diy lighting

[gmen5681]

well ive been scanning the web for a new light fixture and they are way to expensive for a 180+ watt one, so im going the route of making my own. does anyone know anything about this stuff? i currently have a fixture. but im just going to gut it and start from scratch. so ill have the plastic part pretty much. so i know ill need a ballast and i want to try and get 4 bulbs in there. so would i need a ballast for every bulb, or could i get a big one and have all 4 bulbs connect to it? thats where im starting at least. i think ill go with the T12 bulbs at 24" (4 of them) i would get them around the 5000k mark, because i think thats the closest to sun light (correct me if im wrong, because ive heard 10000K too) the new light fixtures i see on websites have 2 white bulbs and then 2 of these blueish looking bulbs...what are those? and should i go about doing it that way instead of the 4 white bulbs?

 

[325Pilot]

According to my knowledge, correct me if I'm wrong: Daylight is 6700k, home places like Home Depot sell natural light (or some name like that) bulbs that are that frequency or real close. You would need a separate ballast for each bulb unless it was designed for more than one bulb, in which case, it would have more than one set of leads to go to the bulbs. The biggest ballasts I have seen handle 3 bulbs, so maybe 2 - 2 bulbers. Ballasts are like inverters, and make a really high voltage, I've heard between 11,000-20,000, don't know if it's right, but it's a whole lot. It takes a lot to make the gasses in the tube jump. I would try to go with electronic ballasts as they don't make any noise. If electronics are too expensive, just don't get the cheapest that they have, with a cheap ballast, you're never alone. . I put a GFI plug on plug in my room so that my entire room's GFI'd ( depends on your wiring), this is a good idea for ANYONE with tanks (water + 20,000 volts + tile floor = ). I believe that all 24" tubes are 20watt but the T12's might be more, not sure. With four tubes that would only be 80watts, which is far short of your 180+ watt scheme. Have you looked for compact flourescents on eBay? I got a 65watt CF coralife on ebay for $65, which is higher qaulity and cheaper than if I'd built one myself. This is most of the stuff I know about flourescents, hope it helps.

Brian Jagger

 

[Great Lakes]

Your in luck, the light man is here.

What size tank are we talking? Do you have a hood or canopy? And how many watts do you need?

GL