an u use a store light as a aquarium light

firstsalt · 07/06/2009, 08:17 PM

my mom said she had one of those store lights down in the basement and that if she found it i could use it she said it had those round end caps i dont have any more info. what do you guys think

uncleof6 · 07/06/2009, 08:39 PM

Back in the day before the aquarium technology explosion made everything crazy expensive, that was all there was. So certainly you CAN use it. It probably has an F can ballast, so make sure the ballast is not leaking tar, and check the wattage of the ballast before you go out and buy high end VHO T-12 aquarium lamps for it. Chuckles. As for the end caps, I doubt they are "Ice Cap" waterproof "round" endcaps. Sorry, just making light of it. (pun intended) Just keep water out of the endcaps, and a splash shield between the fixture and the tank will take care of that.

good luck,

Jim

firstsalt · 07/06/2009, 09:43 PM

thank you

firstsalt · 07/06/2009, 10:13 PM

plus i dont think i will need the vho t 12 right now

uncleof6 · 07/07/2009, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by firstsalt
plus i dont think i will need the vho t 12 right now

No, you probably don't. GARF has made a science of starting reef tanks at lower light levels, than what is usual. no sense in spending a fortune on a fancy light fixture just starting out.

Jim

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/07/2009, 11:51 AM

FWIW, another consideration is reflector design - many reef fixtures are built to direct as much of the light as possible straight down, whereas "shop" or "store" fixtures are usually designed to spread the light across as wide an area as possible.

firstsalt · 07/07/2009, 03:56 PM

ill try to make reflectors

07/06/2009, 08:17 PM	#1
firstsalt Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Rye, NY Posts: 438	an u use a store light as a aquarium light my mom said she had one of those store lights down in the basement and that if she found it i could use it she said it had those round end caps i dont have any more info. what do you guys think __________________ -Peter D. "Fish are friends not food"

07/06/2009, 08:39 PM	#2
uncleof6 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: AWOL Posts: 12,013	Back in the day before the aquarium technology explosion made everything crazy expensive, that was all there was. So certainly you CAN use it. It probably has an F can ballast, so make sure the ballast is not leaking tar, and check the wattage of the ballast before you go out and buy high end VHO T-12 aquarium lamps for it. Chuckles. As for the end caps, I doubt they are "Ice Cap" waterproof "round" endcaps. Sorry, just making light of it. (pun intended) Just keep water out of the endcaps, and a splash shield between the fixture and the tank will take care of that. good luck, Jim __________________ "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." (oft attributed to Einstein; most likely paraphrasing by Roger Sessions; compactly articulates the principle of Occam's Razor) Current Tank Info: 325 6' wide Reef

07/06/2009, 09:43 PM	#3
firstsalt Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Rye, NY Posts: 438	thank you __________________ -Peter D. "Fish are friends not food"

07/06/2009, 10:13 PM	#4
firstsalt Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Rye, NY Posts: 438	plus i dont think i will need the vho t 12 right now __________________ -Peter D. "Fish are friends not food"

07/07/2009, 11:51 AM	#6
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	FWIW, another consideration is reflector design - many reef fixtures are built to direct as much of the light as possible straight down, whereas "shop" or "store" fixtures are usually designed to spread the light across as wide an area as possible. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

07/07/2009, 03:56 PM	#7
firstsalt Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Rye, NY Posts: 438	ill try to make reflectors __________________ -Peter D. "Fish are friends not food"