standard 4ft fixture for aquarium plant light?

[Stryker]

Hi, here is a post I made in the planted tanks forum. However I think I may be better asking the question here.

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Here is a link to a 4ft tube fixture with controller, its only £10.

http/www.focusdiy.co.uk/invt/117440

Is there any reason people don't use these standard fixtures in their hoods with a 4 ft plant-gro type tube? They take standard T8s.
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So, has anyone tried this?

 

[Scales]

Well I would say the main reason is moisture/water getting into the fitting and frying the internals, plus there gonna rust after a while. You can pick up cheap aquarium starters of ebay.

 

[Stryker]

Yeah, I'd figured on the rusting part. However your typical aquarium ballast starter is pretty open in order to disipate the heat. I was also interested in this idea as it means less trailing cables and starters all over the place in my hood.

I think I'll be giving it a go, its worth a try as the fixtures are only £10. I'll probably have a bash tomorrow as I'm off work then.

Cheers.

 

[Great Lakes]

Heck, I have used the 8 dollar shop lights for years.

You can get the double tube ones with the large reflectors, paint them black, then place them directly on your glass tops!

Good freshwater bargain.

GL

 

[Stryker]

Thats promising. The way I see it is I can add one more 38w tube each month and monitor how things go. Its going to be so much neater having the fixtures as opposed to ballast and wires everywhere.

 

[Stryker]

Oh well, when I popped into my LFS to buy another 48" tube I fell prey to lazyness and got another controller too, I mean its only £13.

So now I have yet another controller in my hood and yet more wires.

I fitted up this new tube and then turned it on. At that point I took on a whole new respect for the volume of water I have in my tank as it made a difference, just not the spectacular difference I expected.

So at this time I have:

2 x white light 15w tubes
2 x plant grow 38w tubes

Any more and I'm going to have to start replacing my controllers with the dual tube type. Either that or go for compact T5s.

This new tube I added don't look as bright. Anyone have any idea how long these things take to "burn in" as it were.

 

[blue_ram]

Any more and I'm going to have to start replacing my controllers with the dual tube type. Either that or go for compact T5s.

Depending on the size/lighting req. of your tank, it might be better to go with T5/T6 in the first place.

This new tube I added don't look as bright. Anyone have any idea how long these things take to "burn in" as it were.

It's about as bright as it's going to get. The tubes degrade continuously, and will only get dimmer over time. But subjective brightness doesn't mean much. Human eyes are sensitive to green region of the light spectrum. That doesn't mean plants and fish will see the same brightness.