full spectrum solutions????

jennmac415 · 06-01-2004, 02:21 PM

Has anyone ever used any products from here for their tank?? I may be upgrading my tank and want to be as cheap as possible for my lighting. lol!! I am not into seeing how much money i can spend on lighting lol! I will only be keeping zoos, shrooms and maybe some rics. It seems like this place is pretty reasonable and one could configure something from it for a tank. any ideas for me after looking at their site would be helpful. Only problem is, I am not much of a diy electrician.

Thanks as usual,
Jenni

512148048 · 06-01-2004, 03:23 PM

waht size tank?

jennmac415 · 06-01-2004, 03:27 PM

well, i think it will only be about a 50 gal acrylic.

512148048 · 06-01-2004, 03:33 PM

go with PC then they are cheap and they work great for zoes and shrooms
http://petsupplyliquidator.com/
this place will have many choices for you i would go with 4 - 55 watt PC on a 55 for zoos and shrooms

bchnit1 · 06-01-2004, 09:15 PM

Home Depot has a flood light made by Lights of America $34.95. The box claims it uses 65 W but puts out 500 W with 6500K and 8900 Lumens. I am trying it and supplementing the light with a 30 W actinic lamp. I plan on adding another actinic to make it a bit blue-er. Lights of america also has a website www.lightsofamerica.com

From what I've read in other posts most think it is too yellow for the tank but ok for a refugium. I think it might be ok with the actinic supplementation. My LFS buddies seem to think it will work fine.

Had tightened wire nut too tight and broke a wire so the light was out for about 7 days (per my son) while i was out of town and I just got it fixed today. I am testing it now and have a shroom and xenia to see how they do. I have it mounted in a hood I built with 1x10 so the light sits about 6" above the glass top. I figure for the price I've got to give it a shot.

512148048 · 06-02-2004, 07:08 AM

thank you for the other sight i needed something for my new 35

jennmac415 · 06-02-2004, 02:29 PM

bchnit1,

Thanks for the info! I am interested in this cuz the price is right! But, as I am not really much of a diy-er, can you explain to me exactly how you mounted a floodlight to work on a aquarium??

Thanks,
Jenni

bchnit1 · 06-03-2004, 10:00 PM

The light came apart fairly easily. After unscrewing the bulb the reflector can be snapped in and out.

The housing is plastic and i just drilled through the fixture top into the canopy. I also drilled vent holes along the sides to help keep the heat down and removed the mounting braket off the rear.

Since the lamp is actually a flood light for wall or soffit mounting I bought a lamp cord and an on off switch that can be attached to the lamp cord and just plugged it into the wall. The switch and cord had instructions on which wires go to which and how to install the switch.

Good luck with it. I think the actinic supplements will be the key.

John

512148048 · 06-03-2004, 10:28 PM

well 6500 k will give you best groth but not color im gonna just get 6500k for my hex im setting up for xenia so i basicly have a coral fund.i am going to propagate the xenia and sell it to my lfs or to other reefers and get cash or live stock for it right now im in the ricordia phase you will hit that one quick.

bchnit1 · 06-03-2004, 10:40 PM

I'm just starting out with "corals" of any type after not having a tank for almost 20 yrs. My 9 yr old wanted a fish so it was the perfect excuse to start it back up ( he and my wife liked the colors) Now she hates the cost!! Oh well too late now Dear.

I'm still learning all my species, but if the Xenia and Shroom do well under the light I'll move up to the next challenge. Don't know what a Ricordia is yet but I'm already looking forward to it.

With the blue actinic the I'm amazed at how much whiter the 6500k is. I hope it works since the price is right.