# Post your DIY shoplight tanks!



## swylie (May 10, 2007)

At some point, the issue becomes power consumption. ($$$) That's where efficiency comes into play.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

That's not the only problem, shop lights usually aren't very bright. In deeper tanks, the intensity won't be enough unless you overdrive them.


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## Mad78 (Oct 23, 2007)

i understand your guys input and opinion but that is not wat he....Or she sorry lester dont know if your a guy or girl, i got yelled at before but any way is not wat they are asking. 

I have that same question, i would like to see what people have accomplished


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

Well, I actually do have a couple of low tech 10g's under a shoplight. Not much to look at, though. I'll take some pics when I get a chance.


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## swylie (May 10, 2007)

Ironically, I just added another two-foot strip of shop lights to my brand new 29g setup to total 80 watts of shop lighting.  They were free though, 'cause I found them in the barn.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Here is an old picture of my 75 with two shoplights. I went back to Aqualights for awhile but now I am using shoplights again. 4 x 32 watts. 

These are $25 shoplights, not the super cheap ones.


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## susankat (Oct 14, 2007)

My 75 gal with 2 shoplights. 2 40wt daylight bulbs in each.


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## mpodolan (Mar 27, 2007)

How many fish are in that tank, susankat?!


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Here is my 55 gallon Non Co2. It has one shoplight. This shoplight is wide with parabolic reflectors 2x 32 watt. To me this shoplight looks brighter than my 110watt aqualight.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

mpodolan said:


> How many fish are in that tank, susankat?!


I second that...MY goodness!! You don't even need CO2 for that tank...LOL.


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## susankat (Oct 14, 2007)

mpodolan said:


> How many fish are in that tank, susankat?!


About 300 endlers, 19 cories. 5 flagfish. 4 adult albino bristlenose and about 70+ baby bristlenose. And trying to catch those to put in another tank has proven to be a pain.


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## ummyeah (Jul 8, 2007)

Ukrevitz, how did you get nice growth like that without co2? How long did it take?


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## susankat (Oct 14, 2007)

I don't run CO2 in that tank, probably could but I had to do a lot of trimming as it was to get to that point. This is what it looked like before.










Not much room for swimming.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

ummyeah said:


> Ukrevitz, how did you get nice growth like that without co2? How long did it take?


That took about 4 months, you can get good growth without Co2 if you have the right amount of light. It takes longer without Co2.

I think that Vallisneria can get carbon from the bicarbonate in the water so that helps them grow too.

I just added some swords to the left side of the tank, hopefully they grow and I will have an oldschool looking planted tank.


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## crazy loaches (Sep 29, 2006)

Well here is my 75G lit with 3 48" T8 and 1 T6, all overdriven 2X (roughly 200W-220W or so, 2.6-2.9WPG) white painted canopy.

 <click

Its a real jungle, sorry. Was trying to stuff as many plants in as I can in preparation for my big tank being setup, and also since my tank is a tad overstocked with fish they really do seem to help keep the water cleaner. 

On my 240G I decided to go the T5HO route with the level 19 warlock reflectors though  on a bigger scale the efficiency helps.


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## Dharkaron (Jul 11, 2006)

Why level 19 warlock ones, the level 20 barbarians are soo much better...


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## GIO590 (Jun 25, 2007)

The shoplights are meant to give out the type of light human eyes sense, so if they look brighter than aqaurium lights, they are not necessarily stronger or better.


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## crazy loaches (Sep 29, 2006)

GIO590 said:


> The shoplights are meant to give out the type of light human eyes sense, so if they look brighter than aqaurium lights, they are not necessarily stronger or better.


The bulb is what gives the 'type of light' not the fixture. You can exchange most any standard or aquarium marketed bulb in a shoplight. And even different sizes to in some instances, for example my shoplights which originally housed T12's now have a bulb as small as a T6 (Aqua Flora Plus bulb).


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## GIO590 (Jun 25, 2007)

my bad... 
I meant to say that the shoplights with standard light bulbs isn't ideal.


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## Chibils (Nov 18, 2007)

Hello, I'm new here, looking into planted tanks... And this thread caught my eye (as I'm sinking thousands of dollars into my reef tank...).

