many species of cryptocorynes do well at low light levels too.