Looking to make some lighting hoods, or just some lighting period that can sit on our tank lids and wont cost us an arm and a leg. Anyone have any suggestions?
DIY Lighting hoods?
- Thread starter Alistriwen
- Start date
Ya, Home Depot has an industrial worklight from Lithonia Lighting called Black Sterling. It's 4' long and nice looking. It hangs from 2 hooks in the ceiling. Have a thin sheet of plastic cut for the underside to protect from water and voila. Like $45.00 and you get to choose the tubes. They are T8, I think.
Guess I should read more... it doesn't sit on the tank, ovbiously.
Guess I should read more... it doesn't sit on the tank, ovbiously.
In my last canopy bought a 2 bulb 36" strip shop light from home depot for about 24 bucks. Then bulbs from the LFS. I bolted it to the canopy wired it up added a switch. Total cost less than 55 dollars. Aquarium light was 150 I think.
In my last DIY canopy I bought a 2 bulb 36" strip shop light from home depot for about 24 bucks. Then bulbs from the LFS. I bolted it to the canopy wired it up added a switch. Total cost less than 55 dollars. Aquarium light was 150 I think, and not nearly as fun to make.
A cheap and easy diy that I found worked for me was a hood made out of pvc rain gutter, compact fluorescent light bulbs, socket adapters, and extension cords. They are same shape as hoods that come with some of the all-glass aquarium kits. They look great, imo, for diy....
I needed to make two for my 300g sa/ca tank. I bought a 10ft white pvc rain gutter for only a few dollars, and 4 end caps (for two hoods). You can cut the gutter to the size of the hood you want (it cuts easily). In my case I cut for two 46'' hoods, and glued the end caps on. I then used a hole saw and made 3 evenly spaced holes on the backside of each gutter, this is to accommodate for the lighting that I will explain next.
For the lighting, I bought standard extension cords, one for each hole that I made on the gutter (so for me 3 per each hood). Each extension cord will have two light bulbs attached. I needed 12 total for my project. I bought daylight compact fluorescent light bulbs (26watts, 5000-6500K). It's important to use the daylight bulbs, for the right color temperature. I found these cheapest at walmart, they come in two or three packs for I think ~$7-8. I bought socket adapters from lowes for each light bulb, less than $2 a piece. I attached these to all the bulbs then put two bulbs into each extension cord. To make them water resistant use aquarium safe silicone and seal around the plugs/socket. Here is a good site for the lighting part of the construction:
http://www.aquariumlife.net/projects/diy-lighting/55.asp
Once dried, I fed the end of the extension cord through the inside of the hole on the gutter. I drilled small holes, and I secured the fixtures with cable ties to the top of the gutter. And Wah La! These lights work better than expected! They are so nice and bright, and the CF bulbs don't produce a tremendous amount of heat. I plugged each "hood" into a 6 outlet power strip, and it's so easy to flip on and off.
You can make your own adjustments as you like....I researched and compiled a bunch of ideas together when I did mine.
In all, it took under an hr to finish both hoods. I tried to explain the best I could. I am not at home, so do not have pictures. But I can post pics when I get home later today if you'd like. Just thought I'd give another option for you to consider....good luck!
Some good points:
*The link above explains the use of aluminum foil for reflective purposes. There is no need for the foil, the white pvc is just as reflective.
*To allow for some of the heat to escape, I drilled several small holes in lines around areas of each light to serve as "vents." You can cut openings, or drill holes, which ever.... just not too big, or light will also escape....
I needed to make two for my 300g sa/ca tank. I bought a 10ft white pvc rain gutter for only a few dollars, and 4 end caps (for two hoods). You can cut the gutter to the size of the hood you want (it cuts easily). In my case I cut for two 46'' hoods, and glued the end caps on. I then used a hole saw and made 3 evenly spaced holes on the backside of each gutter, this is to accommodate for the lighting that I will explain next.
For the lighting, I bought standard extension cords, one for each hole that I made on the gutter (so for me 3 per each hood). Each extension cord will have two light bulbs attached. I needed 12 total for my project. I bought daylight compact fluorescent light bulbs (26watts, 5000-6500K). It's important to use the daylight bulbs, for the right color temperature. I found these cheapest at walmart, they come in two or three packs for I think ~$7-8. I bought socket adapters from lowes for each light bulb, less than $2 a piece. I attached these to all the bulbs then put two bulbs into each extension cord. To make them water resistant use aquarium safe silicone and seal around the plugs/socket. Here is a good site for the lighting part of the construction:
http://www.aquariumlife.net/projects/diy-lighting/55.asp
Once dried, I fed the end of the extension cord through the inside of the hole on the gutter. I drilled small holes, and I secured the fixtures with cable ties to the top of the gutter. And Wah La! These lights work better than expected! They are so nice and bright, and the CF bulbs don't produce a tremendous amount of heat. I plugged each "hood" into a 6 outlet power strip, and it's so easy to flip on and off.
You can make your own adjustments as you like....I researched and compiled a bunch of ideas together when I did mine.
In all, it took under an hr to finish both hoods. I tried to explain the best I could. I am not at home, so do not have pictures. But I can post pics when I get home later today if you'd like. Just thought I'd give another option for you to consider....good luck!
Some good points:
*The link above explains the use of aluminum foil for reflective purposes. There is no need for the foil, the white pvc is just as reflective.
*To allow for some of the heat to escape, I drilled several small holes in lines around areas of each light to serve as "vents." You can cut openings, or drill holes, which ever.... just not too big, or light will also escape....