CFL bulbs and an "Octopus" lamp... Probably Here's a multi-lamp set-up from jane__ny (thanks jane__ny)...

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Good luck,

Bob

If your looking for a hanging/mountable fixture I would recommend something like this from catalina aquarium.

http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=71_136&products_id=1638

A bit over your budget but if you call them (ask for Jim) he will hook you up with a discount/extra features for free. He can build you any kind of light you want (whatever length, however many bulbs within reason, one switch for the whole fixture or a switch for every single bulb independently).

I own many fixtures from CA that I lit very densely planted aquariums with. These fixtures are noting like the fixtures at Lowes/HD. They have highly polished individual reflectors that easily double if not triple the output of traditional fixtures. Been running one of their lights for about 5-6 years ~9 hours per day, over a fish tank, been dropped more times than i care to admit to and have still not had a single failure of components.

T5ho bulbs/fixtures run cooler than pc (power compact) fluorescent fixtures, have a longer useable bulb life, have about any color of light (K rating) and are relatively inexpensive. Just to put it in perspective, the entire fixture below (3x24w or 72w total power draw) uses about as much energy as one of the 100w incandescent comparable spiral pc bulbs! ;)

Here's one of my tanks with a 3x24w 30" fixture hanging about 2' above it.

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You can kinda see the brightness of the fixture here. Im looking for a better one....

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Here we go.

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I will suggest that you use HPS lights. HPS have a specific red spectrum, which is better for flowering phase of the plant. HPS or High Pressure Sodium lights not only increases the bloom compared to ordinary light; but also is an efficient way of doing this. Here is a link that I came across earlier - Grow Gear

This post was edited by marklucas on Thu, Mar 21, 13 at 6:11

marklucas, how do you compare Metal Halide (MH) light with High Pressure Sodium (HPS) light? Which grows plants better? Also, have you tried LED?

Although not terrible sophisticated, the 125 watt compact fluorescent light bulb setup from Hydrofarms has worked very well for me as supplemental lighting. Plus it fits your budget. I bought mine at a local hydroponics store for about $60. Amazon sells them for a similar price.

juju,

I can speak to those 3 types of lights.

I used to use a 400 watt MH (more natual color) and a 250 watt HPS (very yellow color) in a spare bedroom. The MH helped the vegatative/growing state and the HPS helped with flowering. The real issue with MH and HPS for me was the heat buildup in my spare bedroom growroom. It would get to 95 during the summer and 85+ at times in the winter, great for a warm visit in the winter but it was hard on intermediate and cool growers. I now use 2-90 watt LEDs that are 7-1-1 (red-blue-orage) color rated for flowering and growing, but the pinkish light it generates 'puts me off' a bit, so I supplement with some large wattage CFls (65-85 watts) to get something that looks reasonably normal. When these LEDs need replaced, I'll go with some more natural looking colored ones that are now available. Absolutely no heat build-up with the LEDs.

Hope this helps,

Bob