the 48" light fixture that came with the tank is only rated at 40 watts. From what i understand i am gonna need around 150 watts for a 55g for proper plant growth.

any suggestions on a do-it-yourself project or where to get the lighting pretty cheap?

Only catch to this situation is that the tank is going to have to be covered as the stand is not very tall and I have a VERY VERY active 3 year old son.

FishVixen helped me out with my small planted tanks by suggesting construction "clip-on" lamps and equivilent to 100 watt cfl bulbs... this is working great on the 3 small tanks with no covers but they are all on a stand that is 5 feet high and the little guy cant get to them. unfortunately this wont work on the new 55g.

Any and all ideas and suggestions are welcomed PLEASE!

try a glass or acrylic cover with track lighting on the wall above it and the CFB.

i'll look at glass or acryllic covers and maybe I'll build something for the lights extending off of and above the stand. Any suggestions as to where to find the covers at the best prices?? I have a petsmart and a petco right close to my house but i try to only buy stuff like food at those places.

a hardware store is best and will cut to size. For a little one acrylic would be best in case something gets tossed on it

or you can build a canopy with the lights inside and nothing will get in the tank. this one I built

Nice. I like the way the canopy extends all the way down and covers the edges.
I'd have no problem building something like that as far as the woodworking goes... where i run into trouble is with the lighting... what do you have inside that canopy to give you sufficient lighting??

my dad taught me a lesson a long time ago when he said..."if you don't know how to fix an electrical problem... hire an electrician"

I used 2 weatherproof screw in sockets and 2 100 watt CFB. Cheap at Lowes. Or find an old flourecent fixture and attach it in the canopy. The back is made of peg board for venyilation

thanks for the info FishVixen!!

Been doing the measurements to renovate the new stand to allow for lighting...

I'm gonna post some pics of my 3 small planted tanks that you actually gave me the advice as far as cheap lighting and substrate...

Can't wait to see what you come up with

i was thinking a shop light with 2 bulbs and buy some glass panes at a glass shop.
thats the cheapest way i found so far for a planted tank.

The first question you should ask is what are you trying to grow....Swords, micro ground cover usually take alot of light. If you want to do java moss,java fern anubias, pennywort, anacharis they are low level and your 1 bulb should do the trick. I have 1 48" 10000k bulb on my 55 and plants grow like crazy even with floating saravina on top of the water.
http://s1080.photobucket.com/albums/j321/elrollodablue/?action=view&current=100_0282.jpg

1 bulb and regular flourish with water changes