eddie29 Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 I think I saw someone use a 13 watt reflector for a reflector on a 70 mh. That might be an option. Eddie Link to comment
foo Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 eddie29 - The reflector is not the big issue the real problem is dealing with the venting heat and adressing UV shielding inside a closed hood. This is slightly complicated by the small form factor of an enclosed hood over a 7 gallon minibow. There are of course many differnt solutions. Link to comment
eddie29 Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 I was more addressing the height of matts canopy then the heat issue. Link to comment
MattGecko Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 Hi Eddie, Both Foo & I are making similiar canopy's with 70W HQI's. I would really like to mount the light in the canopy without the fixture (like your saying). My biggest problem is the uv shield & the cost of a custom cut piece of glass (it has to be the same shape as the top of the tank). I will have an Iceprobe on my tank soon, so i'm not worried about heating the water. Foo, Let me know how the glass shop go's? Your going to find high temp glass to put in your pendant? Link to comment
eddie29 Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 Is it really that much for having a piece of glass cut the size of the canopy? Eddie Link to comment
MattGecko Posted August 22, 2003 Author Share Posted August 22, 2003 Eddie, I haven't checked any glass shops yet. the lighting upgrade is only in the thinking stage. I'm still a month away from finishing the stand & canopy before I start my lighting upgrade. I'm trying to do this as cheaply as possable. ya right, there isn't anything cheap in this hobby (soon to be 7G setup= $1K) Link to comment
foo Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 If your bulb is a few inches away from the shield then I think you can get away with not using tempered glass. I'm only looking into a small rectangle of glass to fit my custom made pendant because the bulb is only an inch away from where the shield is. If the custom tempered glass is too expensive I might try to move the shielding farther away from the bulb. Link to comment
foo Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Alas, my progress is slow. I only had time to cut the 3 other sides to the top, trim them to length and cut a rabbit in the pieces for the hood this weekend. Link to comment
foo Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Since I decided to paint it all black I'm just using a medium grade of plywood for the sides. Link to comment
foo Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Trimmed to size the laminated bowfront piece I made the week before. It was a bit tricky since I'm trying to get a 22.5 degree cut to fit it to the 22.5 degree cut in the sides. Link to comment
foo Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 I used a stright cutting router bit and the inside part of the form to remove material for the rabbit around the inside bottom edge of the bowfront piece for the hood. I did it in many passes and used a chisel to remove alot of the material. Link to comment
foo Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 I used the table saw to make sholder cuts on the straight pieces to make the rest of the rabbit. This was as far as I got today. Still left to do: Cut openings for the fans, hoses, cords and what-not. Use the biscuit cutter and do the glue up for the sides. Add a top piece to complete the hood. Price cut tempered glass for the UV shield. Mount the light. Mount the fans. ...Install the shield...Will it never end? The top will include a little door similar to the stock minibow plastic hood so I don't have to lift the whole top Link to comment
MattGecko Posted August 25, 2003 Author Share Posted August 25, 2003 Looking good!!!! You have a closed back. You don't have a HOB filter? I finished my stand and have began to primmer it. Canopy is almost done, I just have to sand the top. Link to comment
foo Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 thx. I haven't decided whether or not I want to build a refugium/mud filter as I originally planned. If I go with a refugium I'll only cut two holes, one for the outlet, one for the inlet. But then I'll need to build the refugium too. Maybe I'll just make a square cutout for a HOB filter since this is taking too long. Maybe I'll make cutouts for both so I can get this thing up and running and in the future replace the HOB filter with the refugium. What did you eventually do about the fans and pendant? Did you build some ducting with sheet metal? Link to comment
MattGecko Posted August 25, 2003 Author Share Posted August 25, 2003 I'm lagging on the lighting upgrade. I haven't even started yet, so far all I have is the M85 ballast). Won't having a closed back, make for poor ventilation? Link to comment
bertz_maru Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 nice work guys.. foo, as you said that you dont know if you are going to build fuge dued to how long its taking.. if i was you.. take your time.. do things right the first time and it will save you alot of time and money... i say go wit the fuge cuz it keeps the algae down in your main tank... patience my man.. if you need some macro for the fuge shoot ill send you some.. take your time.. go wit the fuge.. i can tell your going to build a bad@$$ tank... =) Link to comment
adinsxq Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 foo... that's awsome. good thread people... good thread. Link to comment
Gilman Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 I want one! Threads like this make me wish I wasn't mechanically declined. Great looking canopies. Gil Link to comment
MattGecko Posted August 25, 2003 Author Share Posted August 25, 2003 Just have a little more sanding to do. I made a rear flip up piece to cover the HOB & hold the fuge light. But I have an Iceprobe on the way so I will have to redesign in. Link to comment
foo Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 Thanks for the compliments. Bert - With your encouragement I'll try to build the refugium and continue with my overengineered design. I already have some feather and grape calupera so I think I'm okay there, unless you have some of that spaghetti or other kind that doesn't spread sexually. The fuge will be made of acrylic, maybe I'll use smoked acrylic. I'll need to visit the plastic store this weekend and dig around in their scraps bin. Matt - looking fabulous. What I and Matt are building are two slightly different designs that show what can be done if a little bit of time is invested and combined with woodworking techniques. I hope others are inspired to try. Link to comment
digitallinx Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 that is very nice work there................ Link to comment
MattGecko Posted August 29, 2003 Author Share Posted August 29, 2003 I picked up an Iceprobe/controller last night. Its quite a bit bigger than I thought it was going to be. Not sure if I'm going to have enough room in the AQ300/fuge to mount it. Maybe I'll have to make a larger fuge in the stand & mount it there....... Donno. I decided to not use a pendant fixture, going to mount it straight in the hood. I'm going to order Ushio 70w HQI bulb & holder. Link to comment
Phish Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 That is awesome, it looks really good, but do you plan to have some glass between the waters surface and the lighting fixtures? This is good to look at for me because I am going to start building a canopy for my 40g African Cichlid Show tank. (Soon to be reef) Link to comment
MattGecko Posted September 3, 2003 Author Share Posted September 3, 2003 Phish- For power compacts only I would not use glass. With PC/MH, yes glass is a must. Hey Foo- Hows it going? I've began painting everything gloss black, should be done in a week days. Since everyone paints the inside of there canopy white, I have some extra chrome spray paint.......... Should I? Link to comment
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