# no such thing as too much light



## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

has anyone bough shop lights from rona and used them as a fish light?

im looking at the 4 bulb 48'' fixture for my 75 gallon...
prob t5s maybe t8s



any thoughts?


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Reef or Planted?

For Reef, go with T5's, though most T5 fixtures cannot handle T5HO bulbs, which you will want to be using. Don't cheap out on bulbs even if your fixture itself is cheap. I'm using the T5 fixtures from Home Depot with no issues, running KZ & Geissmann bulbs.


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

well yea i was going to buy the proper bulbs, either from the fish or hydropotnic store.

so all i have to do is make sure the light can handle the wattage?

then i can have like 2 veg lights one rose and one soft light as long as the light can handle it i guess


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## Scotmando (Jul 10, 2011)

*The 2x T8 light fixture (white) at Lowe's* is what I use and they're only $26. Comes with the cord, 2 chains and a switch. I also bought a box of 10x 5000K and a box of 10x 6500K bulbs. I switched my tankroom over to these fixtures and they are amazing!

Got the tip from Cam @ Cam's Aquatics on Dundas E in Mississauga.

Another great thing about these fixtures is you can take one bulb out if its too much light and the other still works full power!

And the fixtures are really low profile.



joe said:


> has anyone bough shop lights from rona and used them as a fish light?
> 
> im looking at the 4 bulb 48'' fixture for my 75 gallon...
> prob t5s maybe t8s
> ...


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

o and its for a freshwater tank, planted


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

do you use a ballast or no?
and do they have a 4 bulb one? or should i just use 2 doubles?


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

and so you bought packs of ten? would you be willing to sell 2-3 of each bulb? im located in mississauga to


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Should have inquired about lighting while you were here Joe! 
I have one of these 4' units, and some other units taken from a DAS Fishtank setup from a closed petstore.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Here's the DAS Unit. This one is the small one (2 bulbs), the other runs like 12 lights I think.


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

noooo wayyy thats amazing

4 bulbs 48 inch?
i really wish i asked before to lol i coulda loaded it in my truck..
how good are tthey and how much you want? Pm me
i could pickup this weekend if its good


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

so you only have single and double light fixtures?

i want like 4 bulbs going across


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

All are 48" lamps.

The shoplamp is 2 Bulbs.
The Small DAS unit is 2 Bulbs (independant from each other as seen in pics).
The big Das unit runs around 8-12 bulbs, and has a switch control board.

Are they good? Well- compared to what? Compared to storebought aquarium lights, they are crap! lol, but they are cheap and simple.

Easy for what I think you are going to be using them for. Not so effcient for lighting a tank well on their own, considering the market has moved onto newer and better technologies.

I gave you a great deal on the plants, so I mgith have to play a little more hardball on these with ya, ahah. Still interested? We can go to PM.


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

yea i might be interested, that one that holds 8-10 lights with the board, can you send me that?

i was looking at a single fixture at home depot it was 60 dollars prob comes with no bulbs but its like 85 or t8 and holds 4 4' bulbs

i have two tanks one with 2 beams and one with one, i plant on movin the one to the two to make 3 and then use 4-8 on the new one

gonna have alot of moss and co2


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

i might be interested in the smaller fixtures to grow baby tears in humidity domes thou


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

so send me the big das unit


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I use T8 shoplights ( CanArm brand) that were bought from Rona for $15 including the attached cord, chains and S hooks. The tubes are around $4 each in either 5000K or 6500K. You could run either or one of each. Most of the cheaper fixtures are quite compact and will easily fit inside a section of vinyl eaves trough.


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## Ctp416 (Nov 23, 2011)

Bought my 4' 2 bulb T8 Shop light from Walmart. $15 Has a wide reflector so it fits perfect on top of glass lid! Just add black spray paint. http://www.lightsofamerica.com/~/media/8045E_185X185.ashx


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

so how are the t8s working for you?
are you using them in a planted tank if so what size?

im kinda on the edge about t8s i think t5s work better, 

but im not sure if they sel t5 shoplights

and for those using t8s how many bulbs are you using? how fast is your growth co2 or not? size of tanks



thanks


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

T5 shop lights are available, but the availability of suitable (cheap) tubes is less so. i grow plants with T8s and T12s. T12s were the norm for a long time and many plants were grown under them. If you have too much light CO2 becomes necessary.


