So I was gonna post how happy I was that I was able to get a new lighting setup for my 29 gallon tank. My husband bought me a dual bulb shop light fixture and the bulbs that I needed to go with it, all because I said that alot of people on the forums use shop lights and have no problem with them. Why did I think that something that works for other people would even come close to working for me???????????????????????????????????

So the lights worked just fine the first day (only a half day). Turned them off when I went to bed, everything seemed fine! I was happy cause my tank looked better and I thought the plants would do better with the added light. Get up the next morning and turn the lights back on. Won't come on...hmmmm. Wait a little and they decided to come on all the way. I'm happy again. They worked all day until I turned them off to go to bed. This morning I get up and repeat the turning on proceedure. Won't come on at all. Wait and wait and wait and wait, still no lights. Since I have to work I can't just sit there and wait so I tell my husband that when our roommate gets up to just switch back to the old light (since the old hood light is stored in our roommates room).

So now I'm back to where I started with a crappy light that everyone says won't grow much more than java fern. The damn thing hates the bulb that I bought for it and will turn on and off for 5 to 10 minutes before it decides that it wants to stay on. My husband is out the money that he paid for the new setup and it's all because I can't listen to my past history and realize that stuff that works for other people will never ever work the same way for me (if it even works at all in the first place).

I have no idea where I went wrong with this. I guess I'm not really looking for anything with this post, just venting. Seriously thinking about just letting the plants die off and going for fake plants since I can't seem to do anything light-wise to give them what they need to grow. Supremely fustrated right now!

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Manda in Auburn, WA

29 gallon freshwater community tank. Lots of plants,10 Zebra Danios, 6 neons, 2 ghost shrimp, 1 mystery snail, and 1 trapdoor snail.
<---- Click to help me grow!!!

How did you have your shop light hooked up? Was there a barrier between the light fixture and the water? Do you have a picture?

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Only had it on the tank for two days so never got a chance to take a picture. Yes it was separated from the water with glass. But obviously I did something way wrong for the damn thing to only last a day and a half.

Mainly I think I'm just pissed off that I trusted in myself this much and now my husband has wasted money that I know he'd rather have spent on something else. I'm kicking myself cause I should have known that it wouldn't work for me.

I had this vision of a really beautiful tank like I see in alot of people's pictures but since I can't get a better lighting system to work for me, I know that vision will never come to be. And that's just really depressing to me at the moment!

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Manda in Auburn, WA

29 gallon freshwater community tank. Lots of plants,10 Zebra Danios, 6 neons, 2 ghost shrimp, 1 mystery snail, and 1 trapdoor snail.
<---- Click to help me grow!!!

When your husband purchased the light did it come as a kit or were the pieces assembled separately? IMO it sounds like you may have a bad starter in the fixture but I can't be for sure. Since now a days they are making florescent fixtures that don't even have starters.

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

I think the only thing he had to do was wire in a plug and put on the parts that the bulbs click into. And I know the fixture not working now wasn't due to him not knowing what he was doing because he's a certified master mechanic and I've seen him do things with wiring (including numerous other shop light fixtures) and cars that would make the average person stand there in utter dumbfounded shock (I speak from experience on this one). So it boils down to either the fixture is bad (but if that was the case then it wouldn't have worked at all from the moment it was plugged in) or my bad luck has struck again and decided that I don't need to have a nice looking tank.

So as I see it, I either keep throwing money at the lighting (and considering that I have already spent way more trying to make this a nice natural tank, that ain't gonna happen), or I put the original even crappier bulb that came with the tank back on it and yank all the plants and replace them with fake ones.

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Manda in Auburn, WA

29 gallon freshwater community tank. Lots of plants,10 Zebra Danios, 6 neons, 2 ghost shrimp, 1 mystery snail, and 1 trapdoor snail.
<---- Click to help me grow!!!

The light died in 2 days and you can't return it to the store?

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I just did this myself. Purchased the cheapest shop light at HD, along with bulbs.. Turned it on, WORKS, now 1 bulb isn't working (2nd time i used it).

I'd try replacing the bulb(s), if it still doesn't work, take fixture back to store for replacement.

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100 Dirt + Stuff. To be Angel baby tank.
37 Planted. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f45/pla...nal-20774.html
29 Tall community tank. 5+ Years up and running.
15 Soon to be RCS tank.

Yea I agree with Wes, just take it back and hassle the people until they give you a new one or ever better IMO get your money back and buy a real hood.

2 things come to mind when I think of defective shop lights:

#1. Crappy ballast or crappy end caps from a cheap fixture caused the fixture to fail

#2. Moisture (especially condensation) could have caused the above two listed to short out and/or fail. Shop lights are NOT meant for humid, wet work. I've heard of people coating the end caps in Vaseline as a sealant, you might want to (if you stay on the shop light route) try that as a moisture prevention tool.

Even though there was a glass sheet between the tank and the shop light, condensation can still collect in and around the fixture, and condensation+electronics = bad juju

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!