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My inexpensive CFL light solution

248K views 289 replies 118 participants last post by  PlantedRich 
#1 ·
I was PMed recently about my lighting setup after seeing one of my pictures on the forum. I guess not much attention has been given to the clamp shop-light approach so this thread is simply to show what can be done with them. I know many people may know about this, and I am not taking credit for the original idea, just wanted to share a cheap, effective method of lighting a planted tank.

Ok, here's a shot of my tank before we start-


For my tank I decided on three 9 inch clamp on lights from home depot. These are super cheap-usually around 6-10 bucks each. I found them in one of the electrical isles, not the lighting isle, as they are intended as work lamps.


The great thing about this is it accepts cfl bulbs with the normal light bulb socket. I went with 5000K 19w bulbs because I couldn't find any 6500's. Once I find them I'll make the switch though.


There are a lot of options with this method, such as hanging them from one pipe of pvc, and wiring all three together, or as I did, just sit them on top and use a short extension cord to plug all 3 into a timer. Once I'm done with my wasser-controller I'll set these up to come on and off one after another to mimic sun rise and sun set.



Hope this may help some of you who don't want to spend lot of money on lighting,

Matt
 
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#2 ·
I think that's an excellent option. Some might not like the visual aspects, but it has a bit of a steampunk feel to it. :biggrin: Definitely cheap and effective.

Is that a 29gal tank?

Since you mention the Wasser-Controller, keep in mind that with the DIG 8006 you can only run up to 2 things at the same time (unless you double up on the controllers).
 
#3 ·
Wasserpest- thanks for the positive feedback! I was surprised when a member pled me saying they never had seen this before. I can't remember where I saw this but I thought it was more common. Works excellent for me, and i kind of like the look. It grew on me. Regarding the controller- check out my thread about using a different irrigation controller that allows up to 8 zones active at a time, network scheduling, ect. Really awesome find
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/152882-networked-wasser-controller.html
Matt
 
#21 ·
#8 ·
Perfect! I'm going to start with 2 26 watt 5000K's over my 100g stock tank I just set up and tweak it from there. Thanks for the link, Kevmo- I was looking for that yesterday and couldn't find the fantastic data... I forgot you have to scroll down to find it!
 
#11 ·
I use these on a turtle tank. I greatly prefer the clamp lights menards sells. They use a different clamp and it sits on the tank much better. Works great from "nano" tanks as well.

I can'd find a picture of one so I will ahve to take one later. the Clamp looks "cleaner" than the normal ones, too.
 
#13 ·
#12 ·
I just set up something similar over a 10 gallon. However, I went with a 15 watt LED (4900K) from Home Depot. It is very bright, but I think I will need two of them for the 10 gallon. At $37 each, it is a bit expensive, but should last a while, and, I think they are sealed off from moisture better than the CFLs.
 
#17 ·
I have these clip on light setup on the majority of my tanks. Very cheap but strong light. I usually just clip the lights on to the back rim of the tank with some of the clip below the water surface.
 
#18 ·
Cool to hear other people have been using this with success. I removed the clamps since they wouldn't hold the light at the right angle for me. For now they sit on my versa tops until I get the Ada style light bar up above this tank. Than I'll suspend them from that and maybe go topless
 
#20 ·
#23 ·
I just added a fourth shop light above my 30 gallon tank- looks much better, less of a spot light effect. I still for some reason don't mind the look of the domes on top, kind of an industrial look. I still cant wait to get a bar to hang these on though as it's a pain to take them all off the cover when I want to open it up... Anyone else want to post some pictures of this set-up? I'd love to see what other ideas are floating around here.

Matt
 
#24 ·
Here is my version of it for my 29G. Most of the wood/hardware I already had so it has been very inexpensive. It is setup for 3 lights but I only have two in it now. I have wired the two lights into one plug that will go into a timer.



I drilled holes into a piece of plywood. I had to chisel the plywood to make it thinner so that the shades could fit. The plywood fills the space that the clamp usually attaches to the light. Each light has a little ridge that won't fit through the hole so that is how they won't fall through.



Attached to the plywood is 3" wide pine boards to make it look nicer. I would suggest going with at least 4" boards since you can see the wire sticking out the top of the light.

I then used chain that I bought at Home Depot to hang it from the ceiling. I have some S-hooks in the middle so that it is easy to raise and lower the lights.
 
#30 ·
Moose- every time I see that tank I drool... I really like the matching black domes and the trim...
Here's some recent shots of mine:


Looking back, I wish I had taken the clamp off the far left light before taking pictures! I screw it back on when I am doing work in the tank, that way I can hook it on to the end and see what I'm doing.

And a nice shot before the big trim, showing the domes:
 
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