I start with the cheap 4' shop light at Walmart. The Lights of America brand works very well as a two tube VHO light fixture. I get the one in the white box with red lettering. It has a wider reflector that sits on the tank frame.

 

I remove the cheap internal ballast and replace it with a Work Horse 7 placing it inline with the power cord to keep heat away from the light fixture. Cut the plug off about 6" long and use it as the plug for the WH7 and leave the power cord intact using it to run the lines from the WH7 to the fluorescent tubes. I give the fixture a good coat of glossy white paint to keep the rust away longer. The fixture sits on the frame of a 55, 75, 90 or other 4' long tank so the light is close to the water putting more light into the tank.

 

To further protect the end metal, I cut short pieces of airline tubing and cut a slit down the length. With some Silicone I place those pieces on the bottom edge of the metal where it sits on the tank frame.

 

The tubes I use can be expensive or cheap, they both work about the same. For about $60 you can use the UVL VHO tubes, one Actinic White and one Super Actinic. For ~$30 you can buy a plant grow light at Lowes and an Actinic tube at Petco.

 

It's nothing fancy but looks clean, white, simple and allows a lot more sunlight to come into the back top of the tank. Here is a pic.

 

But since we only need to know

Temperature daily,

Salinity only monthly at water change time

Alkalinity and Calcium only every 2-3 weeks or more, 

we can get away with just having two real test kits, Alk and Ca.

 

Mg, I, NO4, PO4 and all the rest can be done at the LFS only as needed. Big $$ savings

 

Should I talk about how to turn a $10 Walmart shop light and $90 in parts into a $250 value light fixture?

and thank you everyone for being such a help