New bulb or new light fixture

this is going to be for my puffer's 20 gallon, i have the original "hood" and bulb that looks to be in pretty bad shape, im wanting either a better bulb or cheap light fixture im not wanting to spend more than $50 on the new light, i would prefer it to be mounted so i can run the tank open top

the current bulb in the fixture is a powerglow 18" 15w t8.

Im going to keep this tank FOWLR i dont want any fancy light or anything just something to make the tank look decent. Is there a better bulb that will fit in this light fixture or does anybody know of a cheap fixture with mounted legs, RedGambit had given me two links on some cheap fixtures that i would consider buying but i dont know if they have legs or not.

i know most of you are just going to say dont skimp on lighting and save up, but this is just going to be a real simple FOWLR nothing specail, and i dont care about brand names or anything like that on this tank, i already have that on my 46

 

You can put any 15W T8 in the hood. Just buy any bulb that is a daylight bulb.

 

Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Zoo Med Ocean Sun 10,000ºK Fluorescent Lamps

I have this and a 50/50 on one of my FW tanks. Looks pretty good, and the price is nice.

Go cheap and move.

 

Try and find a 10000k bulb if you can. That's what's over my puffers and it really makes their white belly bright white, and their green color pop.

 

Buy a bulb, You can get small T8's like that at walmart for a few dollars, but if you wanna spend the extra money, get a 10,000k T8 Daylight.

 

thanks guys i guess i will just try to find a new 10k t8 light next time im at petco or pertsmart

 

That's a pretty good idea.

You may want to listen to Gambit and go to Lowe's or Home Depot and see if you could find a full spectrum/daylight bulb on the cheap before shelling out for a name brand aquarium bulb.

 

Was funny to find when I was at Home Depot that they carry a 20 watt 48" T5 LOL... Im sure you will find a T8 with daylight spectrum. That was when I had the old hood. but like stated you are doing FOWLR. Just buy a cheap T8 daylight. BTW. Normally you can get like a 10pack for under 15$ lol. Youd be stocked up vs 1 bulb for like 30$

 

thats a good idea, when i go to petsmart tomorrow i t hink im going to check out their bulbs just to see what they have and if i find anything that might work