I've been reading a lot of the posts about lights so I'll throw this at you because there's a lot of pages (which I don't have to time to go through right now) to read to see if it has been mentioned. a search didn't come up with anything.
I see that a lot of people are using mercury vapor bulbs. Most of the mercury vapor bulbs burn toward the yellow visible spectrum (really simplified). A suggestion I submit is using lights that are used in salt water aquariums. The Very High Output (VHO) and Metal Halides (you want the daylight bulbs) are in the high white spectrum and are very 'bright'. The electronic ballast that you will require for the lights are expensive, but they come in kits which include a reflector (conic or flat - your choice) or the parts can be purchased separately. The upside is that they last a long time and since you're not worried about a slight loss in light over time, they should last several years.
The electronic ballasts run very cool (the Ice Cap ballasts I can attest too as two of them drive my VHO florescents on my 375 aquarium) and are easy on the electric bill. There is no need to have a fan for them (you will for the bulb area), they run that cool if not enclosed. They look good too, so you may not want to cover them for the coolness factor. They also have minature florescents. If you want more bulbs, you can gang them if you get the right ballast. Warning - these ballasts are not cheap but beat the cheap ones both in cost of use and mean time before failure. I've had my two ballast for nearly nine years and no sign of quitting or bad power output (blackened ends of flourescent tubes).
The metal halide bulbs are also small, not like the hugh bulbs that are typical for mecury or outdoor halides. That will save you a lot of space inside that cabinet.
The down side may be that the lights may be too high on the UV side (certainly the actinic bulbs, which are like a blacklight and not what you would want) but I don't think that it would cause any problems. Bulbs are rated from 5000 Kelvin to 20,000K for metal halides. If you've never seen one of these bulbs in action you will not believe how bright they are. Hey, they are supposed to simulated noon day sun for deep water tanks (water absorbs light like you would believe).
Search for marine aquarium specialists to see the varieties of lights that are available.
Anyhow, you can visit the Ice Cap website at http://www.icecapinc.com for a recommended electronic ballast. They have a good reference for their products. Yes, I've got a lot of experience with this type of lighting, if you were wondering.
Hopefully this helps or gives everyone a new route to think about light sources. Good luck to all of you and maybe I'll join you ranks for DIY'ers. Got to admit, some of the stuff you're doing is very interesting.
I see that a lot of people are using mercury vapor bulbs. Most of the mercury vapor bulbs burn toward the yellow visible spectrum (really simplified). A suggestion I submit is using lights that are used in salt water aquariums. The Very High Output (VHO) and Metal Halides (you want the daylight bulbs) are in the high white spectrum and are very 'bright'. The electronic ballast that you will require for the lights are expensive, but they come in kits which include a reflector (conic or flat - your choice) or the parts can be purchased separately. The upside is that they last a long time and since you're not worried about a slight loss in light over time, they should last several years.
The electronic ballasts run very cool (the Ice Cap ballasts I can attest too as two of them drive my VHO florescents on my 375 aquarium) and are easy on the electric bill. There is no need to have a fan for them (you will for the bulb area), they run that cool if not enclosed. They look good too, so you may not want to cover them for the coolness factor. They also have minature florescents. If you want more bulbs, you can gang them if you get the right ballast. Warning - these ballasts are not cheap but beat the cheap ones both in cost of use and mean time before failure. I've had my two ballast for nearly nine years and no sign of quitting or bad power output (blackened ends of flourescent tubes).
The metal halide bulbs are also small, not like the hugh bulbs that are typical for mecury or outdoor halides. That will save you a lot of space inside that cabinet.
The down side may be that the lights may be too high on the UV side (certainly the actinic bulbs, which are like a blacklight and not what you would want) but I don't think that it would cause any problems. Bulbs are rated from 5000 Kelvin to 20,000K for metal halides. If you've never seen one of these bulbs in action you will not believe how bright they are. Hey, they are supposed to simulated noon day sun for deep water tanks (water absorbs light like you would believe).
Search for marine aquarium specialists to see the varieties of lights that are available.
Anyhow, you can visit the Ice Cap website at http://www.icecapinc.com for a recommended electronic ballast. They have a good reference for their products. Yes, I've got a lot of experience with this type of lighting, if you were wondering.
Hopefully this helps or gives everyone a new route to think about light sources. Good luck to all of you and maybe I'll join you ranks for DIY'ers. Got to admit, some of the stuff you're doing is very interesting.
