DIY Light Fixtures

T

thetermite

AC Members
Feb 13, 2009
44
0
0
49
Dubai
have decided to design and build my own light fixtures. the LFS here are charging a stupid amount of money for a simple set up. I did some math and turned out that it would be cheaper if i build one myself.

i would need 3 Metal Halides (2 at 20k and 1 at 10k) along with 2 T8 or T5 blue lights. that should be plenty of light needed for eventual corals.

My question is: has anyone here done something similar that could post a picture that i can take a look at to give me an idea or suggest a design? the frame that i would need would be 120cm x 40cm. hanging would be preferable so i can adjust the height.

comments/suggestions/advice/critisism is all welcome!

Thanks
 
The lumenarc and lumen-brite reflectors are worth the money, if you can work them in some how. Hanging from the ceiling is easy, just get some wire rope and use that. If you are just looking for something very basic, build a box out of 1/2" plywood, put some nice molding on it and stain it, then screw everything inside it and keep the ballasts in the stand.

Cheech and Ace25 both have pretty nice homemade canopies. Neither are hanging, but I believe both incorporate MH and T5HO, so those might be something to look at to get some ideas.
 
Its possible...most prebuilt MH enclosures you see are metal.
 
I guess I should have been able to answer this. The hood I have over my frag/nano tank is plastic. I guess it just needs a lot of air flow to help keep the heat down.
 
my current light setup is horrible and inadequate.

the set up i want to build is an metal frame thats suspended via heavy duty L-shape brackets mounted on the wall that the tank is up against. on the frame would be 3 MH lights - 2x20k (white) 150w lights and 1x10k (blue) 150w light. on the front and back of the frame would be 2 T5 blue lights used as night lights.

this is the light (watts) requirement that i was advised on at my LFS. everyone thinks its too much.

another thing...all the MH lights im finding at local electrical stores have the ballast (transformer) built into the back of the lights which means alot of weight. they are the same ones used in gardens and other outdoor areas. waterproof, which is a good thing!

as for the heating issue, i dont have a heater nor a chiller installed. i live in dubai, so i defo dont need a heater, and the chillers here would cost me at least 700USD...at least a good one. my temp range throughout the day is anywhere between 25 and 28. im assuming that would go up as soon as i put in my new lights. (fan across the water surface maybe?)?
 
you got that backwards...20,000K is blue, 10,000K is white.
 
what size tank is this going over, anyway?
 
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