DIY MH Canopy - 10G Options

[DSparks]

I've been sick and home from work the last two days, so I took the opportunity in between toilet hugs :x to finish wiring this thing up . . .

Materials:
The hood is put together using project wood from Lowes. I added a little trim for a decorative finish and also to help the hood match my DIY stand.

The guts are made up of:

• Aromat 5EUF Ballast (Ebay)
• Aqualine AB 10,000K MH Bulb (HelloLights)
• MH Mounting Bracket (HelloLights)
• 13W Actinic PC w/ Ballast (Old Hood - AHSupply)
• DIY Moonlights (Old Hood)

Outcome:
I'm extremely happy that I made the decision to upgrade. There is just no comparison between the color from my previous setup (PC's) and the color from this MH. The shimmer alone was worth the upgrade. It really appears that you are looking at a little patch of reef under the sun.

I was worred about heat with the ballast being mounted inside the hood, but the temp hasn't went above 80, which is only 1 degree higher than with the PC setup.

I may add another 13W actinic after I get to feeling better. I don't think I need it, but I have an extra one laying around so I might as well go ahead and take advantage, right?

Here are several pics. Let me know what you think!

[DSparks]

BTW, that pic is with the MH just coming on. It's much brighter once it's had a few minutes to power up. I was just going for a view of the hood on the tank.

Here is a pic of the inside:

[DSparks]

Here's a view of the hood open. I HAD to build this feature in. With my last hood I had to remove it from the tank to feed, do water tests, etc. It was a real pain.

[DSparks]

Here's another view showing the moonlight location. The moonlight points up into the hood which gives a more even coverage.

[DSparks]

And finally, a close up of the MH installation. The reflectors were re-used from my old hood. Two of them together were just the right size. I'm using 1/8" glass for UV filtration.

[jmt]

nice!

[theclearblue]

well-built, I like it.

[onthefly]

Freakin' clean DYI Sparks!

If I end up making a taller hood (possible with my temp issues and summer rapidly coming), I'm going to make the same UV shielding box! Great idea. Now I see why your glass is less that 2" away....I wasn't getting the mental picture in the other threads.

Good Job!

BTW, I retro'd my system when I had the flu as well......funny!

EDIT: Just a quick observation.......I noticed to grounded the ballast to the socket screw......should that be grounded to a real ground, like a 3 prong power plug? That's what I did. Just a thought, maybe an electrician could chime in

[DSparks]

Lol, onthefly, you caught me! I was wondering who would be the first to straighten me out on that. It is just temporary until I pick-up a three pronged plug and remedy the situation.

A lot of people don't like the way these wooden hoods look. I didn't either when I built my first one. It just looked funny. But now it looks perfectly normal to me. I guess after a while things just grow on you.

onthefly, what ballast are you using? My Aromat has a slight tendancy to hum from time to time.

[onthefly]

BUSTED!

I'm using the 3euf aromat. No hum and it barely gets warm. Although, I have so many PH's in my talk and the fuge.......any hum might be drown out in the water noise.

I love it! The tough part was cracking the case and attaching the ground wire (the 5euf's come with it right?).....I cussed a bit during that whole process, but now it has been awesome!

[DSparks]

onthefly, I'd love to see some pics of your setup, specifically lighting. Any links?

[Von digity]

Thats beautiful Dsparks... Boooooootiful.


If you scoot the ballast somewhere else, say the back, you could probly throw in another pc or two, or three.
You could do like 1 actinic and 1 6500k on each side of the halide, put them on a timer and give yourself a "dusk-dawn" effect.

[DSparks]

Thanks Von

I left the back open to deal with heat, so I don't really think I can move the ballast, unless I remote it away from the hood.

Hmmm . . . see, I knew I shouldn't have posted pics. Now I'll have the thing ripped apart for a mod already. VON!!!!

[Von digity]

Yo Sparks, I'm sorry, but you better get your sick butt back in the garage (or wherever your workspace is) and get cracking with the mod. J/k

It's good the way it is though, really. I'd leave it alone for a while and enjoy it...

[Saul 1]

Good job Von! Very clean setup. I like your UV shield box. I too have something similar to that on my MB 7 and am using 1/8" glass for UV filtering. What kind of glass is it? Is it just standard glass? Reason I ask is because I just have standard glass and most people in the forum have said it needs to be UV tempered. Initially, I was worried that I might get coral damage but its been on now for about 2-3 weeks and everything is fine.

-Saul

[Saul 1]

Sorry made an error, I meant D sparks.

[DSparks]

NP Saul . . .

It's regular 1/8" glass. I believe onthefly is using the same thing without any ill effect on his tank, but he'll need to verify. From all of the different posts I've read, I think that the normal glass will do fine. There was a recent post on this topic, but I can't remember which forum it was in.

[DSparks]

OK, I guess I lied earlier. My temp got up to 82 today. Looks like I'll be installing a fan this weekend.

[Von digity]

Regular glass will filter out UV. It might not stand up to high temp like tempered would (hence the "temp" in "tempered). But it seems like you guys aren't having any problems with that.

[onthefly]

*Chiming in*

Sparks - I need to get some new pics of my set up ....this weekend I'll get some! Yeah, I'm running the 1/8 stuff from HD as well. I'm having some serious temp fluctuations (80-84 daily!)and the problem (I'm thinking) is my CPR fuge. I have an open back hood, but the fuge restricts air flow back there, and I think that is the cause. I'll get it squared away and the couple of SPS that have browned recently should color up! So, I suggest 1 or 2 fans......I run a single 40mm radiosmack fan. This weekend I was thinking about drilling holes in the sides of my hood and installing 2 fans (one in, one out) and try to improve air movement.

Saul - I stole the wife turkey thermometer and put it directly under the MH (about 2" away). It reached 120F......that's not hot enough to crack untemp'd glass.

Von - Who is the honey with the mullet? You're a lucky man Von!