This housing is made using roofing flashing and painted black.
The wires go into the flexible "goosneck" support (the white thing on the back of the fixture). The goosneck allows the fixture to be positioned up or down as you like it.
The end caps are basically electrical wires that have been wrapped around the bulb pins and completely covered with silicone.
The front side of this housing is made a little longer than the back side. This prevents glare from the bulb to reach your eyes when you sit in the low couch by the tank.
The housing is extremely light because it only contains the bulb and the reflector for it. That's why the gooseneck can support it. The ballast is under the tank.
Cost of the housing itself is less than $3 ($1 of this is the black spray paint, $2 for 8 ft. of roof flashing). You need a few small screws and nuts, silicone, a cheap desktop lamp that supplies the goosneck ($6-10 in any store):
http://www.ccrane.com/images/medium/brushed-nickel-gooseneck-lamp.jpg
Pictures of the single 48" DIY T5HO housing:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/48T5HODIYHousing#
This single 54 watt Giesemann Midday bulb allows me to grow Downoi on the bottom of the tank. Too bad I don't take better care of the tank. As you see I let it evaporate quite a bit. But this post is about the cheap DIY housing, not about aquascaping.
--Nikolay
The wires go into the flexible "goosneck" support (the white thing on the back of the fixture). The goosneck allows the fixture to be positioned up or down as you like it.
The end caps are basically electrical wires that have been wrapped around the bulb pins and completely covered with silicone.
The front side of this housing is made a little longer than the back side. This prevents glare from the bulb to reach your eyes when you sit in the low couch by the tank.
The housing is extremely light because it only contains the bulb and the reflector for it. That's why the gooseneck can support it. The ballast is under the tank.
Cost of the housing itself is less than $3 ($1 of this is the black spray paint, $2 for 8 ft. of roof flashing). You need a few small screws and nuts, silicone, a cheap desktop lamp that supplies the goosneck ($6-10 in any store):
http://www.ccrane.com/images/medium/brushed-nickel-gooseneck-lamp.jpg
Pictures of the single 48" DIY T5HO housing:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/48T5HODIYHousing#
This single 54 watt Giesemann Midday bulb allows me to grow Downoi on the bottom of the tank. Too bad I don't take better care of the tank. As you see I let it evaporate quite a bit. But this post is about the cheap DIY housing, not about aquascaping.
--Nikolay