If reflectors are an issue, couldn't one buy a few Tek reflectors (the top of the line 99% reflective German-made polished aluminum etc. etc. ones we use in reefing) and retrofit them? The reflectors are only about $20 apiece.


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## guppyramkrib2 (Nov 18, 2007)

*My 40L cheap Shoplight tank*

My 40L very lowtec tank. 1 Shoplight w 2 cool 40 watt bulbs and a heater.Soil & sand substrate.Set up end of august 07.Fish 20 + adult and baby white clouds,9 RWag platies+ fry.
Thanks


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## crazy loaches (Sep 29, 2006)

Chibils said:


> Hello, I'm new here, looking into planted tanks... And this thread caught my eye (as I'm sinking thousands of dollars into my reef tank...).
> 
> If reflectors are an issue, couldn't one buy a few Tek reflectors (the top of the line 99% reflective German-made polished aluminum etc. etc. ones we use in reefing) and retrofit them? The reflectors are only about $20 apiece.


Yeah, but there all designed for T5's and T8-T12 wont work nearly as well because the larger diameter bulb blocks a lot of the reflected light (restrike). I mentioned on another thread you can probably use T6 bulbs with T5 reflectors but the T6 arent any cheaper than T5's really. I'm not sure about CF reflectors they are a wider bulb they may work but the clips might not.


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## Chibils (Nov 18, 2007)

crazy loaches said:


> Yeah, but there all designed for T5's and T8-T12 wont work nearly as well because the larger diameter bulb blocks a lot of the reflected light (restrike). I mentioned on another thread you can probably use T6 bulbs with T5 reflectors but the T6 arent any cheaper than T5's really. I'm not sure about CF reflectors they are a wider bulb they may work but the clips might not.


Touché - I hadn't considered that.:fish:


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## ummyeah (Jul 8, 2007)

Alright, then my tank really needs help. Plants barely grow after I bought a new 130 watt Aqualight. I see a lot of you use shoplights with great results which is what I had on my tank before. The plants didn't grow then either. Should I put both the shoplight and the Aqualight together or would that cause too much algae?

BTW, what happened to the photo contest that was supposed to take place this week?


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

ummyeah said:


> Alright, then my tank really needs help. Plants barely grow after I bought a new 130 watt Aqualight. I see a lot of you use shoplights with great results which is what I had on my tank before. The plants didn't grow then either. Should I put both the shoplight and the Aqualight together or would that cause too much algae?
> 
> BTW, what happened to the photo contest that was supposed to take place this week?


Are you using Co2? If not the plants will grow slowly, more light will just cause algae. Non Co2 tanks take a lot of patience.


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## ummyeah (Jul 8, 2007)

No CO2, but my tank is close to a year old. A lot of people on this thread didn't do CO2 so I was just wondering how they got that kind of growth.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

ummyeah said:


> No CO2, but my tank is close to a year old. A lot of people on this thread didn't do CO2 so I was just wondering how they got that kind of growth.


Oh yeah some of them use soil substrate I forgot about that :icon_redf


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## ummyeah (Jul 8, 2007)

So you think soil gives that kind of growth?


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## lester (Oct 16, 2007)

Wow Urkevitz those plants are amazing


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## ummyeah (Jul 8, 2007)

Urkrevitz, Susankat, crazy loaches, and guppyramkrib2 can you all give me you tank specs please? I'd really appreciate to have such a beautiful aquarium as yours.


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Hey Susanakat,

That is an incredible # of fish!!!
How much filtration / WCs do you need?
You can build a giant fish trap...http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fish/54692-trap-em.html to catch all the fish. See second post.

Sorry I don't have any shoplights, just some DIY undercabinets.


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## susankat (Oct 14, 2007)

Here's my specs.

48X18X22 75 gal. 1 inch of top soil and 2 inches of play sand. Filtration is low, there is only a whisper hob for a 60 gal on it. Now I am doing 50% water changes each week. When it was heavily planted like the second pic there was no filter. 2 powerheads for water movement and water changes about every 4 months.
2 48 inch shop lights with 2x 40 watt daylight bulbs and 2x 40 watt plant bulbs.

Once the plants fill out again I will put the powerheads back in and remove the filter.


