Another lighting question :P

[Wonderwoman]

I'm currently contemplating replacing the two flourescents in my DIY hood.  tank is a 20long, 30" x 12".  been looking at AHsupply retrofits (1x55), as well as fixtures to hold just two regular 20w tubes.  also looking at putting together fixtures for power compacts from scratch, but it looks so awfully complicated and maybe not worth it... ???  anyway my question concerns the light output per watt.  what exactly is it for regular flourescents vs. power compacts?  I'm trying to decide if it would be worth it to upgrade...  *twirlysmiley*

 

[RedTurquoise]

Always a tough question if it is worth it or not. Depending what you want to accomplish. PC provides more light than regular fluorescents no doubt! Another question is how handy you are? If you are the diy'er, Id go with overdriving fluorescents using electronic ballast. This is much cheaper than PC (overdriving is the same concept as PC anyways).

Here's the original link that got me hooked:
http://www.myfishtank.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=diy&action=display&num=1010380693

If you do not like working with electrical stuff, then I would recommend PC!  *thumbsupsmiley*

 

[Wonderwoman]

that actualy looks pretty cool. I am deeply impressed. hopefully I'll get the hang of all this, and someday be able to have ten million tanks where I can try all the different methods out. until then...thanks so much

 

[aznpanther98]

if u got like extra light strips leftover or something like that i'd go with the overdriving like mentioned i use a 20watt overdriven on y 30gal until i got pc lights from a friend, the ballasts i got were made into the plug like the kinds tt takes up two or more outlets and wired them together (same polarity) and hooked it up to the light with a starter... it made my tank alot brighter of course u'll need to replace ur bulbs more often but it's cheaper than replacing pc bulbs lol also phillips or bulbs u get from home depot or similar stores are fine

i forgot to mention another way u can go that can cost somewhere around 20 bucks use those screw in companct bulbs (make sure u get good ones or they'll be yellowish) and get those double screw in sockects at homedepot and a cheap extention cord and put all those together and u have urself a diy lights bulbs are probally the costly ones but worth it i got a pair of 25watts for 15 bucks at a costco (like Sams Club) and if ur canopy is roomy enough they'll fit i have one 45watt??? in my 10 gal for like over 8 months and plants are still growin like a jungle lol

 

[Wonderwoman]

aznpanther, do you mean those spiral bulbs? the ones that are usually made by ge or philips or something, w/ just a regular bulb's screw in side? how do you know which ones are "good" and not yellowish? few bother to put the kelvin on the package...