# Low-budget lighting for 55 gallon long



## nzac (Dec 28, 2011)

from my experience the colormax bulbs don't do much for plants, they can bring out the color of the fish nicely though. I would pick up some regular CFL bulbs from home depot /menards /lowes, wherever, with the 6500k rating at about half that cost myself.


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## Sophie and Mom (Jan 16, 2012)

Okie dokie. Half price sounds good to me.


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## fishyspots (Sep 29, 2011)

You can buy clip on lights at Lowes/Home Depot/Walmart for less than $10 ea and put the spiral 6500K daylight bulbs in them. For a 55g to grow low light plants well I think it would take at least 4, preferably 5-6, of the 23W bulbs based on the PAR readings I did on my tanks last week.


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## Cancerkazoo (Aug 6, 2011)

4ft long? If so get a 2 or 4 spot 48" florescent hanging shop light. The 2 bulb one is $12 and 6500k T8s are inter $4 each.


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## epiphany (Oct 8, 2011)

If you want to go more of a medium-high light get sunblaster fixtures. A 4 foot T5H0 fixture will run you $40-$45, so $80-$90 for a lot of light. You can do clip on lights but 5 of those+bulbs will be running you around 50-60, so I would personally spend a bit more and get the two fixtures, would also look a lot nicer ontop of your tank.


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## ocellatus (Dec 18, 2011)

Agreed, the T5HO sun blasters are economical, come in 4', 3', and 2' sizes, with 6400K lamps for a reasonable price. Plus they can be daisy chained to run off a single timer.

O


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## epiphany (Oct 8, 2011)

ocellatus said:


> Agreed, the T5HO sun blasters are economical, come in 4', 3', and 2' sizes, with 6400K lamps for a reasonable price. Plus they can be daisy chained to run off a single timer.
> 
> O


Forgot to mention that, you can link up to 8 of them together(at least with the 2 foot, maybe less with 4 foot) so if you only wanted to start with one or two, then decided later on you wanted more light it's quite simple to do. Replacement bulbs on the 2 foot is something like $6, which is way cheaper than regular T5H0 replacement bulbs.


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## Sophie and Mom (Jan 16, 2012)

Hmmmm....the sunblaster sounds interesting. Let me go do some research.


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## Sophie and Mom (Jan 16, 2012)

Cancerkazoo said:


> 4ft long? If so get a 2 or 4 spot 48" florescent hanging shop light. The 2 bulb one is $12 and 6500k T8s are inter $4 each.


Actually, this sounds even more promising. Do they come in black? :icon_lol:


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## Sophie and Mom (Jan 16, 2012)

With the sunblaster kit, how do you mount that? What do you put it on? It's just the light holder strip and a ballast? Ummmm....I don't get it. Do you have a photo?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

T5HOs will be too much light unless you suspend them way up off the tank- probably at 6-12" or get a pressurized CO2 setup and ferts (T5HO fixtures will put you into the "high light" category).

This is the fixture I'd recommend if you want to stay low tech with a 55gal tank: http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Corali...M8T2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1327940653&sr=8-6


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## Cancerkazoo (Aug 6, 2011)

Sophie and Mom said:


> Actually, this sounds even more promising. Do they come in black? :icon_lol:


Yup, the one I bought from Lowes was black Model #0313520 (now that I look back it was $14) . Also they are suspended buy chain, so either from ceiling, hood or make a gantry type holder to hang it from. That will put you at just over 1watt per gallon.


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## epiphany (Oct 8, 2011)

lauraleellbp said:


> T5HOs will be too much light unless you suspend them way up off the tank- probably at 6-12" or get a pressurized CO2 setup and ferts (T5HO fixtures will put you into the "high light" category).
> 
> This is the fixture I'd recommend if you want to stay low tech with a 55gal tank: http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Corali...M8T2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1327940653&sr=8-6


I've got to disagree, I have a 2 foot sunblaster fixture and a 2 bulbs aquatic life fixture over my 35g, which is only 1" taller than a 55. So that's 72 watts of HO light and I have no algae in my tank, it isn't that heavily planted either.


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## Msouza91 (Dec 29, 2011)

Are these sunblaster kits really $24 or am I searching the wrong product?


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## epiphany (Oct 8, 2011)

Probably. The 2 foot here was $30 and prices are usually more in Canada.


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## Calmia22 (Aug 20, 2011)

I got a 48" T5HO light off of Ebay Odyessa brand for $94. It comes with 3 6500k bulbs, 8 blue moonlight leds and a timer. 

Here is the item #300658148277 from Topdogsellers

I installed mine the other day and have it running for 8 hours, but only have 2 of the bulbs on currently. It barely gets warm and I really like it.


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## Msouza91 (Dec 29, 2011)

I just don't get how they work do you need to buy extra parts like reflectors and what not? Just can't get it through my head how that can be so cheap and every other brand sells it for like 70+


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## aretreesfree (Jun 19, 2011)

They aren't marketed towards aquariums. That's how. They don't look fancy... 

I want some!


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## Msouza91 (Dec 29, 2011)

I wish someone could post their set-up so I can get an idea would love to purchase some


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## ucantimagine (Jan 8, 2012)

I got mine from topdog too because aquatraders was out of my size. They are actually a few bucks cheaper than topdog and free shipping. I was having a problem where my light would flicker about a minute after turning it off. I emailed topdog, and they sent me a new ballast and I returned the defective one after testing the new one. The ballast is completely separate from the light so that is great. I have no problem recommending them. I love the light. 24" x 2 24W T5 for 45 bucks.

They definitely are made for aquatic use. The brand is Odyssea and they have configurations for Marine, General Freshwater and Planted tanks. They probably bring the directly over from China so there's no retail mark-up. Topdog and aquatraders both ship from CA.

Not sure what you mean by they don't look fancy. They don't look like shop lights! lol They are actually quite stream-lined and attractive in my opinion.


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## Sophie and Mom (Jan 16, 2012)

*I went cheap*

But it works! I decided to go with the clap lights and CFLs. Clamps removed, they actually look kinda cool. 

They make actually working in the tank a bit of a pain, because I have no place to put them while I work, but they shed a good deal of light in the tank, and stuff on the very bottom (dwarf baby tears) is actually growing, so I know the light reaches all the nooks and crannies.

Clamp lights! yay!


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## CrazyMidwesterner (Oct 19, 2006)

I have a single $16 shop light above my 75G non co2 tank. It has two 48" T8's and grows my ambulia, crypts, wisteria, and ludwigia repens great!! It's all white and doesn't shoot light out the sides like most shop lights. I picked it up at menards. I'll take a pic when I get home. 

I had been told WPG was bunk but this setup completely made me throw it out the window. I had two above it several months ago but it was algae city.


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## Sophie and Mom (Jan 16, 2012)

At both my local lowe's and HD, the simple shop setup was going to cost more than the clamp lights. I priced them both out, and at about $8 more for the shop light and fluorescent tube, I decided to go with the clamps.

It's working out well. I only have to move the ones on the end of the tank I'm working on, and they shed plenty of light.


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