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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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#234 ·
Great topic. I just upgraded my lighting setup on my 90 gallon this weekend. I wanted a cheap alternative. So I went to home depot. Bought two of the white hanging light fixtures for 50 bucks each. Cut some pvc to make it look like a solid setup, painted it black and plugged in 2 100w 6500k 1450 lumen cfl bulbs. I hope I have enough light now.
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa195/Phatman420/Mobile Uploads/20140511_214444.jpg
 
#235 ·
Great topic. I just upgraded my lighting setup on my 90 gallon this weekend. I wanted a cheap alternative. So I went to home depot. Bought two of the white hanging light fixtures for 50 bucks each. Cut some pvc to make it look like a solid setup, painted it black and plugged in 2 100w 6500k 1450 lumen cfl bulbs. I hope I have enough light now.
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa195/Phatman420/Mobile Uploads/20140511_214444.jpg
This is going to be an extremely low light setup. I doubt that you will be able to grow much beyond directly below your fixtures. A 90gal tank is a DEEP tank, and the amount of light that reaches the bottom is very little. Especially when using spiral CFL bulbs; the shape of the bulbs themselves mean that much of the light output is lost in "restrike" rather than being directed down into the tank.

I hate to tell you this after the work you put into this really nice-looking setup, but you would have much more usable light with dual rows of T8 bulbs than with this design.

IMO, trying to light LARGE tanks with spiral flourescents is usually a waste of energy. Strips of flourescent bulbs provide much more usable light per watt and overall better light coverage throughout the tank.
 
#240 ·
Just wanted to pipe in with my own setup using 5 CFL fixtures on all 3 of my planted tanks.

The lamps used are the typical walmart ones that come in black. I was kind of apprehensive since the fixture is supposed to handle 13w max, but I went ahead and put in a higher wattage bulb anyway :hihi:







I think I can grow anything with this setup on my 20 Long (also running 2x2 liter DIY co2 - soon to be replaced with paintball setup).
The lamps on the left and right run 26w GE 6500K bulbs @ 1600 lumen.
The middle lamp is a Great Value 19w @ 5000k and 1300 lumen.

The 20 High has a Jebo power compact fixture running 48w and I include the lamp with the same 19w bulb for an extra boost for about 2-3 hours per day once I get home from work.

3 gallon on top is running a 14w Great Value bulb, 5000k @ 800 lumen. The pearlweed has already started to carpet after a week :D
 
#249 ·
Just wanted to pipe in with my own setup using 5 CFL fixtures on all 3 of my planted tanks.

The lamps used are the typical walmart ones that come in black. I was kind of apprehensive since the fixture is supposed to handle 13w max, but I went ahead and put in a higher wattage bulb anyway :hihi:

I think I can grow anything with this setup on my 20 Long (also running 2x2 liter DIY co2 - soon to be replaced with paintball setup).
The lamps on the left and right run 26w GE 6500K bulbs @ 1600 lumen.
The middle lamp is a Great Value 19w @ 5000k and 1300 lumen.

The 20 High has a Jebo power compact fixture running 48w and I include the lamp with the same 19w bulb for an extra boost for about 2-3 hours per day once I get home from work.

3 gallon on top is running a 14w Great Value bulb, 5000k @ 800 lumen. The pearlweed has already started to carpet after a week :D
Your rack frightens me, the amount of bowing you have on those shelfs + that tank on the side with no support to corners. You love to live dangerous dont you?
 
#242 ·
Here's my 20H grow out tank with DIY Co2. I use it to propagate cuttings and experiment with different things. CFLs have worked great. Had 23 watt bulbs for a while but they were a little too bright. Now using 18 watt 5000K Ulitech bulbs from Lowes.

Some pics from various stages -


Recent (18watt bulbs)





Initial set-up (23watt 5000K Ulitech bulbs)




1 week later

 
#243 ·
Hi,

I am running 3 x 32W CFL 6500K bulbs over a 50G tank. Tank is 35cm (13,7") tall, lights (lower rim of pendant) is at 55cm (21,6") from substrate.

I run pressurized CO2 (bbs beyond count), dose EI, run a 2000LPH (520GPH) sunsun filter on a spray bar at the long side of the tank. Substrate is clay (cat litter).

I can grow plants, but I am struggling with Eleocharis Parvula, cannot get it to carpet. I already "killed" a batch, I am on my 2nd attempt. Its been planted in mid November 2014. Only a few runners. I can see other people achieving a full carpet in less than 2 months... :(

I have just about finished the close enough par meter and will be taking readings soon.

