My DIY Light Hood (56K warning)

[hmt321]

I built a hood for my 125 gal tank.

The sides are 1 x 6 and the top I cut out of 3/4" birch ply

I have 2 large hatches on each side

here are some picts after construction

the round holes on the ends are for ventilation, i will place 4 computer fans (2 blowing in and 2 blowing out)

this is after I have painted it (3 coats oil base gloss)
and installed lights and fans

here is the power strip on the back, i have 4 light fixtures, two 96 watt and to 55 watt.

I consentrated the lights over the planted areas of the tank

the fans are two 3" computer fans and two 4" fans I bought a 12 volt dc powersource from radio shack and wired them all together. I have the 3" fans forcing air under the hood, and the 4" fans forceing air out.

a friend of mine builds computers and he suggested that the 4" fans blowing out would create low preasure under the hood and would be more benificial to air movement.

last pic

I put my ballast outside the hood to cut down on the heat

what do you think?
any suggestions for improvement

I will post after i have the tank set up and plants in next week some time

 

[icecubez189]

very nice, i wish i could learn more about the wiring, ballasts and electronics involved with a hood

 

[Hurley]

Looks really good! What did you use to paint it with? Also, I would love to see how the lights are set up on the underside of the canopy!

 

[hmt321]

I will post a pict later,

I bought the light kits from AH supply, it comes with wiring instructions, it was time consuming but not to difficult

I painted it with an exterior oil based high gloss paint.

 

[beatle]

Nice looking hood! I also do a fair amount of work with cooling computers. If you can only have one fan, it should be exhaust, but otherwise you should have an equal amount of air flowing is as is flowing out. Fans lose efficiency if there is a vacuum or pressure working against them. To make the most of your fans, make them all identical. You'll love the output of your new setup. What are you using for DC power?

 

[hmt321]

I used a 12 volt radio shack power supply, i cant remember the amps right now.

I will post a pict tommarrow, have not had a chance to get by the office today.

 

[Sploke]

Why do you have 4 ballasts? I just ordered the same thing from AH Supply, 2x55w and 2x96w. One was for a 55 and one for my 150. Each one only came with one ballast. Maybe I'm missing something with your design?

 

[beatle]

I'm guessing he ordered individual kits to allow for lighting flexibility in turning things on and off.

 

[Sploke]

Oh ok, I guess thats why a single 2x55w kit is so much cheaper than two 1x55w kits, because of the extra ballast.

 

[hmt321]

I used the single ballasts so i can turn off individual lights if i so choose. more expensive but more versitile

imo