PC lighting for a 70 gal.?

[amandab]

Does anybody have any DIY plans for power compact lighting for a 70 gallon rectangular tank- 50"x 18"x 18"? Very grateful to any who respond, thanks.

[silversp0rt]

you can, go to home depot and buy those round light fixture clamps. its about 8 dollars per each. then 6 bucks for a flourescent daylight spiral bulb. i have 2 DIY lighting + a strip light 48'' flourescent blue. my plants are showing great results, and probably even better when i do the DIY co2. but if you go to home depot, i realized you can think of some cheap DIY lighting.

[geoffgarcia2]

regular flourescent bulbs are only good to a certain depth....I think its like 12-14 inches....beyond that I really feel that PC lighting or halides are needed.

Its not just WPG, it should be watts by depth....

[amandab]

I'm getting a PC lighting ballast with 4 bulb attachments for a total of 410 watts. As I do not plan on having corals or clams with high lighting requirements, this will be good for my tank, but thank you.

[dgodwin]

Are you looking for help with the wiring of the ballasts to the endcaps and bulbs, or are you looking for help with a canopy for the tank? Also, how are you getting 410w out of four bulbs. The highest wattage bulb I've seen is the 36" 96W bulbs. If you haven't ordered your ballasts yet, I would recommend checking out www.ahsupply.com They have kits which include everything you need to put PC lights in a canopy. They also have prebuilt canopies as well as free directions to make your own.

I have 220w (4x55w) over my 40 gallon breeder tank (36x18x17). I have the bulbs staggared so there aren't any spots where the tank isn't covered by the lighting. If you have any questions, email me.

[amandab]

I was looking for info on building the canopy itself, that the lights go in. "hellolights.com" has VHO ballast sets that are rated for 440 watts, and 48" bulbs rated at 110 watts. But I'll check out that link to ahsupply.com for those directions. Thanks dgodwin.