Custom lighting?

red_wall

red_wall

Whoosh! feel the onomatopoeia
Jun 15, 2008
964
0
0
SE Georgia
I would like to change my fluorescent tube light hood into one that will have screw in for the swirly compact fluorescent bulbs. The hood holds 36'' T8. Dont know if that makes a difference.

I have seen DIY lighting on the site before, but no instructions on how to make them. I want to do this with my dad who was an MT in the navy, so it shouldnt be too hard of stuff to do, I just dont know how to do it?

SO.

If anyone could please post instructions or tips or if its even POSSIBLE to convert the hood into one that takes compact fluorescent.


Thanks.
 
For starters, what you need to do is take the flour. lights out. Then cover the "shell" with some sort of shiny something, like aluminum foil. It needs something to help reflect the light into the tank. You will need a light socket that has a mount tab on it. You know? The tab is an L shaped thing usually on the end opposite the bulb. Use aquarium safe silicone to glue this to the hood, through a hole left in the foil. Run the wire through the hole where the old light wire was. You can either mount a switch or use an inline switch. Don't leave it so you have to unplug it to turn off the light.
 
Personally, I'd stay with the T8. That's just me though.
 
Well, I would but its inappropriate lighting for my tank :/
30 Watts for a 46 gallon, and I cant find any T8 bulbs that are 36'' with sufficient watts
 
What wattage are you trying to achieve?
 
White paint is a better reflective than foil. Btw, yes, I did something very similar to my 20H, with very nice results. Also to my 5g hex (I took the cover that covers the now non existant filter and added a socket, plants should now grow :) )

BTW Red, you WON'T find a 36" tube with any higher light output, its almost fixed, and very little can people do.

Another option is AHsupply, I know alot of people here like their kits.
 
if you arent good with ac, dont **** with it. 36 inches is a decent span, you are going to need atleast 2 fixtures in there. I actually just did this last night with incandescent's, and well, i did one side first and it only lights up like that section of the tank, so you would need several modules. Although these may be convenient to do, sticking with long fluroescents may be the option for you. You will need somthing reflective in the hood as statedabove, aluminum is usually used as it can act as a heatsink for the hood so the plastic above doesnt dstart to get hot and melt. I am sure that aluminum is an important thing just as a safety precaution.
 
Might try this.
 
Alan R said:
What wattage are you trying to achieve?
Click to expand...

Enough to actually have HEALTHY plants. I have all the right nutrients, but not enough light... .3333 watts per gallon isn't really enough to grow anything

Cory Keeper said:
White paint is a better reflective than foil. Btw, yes, I did something very similar to my 20H, with very nice results. Also to my 5g hex (I took the cover that covers the now non existant filter and added a socket, plants should now grow :) )

BTW Red, you WON'T find a 36" tube with any higher light output, its almost fixed, and very little can people do.

Another option is AHsupply, I know alot of people here like their kits.
Click to expand...

This is probably what im going to do haha, they actually sell kits with multiple light fixtures... sounds like a good plan to me. I was looking for something like this, but I could never find it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom