# Beginner Hood - Ballasts?



## redFishblueFish (Feb 12, 2006)

I've been comparing prices for lighting for my 29 gal tank, and don't really want to pay for the commercial lights. I'm planning on creating a hood with shop lights attached on the inside. However, the issue of ballasts is fairly confusing for a beginner like me. If I'm using shop lights (supposedly ready to go) should I use a remote electronic ballast rather than the ones that come with the shop light? Also, I am planning on making this hood a suspended one (seems the easiest way to go), so should I have an acrylic sheet (possibly hinged) resting on top of the tank/mounted to the bottom of the hood?


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

honestly... if you are going this route, i would not go with the packaged shop lights. you will lose a lot of space, almost 5 inches (??). if you're handy enough, i would buy the generic fluorescent end caps, or get Ice Cap end caps if you're worried about moisture. you will have to get a separate ballast, but make to take notice on the label how many lights the ballast will power and the types of light tubes. home depot people are great for this.

then make sure to get enough wire, single conductor is preferred.

this is what i made for my tank a few years ago. it's using 24" 20W T12's at the moment.

DIY Canopy with lights

and if you have sufficient space between the lights and water surface, say 4 to 5 inches, you shouldn't need cover. but if you do want go that route, i would use glass instead of acrylic. it will warp after a short period.

anyways... that's my humble opion 

good luck!


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## redFishblueFish (Feb 12, 2006)

I think I might go this route. For your hood, where did you get the end caps (Home Depot?) and did you attach a power cord from a different device? Also, do most ballasts come with their own wiring diagram? Thanks for the help!


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

yes... i got my end caps from home depot. up here they're a couple of dollars for the pair, and the power cord is home made as. just bought a three wire cord, about 6 feet and a three prong plug. i wired it up to the ballast, and yes, all ballasts (especially the ones at home depot) have a wiring diagram on the label.

i've since changed to 2 - two lamp ballasts, each powering two lamps. i connected the two power wires from each ballast together to one power cord.

if you're unsure of how to wire up the ballast, let me know and i'll help you out as best i can. wouldn't want you to get a shock, that wouldn't look good on my part


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## titan97 (Feb 14, 2005)

If I recall, I bought my 4x lamp ballasts from HD for about $18 each, the endcaps were about $2 for a pair, and the lamps were about $4 for a 24" GE Aquaray T8. I bought a cheap 10' extension cord and cut off the female plug. I used the rest of the cable and the male plug to provide power to the ballast. I also bought some roof flashing to make a reflector. I ran the ballast as 4x OD, which means that I connected every wire to a single lamp, instead of 4 lamps. This greatly decreases the bulb life, but greatly increases the light output. But it won't give you 4x the light output, so don't think it will. At the end of the day, I had purchased 4 of these setups, giving me a ton of light (almost 11WPG), but I also have a 24" deep tank, which makes a difference, as well as the fact that my hood overhangs the hexagonal tank, which looses some light, too. 

If I had to do it again, I might try purchasing a DIY setup from ahsupply.com. The price is pretty reasonable for the similar amount of light output.

-Dustin


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