Ques: DIY Hood

[vanguy]

Okay, first I would like to make my own hood. The problem that I have is that the flourescent (full spectrum) specialty bulb, doesnt light properly. Its the static from the hand trick that lights it. See, flourescent holders do not come with starters anymore. I would really like to have the lights on a timer. I use this 'grow' bulb to promote algae growth for my pleco.

Would hardwiring the bulbs into a DIY hood work then?

Would choosing another fairly cost effective bulb work?

Anyone have plans they would like to share?

27 G tank that needs a hood desperatley.

Thanks eh!

[vanguy]

ps. longest bulb I could go with is 24".

[blitzen25bm]

its easy to make a hood i made one for like 20 bucks. but i dont get all that electrical work. for mine i got some pine i think it was for shelves and the front piece i cut it about 1.75 to 2 inches longer then the tanks width. the sides were just measured from the wall to front of tank but you got a light so i suggest a few inches shorter so it can vent. the top was same length as the front but in 2 pieces so i can have it hinged in the middle. screw it all together and get some scrap wood to nail on the inside of the 2 side peices about 3 inches from the bottom so it would make legs to rest on the aquariums side. if you dont get it theres a bunch of plans from other people on the DIY forum here. i just think mine takes less than half an hour and looks pretty nice once its gets stained.

[OrionGirl]

Moving to the DIY Forum. OG

[DIYMatt]

I would make sure you could get your existing light to work properly before I built something for it. Things to check on the light setup are:

1. Do you have the correct bulb for the ballast? See if you can find info on the ballast as to what bulbs should be used. I.E. wattage, type and length. It seems similar to what happened to me when I put a T12 bulb in a T8 fixture of the same length.
2. Is the bulb properly installed in the ends. Sometimes if the bulbs isn't turned fully into place it will problems starting.
3. check for a frayed or loose wire somehwere.

If none of this works, I would say your ballast is on its way out and would bother making a hood for it.

If it is dead there should be many cost effective solutions, but I prefer Power compacts for growing anything. Check here www.ahsupply.com. I am not real familiar with the NO flourescent options at 24", but there should be some out there. I think the GE daylight tubes at Home Depot are supposed to work well. Personally, I use the 19w power compact twists from HD on small plant tanks with success. But, these are screw-ins for normal light sockets, but they are very cost effective and would be easily to mount in a new hood, since you wouldn't need to purchase a new ballast. I hope this helps.