What is a Garden Light Box?
A garden light box is a cost effective and attractive way to keep your tropicals healthy throughout the winter months.
In the cold seasons of the year, tropical plants especially need extra care.  Some pond plants (such as frogbit) will grow just fine with a regular florescent light and others will survive outdoors even in freezing temperatures.  Other more tropical plants need a little extra help with lighting, heat, and humidity.  Water hyacinth is one such plant.

Estimated Cost $0 - $25
All the supplies I used for my light box I had on hand and was able to get for free.  If supplies are purchased, your light box could cost up to $25.

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Start with a 10 gallon aquarium
A garden light box can be as large or small as you desire!  A basic light box is made with a rectangular 10 gallon aquarium.  These can be purchased used for a few bucks or new from the store for $10 - $12 dollars.  I had an old cracked aquarium, so my cost was $0.  You can easily find a 10 gallon aquarium at a thrift store or yard sale. Craigslist.com is also a great place to find free project materials.  

Cut and insert mirrors 
This is where I really lucked out.  I initially purchased 6 - 12x12 mirror tiles for $12 at Lowes, but they were the wrong size and needed to be cut.  Then I made friends with a man who owns his own glass business in town.  And, he said that he would be glad to cut scrap glass for the garden light box!  My cost was $0 dollars for this. 

Select Lighting
If your aquarium already has a dome light that's great!  If not, then a regular fluorescent kitchen cupboard light will also work.  The long fluorescent bulbs are great, because you can install red or blue grow bulbs. A 100 watt daylight bulb can be purchased at Lowe's.  Any higher wattage (such as a 400 or 1,000 watt flood light bulb) needs a special fixture for fire safety reasons. 

1. I already had an old aquarium dome lamp, so my cost was zero. However, lighting might not be necessary if your light box is placed in a window facing the sunlight where the sun's rays can reflect the mirrors.  I enjoyed the look of my light box so much, that I turned toward my living area.

Choose your Plants and Install
The plants that I need to winter over in my garden light box are water hyacinth, frogbit, and water lettuce.  The important tip to keeping these plants is warmth and humidity. Your light box will provide just that! 
 

 

The last thing to do is find a place for aquarium, fill it with water, fish, and plants, and that's it!  If you do not have any water garden plants, they can be found for free at The Aquatic Plant Exchange for the cost of postage. 

Fish are cheap and easy to find.  Every county has some kind of mosquito abatement program, so you can even fill your tank with free minnows!  I placed 4 baby goldfish from my pond into the tank, and with the mirrors, it looks as if I have 8 or more fish!

 

Everyone Loves It!
The pic certainly does not do this project justice! Seeing how a pond looks from under the water with the feathery roots and how the goldfish live is actually pretty fascinating.  This was a fun and easy pond project and I look forward to seeing yours too!