Matty1124 Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 ^+1 you will find that the more light the better... are you going to use some type of splash guard? i would just to keep moisture down inside the hood... with all that heat and moisture i would be afraid of that beautiful wood work getting damaged... dont skimp on the sealing of that interior.... and get your self a sheet of glass to act as a cover to fight moisture... are you going to have a fan to cool those lights? i had two 40w bulbs over a tank in an enclosed fixture... it really needs a fan... even though they run cooler then other lights they still prodce a lot of heat Link to comment
gurnie Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 Yup, i'm working on a lexan top to protect the lights from splashing water. And I'm not skimping on protecting the interior. polyurethane is a waterproof sealant/finish. with another piece i am doing, after the 2nd coat if you drip water on the piece, it balls up and doesn't seep in. I'm still not fully convinced on doing a reflective surface on the inside of the top until i see how the piece comes out with the polyurethane finish. its a glossy finish and it should be sufficient. this is a 5gallon tank with 64 watts of light. i think thats plenty personally. plus a reflective surface will really heat up the storage compartment which i'm not too keen on. as for the lights/fans... currently there are no fans installed on the tank. but the power chord hole is on the upper end of the hood, which should act like a chimney and allow the heat to seep out. also the food hole acts as a chimney unit. i haven't run the tank through a test run because the wood isn't finished. until then i won't know the temperature Link to comment
reefone Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Might not be necessary, but there are simple ways to improve things without the reflectors. Simplest way it to paint the inside with a high gloss white paint. flat white reflects better than gloss. gurnie ur a girl? nice looking canopy and stand. Link to comment
gurnie Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 flat white reflects better than gloss. gurnie ur a girl? nice looking canopy and stand. I just got done putting a coat of polyurethane down. I gotta wait an hour before i can turn the darn thing and put a coat on the bottom. Whew. I agree white reflects better than glossy. I think i'm going to be stubborn right now until i feel like i need to make a change. I can always go back and make a reflector. And yes, i be a chica Thank-you for the compliment I hope no one is offended by my stubbornness. it's how I am. i just don't want to make any more changes unless it feels like i need to. i'll barely have enough time to get what i need done, done, so i guess adding another task is too stressing.. this is suppose to be a fun project btw, where can you find aluminum flashing tape? home depot? Link to comment
herranton Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 And yes, i be a chica Thank-you for the compliment Uh oh, your secrets out, let the harassment begin. J/k, but the ladies seem to get a lot of attention around here. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 I got mine at Ace Hardware, but any hardware store will sell it. A reflective surface will actually isolate your upper chamber from heat a little bit more than without it. Infrared light (heat) is part of the light output from these bulbs. A reflective surface will reflect that energy away, not absorb it and make the area as hot. You are still going to get some heat in there, but a reflector can help reduce it a little. Link to comment
gurnie Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 Well i put on the third coat for the tank and sometime this week i'll get a chance to do a fourth and final coat. now i have a question that may be best suited in either the pico or general forum, but we're all reefers here... ha that sounded funny in a college humor way... Anyways, I was building the false wall for the 5.5 gallon tank and i realized how much space it is going to take up. so i am now thinking maybe i need a different solution. Currently i have the Red Sea nano filter Red Sea nano filter link and this was what i was going to use for this tank. I was also going to use Minijet 404 pump with the false wall. But i'm thinking if i put 8 lbs of well placed live rock on the tank with the filter on one end and the minijet pushing water through the other end, shouldn't that be enough circulation/filtration? More pictures coming soon!!!! Link to comment
seagul Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 is that a mock up overflow i see???????? you should try and squeeze those reflectors in there, it will definetly light that tank up much more. looks nice over all tho! im jealous, im only running 1 x 18watt 50/50 over my 5.5!! but i do have a secret weapon after cycling, 70w HQI retro, for when i feel ballsy enough to attempt the SPS portion of my tank build. you should also look into an ATO, i made mine for around 10$(float switch shipped) i had the pump/wires/extension cord/plexi. the water will evaporate at a very very steady rate, my 5.5 was previously a FW planted tank, and i was topping off every other day. Link to comment
gurnie Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 Yup i was playing with Overflow ideas. Here's another idea i have: The water goes through the "teeth" of the skimmer and falls into a chamber with cheato and a filter pad on the bottom. Under the filter pad the sump is separated by another chamber where the pump is housed. then there is a tube connected to the pump, which pushes more water flow. (the little white dots in between the two squares allow the water to drain down below to the pump) would that work? it would take up a heck of a lot less space. i did build an ATO for this system, it hasn't been tested, but when the switch is triggered the air pump goes off... so in theory it works Link to comment
gurnie Posted June 17, 2008 Author Share Posted June 17, 2008 Here's what the tank looks like at the moment (no lights installed) with 3 coats of polyurethane Link to comment
gurnie Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 Update: Thanks evilC66 for the reflective tape suggestion. It worked out awesome. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Glad to hear it! Worked very nicely for my freshwater lighting too. Link to comment
gurnie Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 So here's the finishing images: Everything my friend needs fits into the top compartment (tweezers, drip acclimater, refractometer, ect) so the design has really worked out. If anything i might have made the top compartment bigger, but it really worked out and came out really clean Link to comment
irishtexan Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Wow great tank! Any updates? Link to comment
gurnie Posted November 12, 2008 Author Share Posted November 12, 2008 Posts on this tank will now go here: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=175963 Link to comment
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