SuperGuppyGirl Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 So building my own fish racks as tired of all the little stands and powerbars on each outlet in my fish room. But finding a decent air pump to run 8 sponge filters (roughly 85-100G) quietly is a bit daunting. Add in finding a decent lighting system equates to much banging of head lol. So here is what its boiling down to. Each rack will have 4-10G, 1-15G, 1-30G. Deepest tank is the 30G with depth of . All the canopies are being replaced with glass to allow for different light set up. Now the lights don't have to be special as I only keep low tech plants that grow very well with T-8's, so basically just need lights to grow my plants (crypts,swords,java moss) and don't heat up to much, don't cost too much and either connect together or inexpensive enough to buy as a single unit to span 6' so there is only one plug (trying to eliminate multiple power bars). I had read good things on sun blasters provided they have a light deflector (easily enough crafted from some eavestrough)? Thoughts? ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 I think Sunblasters come w. reflectors now, and they can daisy chain together easily. If you are only growing moss and fern in your 10gals,I'd try to arrange the shelf w the 30 in the middle, and a 48" Sunblaster over them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 I am setting up a new rack for my shrimps and decided to finally make the jump to using a fish room air pump. I went with the Alita AL-15A in particular but Hi Blow have great reviews as well. As for lighting I am going to test out some LED strip (tape). On paper the most powerful version (5630) seems to be very bright. For looks and ease of installation I decided to order in some aluminium housing for them with a clear cover but you could always just stick them directly to the underside of the plywood. In hindsight, I would have save myself some time and money by buying premade strips (usually come in 1m lengths). It is a bit of a DIY venture though as you will need a power supply (figure out what your total load is and get a waterproof one), some wires / connectors and some wiring skills. Most of the stuff an be found on ebay and herehttp://www.724light.com/rigid-led-strip-bar-c-4.html Still waiting for my aluminium housing to come in but once they do I will start assembling my lights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 if i was to do it all over again this is the one i would go withhttp://www.724light.com/superbright-waterproof-led-strip-bar-393inch-5050-5630-1m-rigid-led-strip-12v-with-dc-connector-p-350:3c670e49535c3322a8e1881701554b70.html Pick the 5630 one - works about around $13 for a 1m strip which uses 15W. It is already in a waterprood housing with can be screwed into the underside of the plywood or if you are using wire shelves, attached with zip ties. I am not sure how they compared to a sunblaster T5HO unit but they use around 1/3 the electricity and like i said in my previous post, the 5630 look pretty powerful on paper. I plan on using two strips on my own DIY 48" strips for my racks so on paper that should be lots of light. Will see how it is in reality soon.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperGuppyGirl Posted October 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Wow, excellent price and love how less bulky they are. With the sun blasters I was coming up around 300 (+shipping) to outfit both racks but looking at these even if the 2m are double the price of the 1m I'm hitting 150-200 range with free shipping. OK thanks jumpsmasher, light problem solved. Now to continue for air blower, I have to have 2 for around 100G each, as I can't run air hose on the roof or across the walls or floor. Kids, cats and landlord do not approve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKAshrimps Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Remember those are just the bare lights.. You will need to do a bit of work and parts to get then up and running. You will still need a power supply to power them as well at any wiring and connectors / adapters. You should be able to connect 2-3 of them in a row I believe. The power supplies usually come with either bare wires or a screw in junction box. Might be a good idea to get an inline power switch as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Oops replied using the wrong account.. Lol ^ that's my other account btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperGuppyGirl Posted October 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Lol, well going to email as soon as I can hit a comp. They did say they had a 2 meter one which would cover the span I need, but require min 10 order even with that still better deal and eliminate bulb replacement which is a definate plus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 I had tried let light strips the type of thing that you can get for under the counter etc and was unimpressed. I switched to sunblasters and all is good in the world once again. If you do the led, don't go all in. Only buy a couple and try it first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince0 Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 +1 on the sun blasters! I get mine from quick grow in Calgary, but local grow shops should have them. I paid $30 for my 2ft fixture, $35 for my 3ft. I use one over three tanks and they works great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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