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## guppyramkrib2 (Nov 18, 2007)

*40L specs*

My natural VERY low tec LOW coast Tank - old used 40 gallon with awful john deer green back.
Substrate- miracle grow garden soil with a few cups of garden soil mixed in topped with Lowe's play sand unwashed.
Heater-used 100 watt 79*f
Light -used 48" fixture with 2 40 watt cool light bulbs
Filter N/A
Power head N/A
Co2 N/A

Fish 10 white clouds and approx 20 fry spawn in this tank and 9 red wag platies with their fry.
Plants-
Echinodorus martii,Echinodorus amazonicus,Echinodorus tenellus,Crypt balansae,petchii?,lutea,wendtii red,Alternanthera Red temple,Lialiopsas micro Sword,Java Moss,Pond Penny,Anubias barteri,wisteria,fine leaf water sprite?,horn wort,duck weed,ludwigia?

I added the whiteclouds about 3 weeks after the tank was set up, added the platies only a week or so ago.I feed 2-3 times a day with a quality flake food and feed frozen brine,cyclops ect every few days.
NO water changes since its been set up.I top off with water from the tap that has been aged a few days in a bucket.

Yes the plants grow slower than compared with a co2 tank and i like it that way!I trim/groom approx once a week and remove extra duckweed and horn wort.The rest of the time i do nothing and my hands are dry.For me this type of tank is the best! I enjoy the tank very much and I also have a 135 gallon set up natural ,soil and sand.I can post pic's of it if anyone wants? But don't know where? Best Wishes


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Just curious guppyramkrib...How long have you had this set up with that miracle grow garden soil? and hows the fish seem to be?


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## guppyramkrib2 (Nov 18, 2007)

jinx© said:


> Just curious guppyramkrib...How long have you had this set up with that miracle grow garden soil? and hows the fish seem to be?


This tank since august 07.Fish are great white clouds have spawned at least 3-4 times.I noticed more tiny fry this morning.The first spawn are about 1/2-3/4 inch.


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## ummyeah (Jul 8, 2007)

So soil gives that much more growth than my laterite/root tab gravel?


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## guppyramkrib2 (Nov 18, 2007)

ummyeah said:


> Alright, then my tank really needs help. Plants barely grow after I bought a new 130 watt Aqualight. I see a lot of you use shoplights with great results which is what I had on my tank before. The plants didn't grow then either. Should I put both the shoplight and the Aqualight together or would that cause too much algae?
> 
> BTW, what happened to the photo contest that was supposed to take place this week?


What types of plants have you tried? Any pictures or other info?


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## ummyeah (Jul 8, 2007)

Here's a quick photo I just took. This is before my water change and replanting that I'm about to do. MY fish are doing fantastic and the water quality is excellent, it's just the plants that are doing poorly. No thanks to the clown loaches either.


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## susankat (Oct 14, 2007)

It looks like most of the plants are slow growers. If you want fast growth you will have to add in some fast growers to fill in while the others are growing.


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## guppyramkrib2 (Nov 18, 2007)

Your plants and fish look good to me. Maybe add some fast growers like wisteria,water sprite,hornwort.A Val species for the back ? A red or bronze crypt for a different color ?


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## ummyeah (Jul 8, 2007)

I have wisteria which does absolutely nothing. Giant hygro grows some. What are some ultra fast growing plants?


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Hornwort is the fastest growing plant, I have had great luck with Vals and Hemianthus micranthemoides in Non Co2 tanks, mosses work well too.


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## crazy loaches (Sep 29, 2006)

ummyeah said:


> Urkrevitz, Susankat, crazy loaches, and guppyramkrib2 can you all give me you tank specs please? I'd really appreciate to have such a beautiful aquarium as yours.


Well FWIW here is some info on my lighting and basic tank specs:
<click
DIY canopy with parts gutted from shoplights and two 4x32W T8 electronic ballasts off ebay. Had I known about the cheap HD lights though I would have gone that route.

Here is a pic a took mid progress on the canopy showing the difference between standard shoplight (right pair) and the same bulbs overdriven (left pair):








Might or might not look like that big of difference depending on you monitor, but in person it was a pretty substantial difference. 

Other tank specs are CO2 at ~30ppm (pressurized), using micro-bubbler and powerhead, daily ferts based on EI (actually have to dose higher I guess due to the large plant load). Substrate is a couple/few inches of flourite red.


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