Did I just turn a Walmart LED shop light into a fish bulb?..maybe!

[Stan510]

I've thought of trying this for awhile. I took a 30 watt shop light that was bright and grew plants well..but was yellow white..not much fish color. I was going to order a regular LED..then the news on slow mail truly becoming snail mail. So I took some watercolor paint,light blue,thinned it a bit and painted the old shop light now languishing in the tool shed unused , clear covers light blue. I plugged it in..and voila!..its better. Not as bright of course..but I just wanted it to light the left half with the roots.
Now you say,Stan,for$10,15,20 more you can get a Beamswork 30 watt LED. True,but I had the paint,I had the shoplight...and I just wanted to see the fish look decent,not washed out like the light had as is.
So...if you are using shop lights..try some water based paint,thin to need..or maybe you have light blue Krylon and use just a thin coat to test my invention

 

[Stan510]

I used a pale blue...but I wonder if a wash of pale purple would have even been better?

 

[HoldenOn]

I used a pale blue...but I wonder if a wash of pale purple would have even been better?

Idk this looks really good! Great work, way to DYI it.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Cool idea. There's nothing magic about aquarium lights, of course. I've use shop lights on small betta tanks, and I think that's about all Walstad (peace be upon her) uses. Just try to get bulbs that are in the 6000-6500 k range, also known as "cool white" or "daylight" bulbs. Or modify the color profile with paint, like you did.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Cool idea! I'm a DIY light guy as well - never bought a real expensive one.

 

[vanalisa]

I've thought of trying this for awhile. I took a 30 watt shop light that was bright and grew plants well..but was yellow white..not much fish color. I was going to order a regular LED..then the news on slow mail truly becoming snail mail. So I took some watercolor paint,light blue,thinned it a bit and painted the old shop light now languishing in the tool shed unused , clear covers light blue. I plugged it in..and voila!..its better. Not as bright of course..but I just wanted it to light the left half with the roots.
Now you say,Stan,for$10,15,20 more you can get a Beamswork 30 watt LED. True,but I had the paint,I had the shoplight...and I just wanted to see the fish look decent,not washed out like the light had as is.
So...if you are using shop lights..try some water based paint,thin to need..or maybe you have light blue Krylon and use just a thin coat to test my inventionView attachment 113639View attachment 113640

Stan, the Renaissance Man!

 

[Stan510]

Thanks all. It made a bad light not so bad. Funny thing is..even in its original 5000k look it grew plants well. I just wanted something to light up the dark corner so you could see the whole 8' of the tank day and night.
Just a nice use of my $16 Walmart light.

 

[Stan510]

Ok,I got curious and removed the pale blue from one side of the strip LED cover and did it in a wash of purple. It DID look even better.
If you are using a shop light,maybe try a purple felt pin. Anything purple you can use or thin if its a solid paint. Now over an open tank? You would have to use paint. My tank has that acrylic top. So even watercolor stays put for awhile. LEDs are cool,and that helps too.