How can I make a DIY aquarium light for my goldfish tank? ?

Question

I don't want to spend too much, and want to use readily available materials (i.e. not special rare objects). Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Making a light for an aquarium is not that difficult. You just need to make sure to choose a light source that does not get to hot (For example, don't use a halogen bulb right above the water unless you want to slowly cook the fish in simmering water!) Probably some sort of neon or even an LED would be a good choice since they don't get too hot, and added benefit is they don't use much power.

You will also want to make sure to use a Ground Fault Interrupter (sometimes called a GFI or GFCI) somewhere in the electrical circuit for that light. This is the same as you would find in most bathrooms built today for an electric razor or hairdryer.  Since your light is meant to go above a source of water, you don't want the light to accidentally fall into the bowl, and you get electrocuted because your hand reached out a bit too late to stop the light from falling in.  

The GFI can help to prevent this by cutting off the power to the circuit. A GFI is not foolproof, but it may help and is pretty inexpensive to use so it's a good idea.

Answer 2

Well the link before me looks interesting, but I wouldnt think wood over water would last very long...

Here's what I did.

I had a shop light that my brother had painted with special heat resistant paint (black he had black lights in it) It's a four foot fixture, which takes  48" bulbs, two in fact.

I hung the fixture over my tank from the ceiling using the studs in the ceiling of course.

I used 35 pound chain in black to support it, four s***w in hooks attach it to the ceiling, which come down and attach on either end of the fixture two on each side are attached at the same point. this is a VERY study light and it only cost me about 25.00 including the 6,500K  bulbs.

I'm not exactly sure about how far away. but I know you need to get it as close as possible. My tank is right now open I didnt want any Plexiglas or glass cutting down my light UV's but I'm getting quite a bit of evaporation so I'm going to have to go ahead and use the thinnest Plexiglas I can find that will support itself across the tank.

Mine is right now located three inches above my tank, but every inch above your tank you go you lose alot of light. I need to install some foil to focus the beams, but I havent done that yet.

I hope this helps! My plants are thriving:)

(By the way this is your basic T12 Florescent light fixture.)

Answer 3

Its very easy just go to this link and follow the instructions :)

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/sho...