DYI Lighting on the Cheap

[Jahm]

Hello, all! I need some advice on lighting my 55 gallon tank. I want to add some LPS corals and don't have the lighting I need. I'm also poor so the cheaper the better :D. I'm leaning to wards T-5 lighting mainly because of cost. The biggest question I have is how much light do I need? In terms of actual light output, I mean. Before you say 3-7 watts per gallon, understand that using that rule of thumb results in vastly different amounts of light depending on what type of light you use (ie LED's, Metal Halide, T-5's, etc). If anyone can give me a lumens per inch or per gallon guide that would be awesome. Also what would be the problem with using a couple of regular CFL's at 6500k for my daylight spectrum and like 4 T-5's with either 50/50's, actinic's, or half and half. I can mount it high enough to get the needed spread and it would be way cheap. If I get unwanted growth, I can easily lower the daylight spectrum by going with smaller bulbs rather than having to change fixtures. I would be able to the cfl's on one circuit and two 2-lamp ballasts each on their own circuit, creating a poor man's light controller. Thoughts, comments, or suggestions?

Much thanks,

Jahm

 

[bjohanson1234]

The 6500k CFL lamps won't provide the right spectrum for growing corals and will just create nuisance algae.

IMO, if you are wanting to do this cheaply, you will save money if you do it right the first time. I think you would be better off saving money until you can buy a proper light than trying to hodgepodge something together that you would need to change when it doesn't work right.

If you are looking fort5 lights, look for a fixture with 4-6 lamps. These lamps will need to be changed every 8-12 months. If you want to save over time, go for an LED set up. They should last for 10+ years without any lamp changes.

After some research, I got this LED lamp(will be getting it for Christmas). There are tons of options for LED, not saying this will be the best. IMO it is a good balance between performance and price.
Kessil A150W Special Blend LED Aquarium Light

I think 2 of these would work over a 55 gallon. If these aren't powerful enough, they have a more powerful version that is also dimmable.

Kessil Tuna Blue Dimmable Special Blend LED Aquarium Light

Others will also chime in with their opinions.

 

[Ted]

Another thing to take into consideration is what are you wanting to keep. My tank is mainly zoahs and shrooms so I went with a 4 bulb t-5. If you are looking at sps, claims etc you will need to go MH or led. I dont understand the led lights to be honest. A 55 is narrow much like my 45 so a 6 bulb t-5 wont really work in my opinion. 6 bulb Fixture is just to wide. The light I am using is from aquatraders and is cheap, some people dont like them but I have not been let down by any of the lights I have bought from them. This is the third tank light I have bought (different tanks) and have also purchased pumps, skimmers hob fuge. Here is a link to the 48 inch version of the light I have (mines a 36 inch) Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

 

[Northstar24]

CFL bulbs won't penetrate the water deep enough to be of any use. For many of us in the hobby, lighting was the most expensive purchase. Take your time and do your research so that you buy the right fixture up front, that is going to be the easiest way for you to save money

As far as 'Ratings' or 'ratios' go, lumen per inch is about as useless as watts per gallon. If you are looking at T5 fixtures you'll want either a 4 or a 6 bulb fixture with individual reflectors for the bulbs such as the Current Nova Extreme

 

[Jahm]

Thanks for the advise so far. I agree that doing it cheap won't be cheap if not done right. So, you don't need any lighting in the 6500 spectrum? Okay, I can scrap the CFL's, no savings anyway if I can't use standard bulbs. I'm still leaning towards the t-5's, though after calculating the cost of changing lamps over the life expectancy of the LED's makes the case for LED's more compelling. But I know the manufacturing cost on LED's will be going down dramatically over the next two years, particularly in 2014 when they quit manufacturing standard bulbs. I don't know how much of that will translate to savings in the aquariam market, but we'll see. This is a starter/learner tank so I think I'm going to stick with T-5's till I step up to a new tank. I'm not buying a fixture though, I'm going to build it from scratch. I can use standard ballasts and ends and save money without losing anything. The bulbs are the only thing that need to be specialty. I take it HO's would be the way to go with T-5's.

 

[bjohanson1234]

check out Buy Light Bulbs from the Web's #1 Lighting Retailer | 1000Bulbs.com you can get inexpensive ballasts from there. Also, I would highly recommend waterproof end caps if you get the regular ones, you risk a fire when salt gets on them. Also, you can get reflectors for the lamps.

Honestly, I would price everything out before you purchase. It might be cheaper to buy a prebuilt one.:twocents:


As far as LEDs go, just a few years ago, you couldn't even think about getting into them for less than 1000 dollars for one that covered a 2 ft tank.

 

[Jahm]

Yeah, the further along I get into this, the less the savings I'm seeing, but I still think I can get more bang for my buck. I plan on sealing the lights behind arcylic in the hood. One of the things I hate is the amount of light that's lost from the cheap plastic on my current lid. I plan to enclose this into a hood that will allow me to have the lights about a foot from the the tank and won't lose any light to reflection. If it's sealed on the bottom and vented through the top/back do you think I'll still need the waterproof end caps?