New Lights For My Cichlid Tank

Ok my old light just got a bit tired and I'm really tired of using the flash on my camera so i decided to replace or should i say add to the current fixtures.

currently i have 5 compact florescent bulbs and they do a "good" job, not great, i use 3 of the 50/50 coral lights to give the blue one's more of the shine.

well its time to upgrade and my brother and i are up for the job. I stopped by big Al's my LFS and spoke to the knowledgeable staff, and mind you i got there on a Saturday morning 5 min after they opened, i know what your thinking but you work night did you wake up at 8:00am just to buy light, well no i just didn't got to sleep because i was so excited. i got 2 48" Quantum 40 Watt Color Intensifier T6 bulbs and 2 48" Quantum 40 Watt Blue Actinic 03 T6 bulbs. and to my surprise there is a difference between t12 and t6 that goes beyond just physical size they are wired up differently, and will not work if you plug a t6 into a t12 fixture the ends will glow and if you plug a t12 into a t6 fixture you get nothing.

so i paid a visit to the best source at hand, Home depot a home improvement store, the had 8 different ones, it was there i learned the difference, i quick glance at the diagram said it all. but i still had my doubts, and they didn't have any ballasts that supported 2 40w t6's only 2 32watt'ers however they did have ballasts that supported t12's at 40w...

so i left empty handed, and called my bro, he gave me three possible leads a to where i can got some ballasts, and they all closed early on Saturday and are not open on Sunday... so after covering 200 km in the time frame of an hour or two(weaving in city traffic) i ended up getting another lead, it also was a dead end. I visited every signal light shop and electronics supplier in town and nothing no one had anything for two 40watt bulbs. so i went to another home depot(3 in total) and got two of the ones that support one 40 or two 32's and hoped for the best. as well as 1 36" bar of aluminum angle stuff, normal florescent tube ends a electronic timer, and some new smaller compacts.

here is a pic of what i came back with all nicely laid out.

So i quickly went to my shed and cut the aluminum down to two 16" lengths. then i pulled the old light and changed them for the new ones, at this point my bro came home from work and gave me a hand(he had to work the weekend), we centered the brackets over the tank and temporarly taped them up. grabbed two tubes with the ends on them and fitted them up. it all lined up so we marked down where the brackets will go. i decided to get rid of the front most light and i will use it to power the new tubes. it just got in the way.

we marked the mounting and where the holes where to be drilled. i scuffed the brackets down where i will have to epoxy the mounts on later.

I mixed up some 2 part hard plastic epoxy and glued it all up(thats the blue stuff in the pics.) we did another etst fit and once everything linged up we took it dawn again and drilled the aluminum. three bolts per side(All stainless hardware), we brought it in and ran a air line as a angle drill is the onlt thing with the proper clearance to wet in. Of corse covering the tank so nothing can fall in. we bolted everything up with 9/16 bolts and tightened it all down. at this piont the epoxy was rock hard(ony 1 min working time and 5min till hard)


once it was all up we tested it on the two light mode and they didnt look right... so we hoocked it up on the ballast was only powering one bulb and at a quick glance at the bulb i was seeing spots... the blue one is bright. this got me a bit p****d off in that now i need two more ballasts thats $25 a pop. sofar im up to about $250. a bit much but a LOT cheaper then the equivlent thats ready made.

i went back to home depot(4th time) and got two of the t6 ballasts and two of the t12's just to test and after trying diffent wiring cong's, nothing... so i will give them back tomarow. my brother did all of the wiring up untill now and its almost doe all we need to do is hoock the auto 7 day timer up, set it and forget it.

here are some pics.

if your wondering thats mylar tape i got at a electronics store for $5/50' role, i covered the roof of the enclosuer with it as it is like a mirror.



here is a pic with the brackets bolted up SOLID(i hit them with a hammer and they didnt flintch) and a pic of the f ballasts ready to be wired up.

here is what the look like off withe the tubes in place, note the work table...

and the brackets all wired up and good to go.

and the ballasts all routed and wored up, well minus the power...

And the lights on.

and of the fish.

not the best shot in the world, the first pic esp. since the glass is covered.