Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Tanks and Equipment => Topic started by: Cazzybaby on May 05, 2014, 12:51:02 PM

Title: any advice with this lighting issue?
Post by: Cazzybaby on May 05, 2014, 12:51:02 PM

Hi we are new to aquariums and fish keeping and are cycling our first 2ft tank. Since then I saw a 3 ft tank I really liked but it was sold to me as needing the light holders replaced and one fluorescent light needed replacing. Anyhow the hubby has had a look and thinks it could cost over £100 to fix it up as he isn't happy with the look of the electrics. Is this how much you would expect it to cost? We don't need anything fancy just something that will make the fish look nice and support a hand ful of live plants. The tank is an aqua pet neon 100.

Title: Re: any advice with this lighting issue?
Post by: SteveS on May 05, 2014, 02:06:25 PM

I have done a bit of poking around the web and have come up with the following. A lot of it is guesswork because I don't know what's in the tank already and what bits you can (safely) reuse.

I suspect that the lights already in the tank are twin 18W T8 fluorescent tubes. They may be 30W but I suspect that these are too long for the tank. Anyway, I will give you some prices for both.

2 tubes, T8 18W 6500K £2.22 each or T8 30W 6500K £4.62 each
1 18W T8 ballast £21.16 or 1 30W T8 ballast £26.86
4 IP64 lamp holders with flex £8.22 each

Total is £58.48 for 18W or £68.98 for 30W.

You will need to add a bit of cable and the do the work yourself. and may a few odds and ends

Or, a better option in my opinion, go for twin 21W T5 tubes. Similar bits of kit would cost £58.64.

Title: Re: any advice with this lighting issue?
Post by: Cazzybaby on May 05, 2014, 03:12:12 PM

Thanks I will have a closer look when I get home and update if that's ok. My husband is pretty handy but we feel a bit out of our depth with it being an aquarium.

Title: Re: any advice with this lighting issue?
Post by: ColinB on May 05, 2014, 03:12:34 PM

You could replace all the fluorescents with LEDs. See here (http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/aquarium-lighting/led-aquarium-lighting-strips/all-products.html) for the sort of things on offer. Depending on what you went for then the price would be similar-ish, and the lower running costs and not having to replace the tubes every year would would mean LEDs were better value after a year.