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## Killerbunny (Sep 16, 2011)

Have you guys found anything like this in a 30" size? I just got a used tank with the oldest light fixture I have EVER SEEN. It's gotta be a fire hazard.  I was thinking about going with something like this, but I've never done it before.


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

BillD said:


> T5 shop lights are available, but the availability of suitable (cheap) tubes is less so. i grow plants with T8s and T12s. T12s were the norm for a long time and many plants were grown under them. If you have too much light CO2 becomes necessary.


i wanna see pics of someone using either t8s or t12s

and your oppinion on how they work, how good are t8s compared to t5s? how many t8s are you using? what size tanks how are your results?

are you using co2 or not..
i have co2 and a big tank


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Joe, for many years T8 were used, and for many years longerd T12 were used with good success. You will not find so many people using T12 right now, as they are nearly phased out- and soon T8's will be next. It's simple that T5 are brighter and more efficient, and now more availble.

Fishkeepers used T12 for decades, in both marine and freshwater tanks. But since a big part of fishkeeping is keeping up with the new info, times and tech, you'll see that most people have made the switch to something newer. Perhaps it wont be long before someone is saying the same thing about LEDs. Especially in canada you will see people favouring the new tech, as our good market and average persons income allows for it, where in other countries it may not.

There is no doubt that T5 beat out T8, T10, T12s in almost everyway. But it's also clear that those bulbs didn't much hold back fishkeepers in the 70s, 80s & 90's. Even before then I think. During those times, if you needed more power then the regular fluorescents gave, then you'd use VHO T12s (very high output- essentially double wattage- but they would not have as long a lifespan). Or they would use compact fluorescents, or metal halide lighting.

I'm using 2 54W t5ho bulbs on my 75G tank and it is beautiful and allows me to grow about anything I've tried in there- however, adding another bulb or two would open up my possibilities a bit more but would require better CO2 than the 4L of DIY Sugar/Yeast co2 I run on it.

Here's the tank video.


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## joe (Jan 3, 2012)

tru tru so now im thinking ill just add t8s because there cheap to the t5s i have already

any recommendation for t8 bulbs?


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

I like 6500K bulbs mixed with Full spectrum bulbs. I use a coralife full spectrum with 5000K peaks, and a pink hue, which warms up the bland colour I've got from my other cheaper 6500K Odyssea bulbs. But you will have people tell you they grow plants with everything between 3000K and 10000K.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I only use tubes I can buy cheaply from places such as home improvement stores. Home Depot carries Philips tubes in both 5000K and 6500K, (around 4$) and both will grow plants. My preference is for 5000K because of the appearance. However, the CRI (closer to 100 is better) is perhaps more important for appearance and how natural your fish and plants look. You can mix the two or you can add a plant and aquarium tube, which isn't 5000K but is pinkish, as Will mentioned. The pinkish tubes, which debuted as Grolux in the 60s, were popular over fish tanks because they accented reds and blues. However, they don't throw a lot of light.
There are many options for cheap lighting these days.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

The pinkish Coralife ColorMax Bulbs are a labeled as Full Spectrum, online there's info stating they are 5000K. They have high peaks in the blue spectrum with heavy amounts of red.

These are great in combination with 6500K. I like the 2 and 1 ratio best, but that requires multiples of 3 bulbs over the tank. 2 6500K and one Colormax. One and one looks nice too, though slightly dimmer to your eye. Remember that plants don't "see" light as we do so sometimes dimness is somewhat irrelevant.


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

joe said:


> tru tru so now im thinking ill just add t8s because there cheap to the t5s i have already
> 
> any recommendation for t8 bulbs?


Joe , not sure what you mean by T8`s are cheap compare to T`5`s?
is the fixtures or the bulbs?
Personally if you do some research you will find T5 fixtures or Ballast system within range of T8` fixtures, might be a few dollars more but the efficiency of the t5`S will easily outweigh the cons of price.
There are Quality T 5 HO bulbs in the 6500K range for approx 10.00, that will grow plants just as good as anything else out there.
Post some details on size of tank, plants etc & i can probably give you some options that might appeal to you, remember spend money once.
Regards


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