....putting together their own light? Not the 48 inch shoplight kind of setup, though. I am looking for something for a 20 gl tank, without having to buy an expensive hood for the tank. The tank is 2 ft long, and maybe something can be build with wood or something as a box, and then do the fixture myself. If I just knew how?
Anybody ever tried that?

After pricing hoods recently I see why you ask. The hood and ligths on my 55 gallon are old and broke and I wanted to replace them, but decided to pretty up with I have!

I wonder if you could cut the lid of a rubbermaid to hold one. I was trying to think of material and that's all I could come up with. It could be cut. The next challenge is how long the light could be on without melting the lid. I don't know if that material could be supplemented or what. Hmmm.....

If heat really gets to be a problem, you can put a small exhaust fan on the side of the light box.

It is getting too complicated!

You could get a piece of glass (if you can find one the right size) and use that to set a light on, the same a regular hood. I would still worry about overheating it though.

I'm not sure if you mean you don't want flouresents at all but are thinking of incandesents but here is a website that sells DIY light fixtures
aquarium home supply

I've seen quite a few personal web pages of people who post their progress on their home built tank hoods and light fixtures. The Krib would probably have a good bit of information on this as well.

Maybe a peice of glass/plexiglass with a "clip-on" desk lamp. That's really cheap and pretty easy.

andrea,

heres what ive been doing:

i regularly visit my local goodwill shops. ive already amassed a very nice collection of things that can be and are very useful in aquatics. namely flourescent lighting. you should have much of a problem finding flourescent desktop lamps there.

anyway, what i do is disassemble the hood from the ballast base and rewire (basically extend) them so that the ballast sits in the cabinet under the tank while the hood is on the tank. as albert suggested, if the heat is too intense, you could install a small exhaust fan (i get mine from old microwaves).

with a general understanding of electical appliances and a little ingenuity, you should be able to find all the parts you need at goodwill. the hardware store and even in curbside throwaways.

good luck and post back if you need some clarification or other ideas!

oh yeah, aluminum baking pans (restaraunt or commercial size) are a very good source of material for building lighting fixtures and hoods. they can easily be cut with metal shears and fastened together with rivets. and they have enough square footage to cover a 20 gallon.

Thanks, everybody! After my move is completed, I think I am gonna take an old tank light apart to see how the whole thing is put together, and then it goes off to HomeDepot to see what they have.....
HomeDepot is a treasure trove to me!

I use the glass cover method withsimple shoplights on top. I'm in the process of putting together my own hood, mounted inside a wooden box I will make. I'm using my own ballast, all you need is wire, endcaps and mounting caps. If you're just doing regular wiring it's really not that difficult!! Everything can be purchased at a Home Depot or similar pretty cheap! That way you can also get extra bulbs in there.

Sorry, forgot to include a link,

try www.plantedtank.net for great DIY tips and articles, there are alot of VERY knowledgable people there.

Thanks, Lyndzy, I will try that link after moving is finished on the weekend!

No prob, it's hours of frustrating DIY entertainment