Loaches Online Forum

So, I've aquariums without lighting. What is the best/cheapest way to set up lighting for aquariums without the original lid/hood and light?
It doesn't seem very easy to just buy the correct lid and lighting. Does anyone have any ideas about setting up something that doesn't cost the earth or take ages to find?

It depends on the fish you are keeping. What is the size of the tank and what fish are you keeping?

I say that because all my tanks are closed tightly, since loache,s eels, some catfish, ropefish, crawdad, bichir, Afrocan Butterfly, panda garra, bamboo shrimp . . . are all escape artists and I own them all. If you do not have these types of fish you could suspend a shope light pretty inexpensively, or use eggcrate (plastic -- sometimes used in lighting) as an open lid and balance the lights on them.

The tank I'm concerned about is my 48in long tank. It houses minnows, corydoras and hillstreams. I'm not worried about them escaping as they've never tried before. I have a make shift lid of glass and a lid from a smaller aquarium but the light fixture broke.
Please tell me about those ideas you have. I'm up for making a new lighting set up. I've plenty of glass and or perspex to cover the tank itself.

Which works nicely is if you use gutter and T5/T8 tubes inside and the ballast outside.
Or you can just use small CFL lights, like the 20W ones.

Thanks guys!
You've both got me thinking... and thinking it shouldn't be too difficult to set up a light over the glass.
A light suspended above the aquarium but not fixed to it would work well and also enable me to keep the light on while I'm changing the water etc.

Just watch those Hillstreams, because there are several videos of hillstreams exiting their containers. And Cories have been known t overshoot the surface. Please share pictures. I am sure there are a few DIY projects on here with lighting.

1/4" (0.635 cm) thick lexan (polycarbinate) or plexiglas (acrylic) makes a fantastic and inexpensive tank cover, especially if you already have the material on hand. Just make sure that it's very clean, as the condensate will drip back into the tank, taking any contaminates that are on the cover with it.

As for the light, I found that a single 4 foot T8 bulb is more than adequate to light a 4 foot tank, even a fairly deep one (90 gallons/340 liters in my case). An inexpensive "shop light" type of fixture, such as can be found at home improvement and hardware stores, should do nicely. This also allows you to use inexpensive, efficient, and easy to obtain T8 bulbs, which can be had in a variety of colors as well. I use a 6500K bulb, which gives a very natural color and encourages algae growth (to keep my plecos happy).

Aqueon also makes some very nice glass covers for a number of standard tank sizes.

Thanks again!
And, I'll try and make it hillstream proof Starsplitter.
So, I'm going to try and sort it out this weekend. If I finish it I'll let update the thread with the what's what.
Thinking of a lamp or shop light suspended over the tank which will be glass covered.

There are ways to hang a light over the tank.
If you are sure you will not be moving the tank, lights can be hung from the ceiling. Use hooks that are for house plants, and make sure they are secure. Screw them into the wood that is part of the ceiling, not just plaster or gypsum board.
If you know you may move the tank then you can built an attachment that will support the lights. It would be bolted to the tank stand and arch up and over the tank, then you hang the light from that. Here there is a lightweight steel tubing used for electrical wiring that works well for this. Here, it is called EMT.
With either of these methods you can raise or lower the light to adjust the light level and for maintenance.

Keep the light fixture safe from the water. If you are not using any sort of lid over the tank then make sure the light fixture is labeled for use in a damp area, and NEVER put your hand in the tank if the light fixture happens to fall in. Disconnect it from the wall first. (Not jut turn the switch off)

Thanks again everyone. Didn't do anything really clever like some of the ideas you guys came up with that I wanted to follow. But anyway, I bought a T8 lighting fixture with bulb and cut a wire and plug from an old appliance and put in a 3 amp fuse. Got the light plugged in and working. Then made a small shelf above my aquarium and screwed the light fixture to it. I couldn't fix anything to the ceiling as I was worried about making a mess with the plaster or worse. Put some pieces of glass and perspex on the tank to keep the water and fish in and let the light shine in. So it works anyway. Not perfect but looks good. Now my aquarium has light again and I can have the light still on while cleaning the tank