But still, this begs the question: should I rule out light being a problem here?
Ideas & suggestions welcome.

 
#244 ·
First of all what a nice looking set-up you have! Im no expert on dhg, but I wonder if it needs a more nutrient rich substrate? I recently grew a nice little patch in 100% sand, (medium to high-ish light, EI, CO2). It just sat there for a couple of weeks in a state of slow decline, until finally I stuck a bunch of loose balls of Osmocote+ underneath the entire area. Did them one at a time with tweezers. Few days later it started taking off.

I would think you have enough light, but again Im no expert. Very interested to see what your PAR readings are though, please post them when you can.
 
#245 ·
First of all what a nice looking set-up you have! Im no expert on dhg, but I wonder if it needs a more nutrient rich substrate? I recently grew a nice little patch in 100% sand, (medium to high-ish light, EI, CO2). It just sat there for a couple of weeks in a state of slow decline, until finally I stuck a bunch of loose balls of Osmocote+ underneath the entire area. Did them one at a time with tweezers. Few days later it started taking off.

I would think you have enough light, but again Im no expert. Very interested to see what your PAR readings are though, please post them when you can.
Thank you for your kind words. Dosing water column is supposed to remove need for a nutrient rich substrate. But this is from collected feedback not from own experience. PAR reader is now complete but I have to calibrate it, to dare rely on its response :) Will soon post results.
 
#247 ·
Can't tell by the photo but did you leave it clumped together? Seems that would be a no no.

I'm guessing light is not an issue.. Planting and types of fert. might be.. Finicky little plant..
 
#248 ·
Hi jeffkrol, dhg was meticulously separated into max 10 blades each then planted. Learned that lesson :)

As far as root tabs are concerned, I found the following:
15% N
- 6.5 NO3
- 8.5 NH4
6% P2O5
- 4.8% soluble potash
12% K2O
2% MgO
9% sulphur
0.02% B
0.01%Zn
Low chlorine

Suggests application 2-3 times/year so I suppose its slow release. Is this a good candidate for root tabs? I will be ordering some ready made osmocote plus root tabs - if I can find someone willing to ship here :)
 
#252 ·
I'd like to do something like this with my tank (55G 39L x 16W x 22H) which I'm converting to a Amazon Biotope with Frogbit and possibly sword but no other plants. What kind of bulb should I get LED or CFL? I do like the shimmer of LED but I'm a bit lost! I basically want enough light for my Frogbit to thrive and the colours in my fish to stand out. Can someone kindly advise on what I need and how many bulbs and shades I'd need?

Thanks
 
#253 ·
Wow, great minds think alike! When I got back into the hobby in 2008 I got myself a slew of 5&10 G tanks as well as some large plastic containers to grow stuff out and experiment. I needed lots of lighting and this was one of the first things I experimented with. Worked like a charm. In fact, in some containers it worked a little too well and I ended up with a veritable jungle of plants competing for resources. That what I got for trying to do way too much too soon..... I'm glad to see others have latched onto this idea--at the time I didn't even realize it was a new idea in any way.
 
#255 ·
Sorry if this question was answered but I didn't read the 18 pages of info. Has anyone tried these on a large tank say 120g? I was originally going to do 6 23W CFL's but cutting cost a time by using some 4' T8s I have kicking around. What one would be better? This 120g is 26" tall.
 
#260 ·
Thanks

It's a 15" dome I found at work. It was on a pallet with some old metal halide lamps. The mounting hole was big enough to where I was able to removed my 8" brooder lamp dome(13w cfl), slipped on the monster dome then screwed the brooder dome back on so it's basically resting on the 8" dome. It was done for sh!t$ n giggles :hihi:

The stand is made from an old pallet I got from work. I cut it down to size, added legs, bottom bracing then stained it.

The light hanger is also DIY. Found some conduit pipe at work, borrowed the pipe bender and winged it on the dimensions. Brought it home and surprisingly, it fit.
 
#261 ·
On my 55gal, I'm using four of the IKEA FOTO 10" pendant lamps... available in several colors. Running 23W 6500K CFLs and the plants seem happy.

These are old pics, I have a bunch of Ocelot Swords, Chain Sword, Ludwigia, Rotala Indica, Cabomba, Jungle Val... everything is growing very well and the Wisteria is out of control.



 
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