# Light Fixture from HD



## xtremefour (Sep 30, 2008)

When i moved into my house the original owner had a bunch of 48" light fixtures hanging up in the basement, looks like they came from Home Depot or something. They are the straight pin type using normal overhead light bulbs. Can I use these for my 75 gal fish tank the at the moment is lightly plated. Picking up plants little by little...

I keep reading about T5 or Geismann lights? would these bulbs fit and work in these type of light fixtures? I also noticed that the reflectors are short as to disperse the light out farther so I would have to modify them to have the light go where I want it to. 

I'm really new to this so please help out. 


Matt


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Yes they can be used. Are they the best? no. if you sit them on the tank they don't spill to much light, I wouldn't suspend them above the tank. Take one apart and see what ballast is in it, if it's electronic you can drive almost any bulb, if it's magnetic then you are limited to what is listed on the ballast.

The Geismann is a t-5 it won't work in that fixture, you need a t-12 or a t-8 I would recomend the t-8 if you have electronic ballasts, Home Depot has tubes that work good, look in the specialty tube section and grab the Phillips Natural sunshine, it's a nice wide spectrum bulb that is affordable. Then go to the heating section with the sheet metal and get a small roll of the shiny aluminum tape for taping up duct work and you can make reflector extensions out of it to help the light get into the tank.

If the lights have magnetic ballasts, you can upgrade them to electronic and overdrive the tubes also. there is a lot of info on here about that.

Good luck


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## xtremefour (Sep 30, 2008)

Ok cool, I did not want to sound like a cheap skate but I have 2 of them in my basement that work and are not being used. I will take one apart and see what I can figure out. My wife will love that...lol

Thank you, 


Matt


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## xtremefour (Sep 30, 2008)

I forgot that I made this thread and started another one today. 

Will the Phillips Natural Sunshine bulb work with what I assume are my magnetice balast? I tried putting a 40 watt T8 Aqua Glo bulb in and my balast makes a buzzing noise and only a little bit of the bulbs lights up. I put a normal bulb from HD in and it worked fine.

Are electronic balast exspensive?

Matt


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