flouro lighting question

[redrooster]

As I have an overflow of softies and empty tanks my friend is considering starting up a softie prop/fragging tank. The goal here is low cost/low maintenance. How it looks won't be as important. He doesn't want any fish which makes it a lot easier. Also since looks aren't an issue BB is also the way to go. So I have tank/LR/coral/water/salt he shouldn't need to spend much on the setup. It is going to be a 20 gal long so it will be relatively shallow.
I have never used floro as my main lighting for corals. As this is going to be softies only (cabbage leather, shrooms, spaghetti leather, zoo's) and a shallow 20 gal I am thinking 40-60 watts of light should be OK? I am just wondering what would be the cheapest sufficient light to make this tank work. Just a standard hood with a better bulb? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[LakeEd]

You may be able to get away with something like the Lights of America brand floodlight, since you are talking just "softies". 65 Watt Fluorescent, giving 500W output, using a 6500K bulb. I found it at Home Depot, $40.

I'm currently using it over my 40 gallon Fuge, and it does a very nice job lighting it up for my Macroalgae!

 

[redrooster]

Thanks Ed. That sounds like a decent idea. Do you use a hood or just hang overhead?

 

[LakeEd]

It is an outdoor floodlight type setup, complete with clear cover. I just mounted it to a 2X4 on the wall behind my Fuge... and I'm off and running.

I just noticed you're located in Chicago. Don't even know if you do have a Home Depot there? If you do, look in the Outdoor Lighting section... thats where this was located in my local HD. I even opened up the package before buying it... and looked right on the light bulb base... where it states "6700K" for bulb temp.

 

[Scooterman]

I use VHO's on an IC660, the setup was fairly cheap, the VHO's have built in reflectors, I like that, you can hang them & paint the wood white easily!
I ran those years with no major problems but Ed idea is a thought I'd suspect would be ultra cheap & effective.

 

[LakeEd]

I just started using this piticular lamp over my Fuge, but have been using the much smaller coiled flourescent bulbs available at Home Depot, that are also in the 6500-6700K range, with very nice growth of my Chaeto.

Red said he was interested in low cost... and since he is only taking softies, it should be worth a shot, especially over a 20gallon tank.

 

[Scooterman]

Yea I wonder about them but for a small set-up & softies you may be plenty good. I would run about 2 or 4 even maybe over a 20g probably.

 

[redrooster]

We have home depots all right. Chicago proper doesn't have Walmart or many other big chains like that as they keep passing crazy legislation to keep them out. But in the suburbs they are like a plague. If you run a major street every 4 miles you will pass a area with a walmart,HD,BB,CC,lowes etc... I will go to the depot this weekend and walk around in that section. I will look for something in the 6-10K range, and in the 60-100 watt range? When doing other tanks I have looked at the security light MH that they sell. They are 75W MH, and you can get them on sale for like $50, but they need to be hardwired, no plug?

 

[LakeEd]

Wish I had a picture of the box this thang comes in for yas... but it is one of the rectangle flood light looking fixtures, uses 60watts of power, for 500watt equivalent output. And, yes, this unit does need to be wired, comes with NO plug. It has a mounting base (what would be mounted to the side of your house), and 2 wires. The case and base are both plastic, so really nothing to even wire in a ground wire to.

 

[redrooster]

Congrats on being member of the month. Hip hip horray.

 

[LakeEd]

Congrats on being member of the month. Hip hip horray.

hehehe Thanks!

 

[redrooster]

This tank is up and cycling!! We ended up going with a 29G. The tank I had so that was free. I saved water from my WC for the intitial fill up. He for now is going to use 5 20W grow light flouro's he had around the house. We were donated a 175W MH ballast. He will eventually buy a bulb and wire that up. Powerhead was $24, heater approx $20. Got 20lbs of LR from his cousin for free as he has several hundred pounds from a tank he bought whole a while back. Just gonna let this run for a few weeks and then start to stock it. No fish, maybe no inverts. Just a coral prop only tank.

 

[MarineTeng]

You may be able to get away with something like the Lights of America brand floodlight, since you are talking just "softies". 65 Watt Fluorescent, giving 500W output, using a 6500K bulb. I found it at Home Depot, $40.

I'm currently using it over my 40 gallon Fuge, and it does a very nice job lighting it up for my Macroalgae!

you can get this online it's called fluorex, i bought it off ebay though never used it since they sent me the outdoor light rather then the pendant like i wanted, dad deemed it unsafe cause he thought the water would get too it, i didn't think so though cause it was an outdoor light, glad to hear it works well, no one when i bought it had much experience with it