adinsxq Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 hope sw doesn't splash over that guard acrylic wall. if it does, it looks like your sockets are low enough to the acrylic surface that they might get salted. i'd be really careful (fire). even though the ballasts are remote, i'd still heat shrink the connections just in case. are you worried about gas exchange? what's the temperature looking like? maybe try spraying the outside of the hood with black krylon to mask the light leakage. looks nice Link to comment
tylernt Posted September 9, 2003 Author Share Posted September 9, 2003 Yes, sloshing is a concern. Thanks for bringing it up. I don't see how I can heatshrink the huge socket and the little wire together, but I do have some electrical-tape-in-a-spray-can. I could spray a puddle into a container and then dab it into/onto the connections with a small item to seal them. Hm. Liking the idea. I did find an inline / portable GFCI at Lowes for $10 and I will be using that in case something Bad does Happen. Gas exchange... yes, it's all sealed up pretty tight. Hopefully I won't get much evaporation huh? Could be a problem though. I'll keep a close eye on pH (presumably, if my gas exchange is poor, I'll get a buildup of CO2, which will drive my pH down, right?). I just added water an hour ago (my first gallon of sw... I am no longer a sw virgin, woohoo!), so it's too early to tell about heat. However if I touch the underside of the spash shield after the lights have been on for a while, it's surprisingly cool (ok, not cool, but not really very warm, either). Good sign. Thanks for the comments adinsxq! Link to comment
RobD Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 Nice Work! From my own project ramblings, here's some feedback that you might want to consider. A great product is liquid electrical tape, which you can use to seal some of the electrical connectors. For the connectors in the hood, you might consider using butt joint connectors that you can crimp down, then cover the ends with the liquid electrical tape to eliminate the chance of salt creep causing corrosion or having the covers to the wire connection come off over time. You might be able to get a pack of thumb screws for a computer and use them so that you don't need a screwdriver to remove your lights. Ideally nylon ones with nylon wingnuts holding them in. Still you'll need to change them once a year so it's really only how you feel about it. If you are bothered by the light coming out of the top of your hood, you could cut a small square of black air conditioner filter to cover it. Btw, you can find small solid core wire in multi strand bundles as alarm wire, it should be the right diameter, but it won't flex well which makes it hard to work with. Hey, I know you said no more pictures but, would you mind posting some comparison pictures between 2 lights and 4 lights on? I'm really curious about that. Great Project! Link to comment
tylernt Posted October 2, 2003 Author Share Posted October 2, 2003 A great product is liquid electrical tape ... For the connectors in the hood, you might consider using butt joint connectorsActually I did use liquid-electrical-tape-in-a-spray-can to seal the connections of the wires going into the light fixtures. I didn't use any other connectors, the wires run continuously from the fixture to the ballast box. I did it that way so no joints could corrode or pull apart. Hey, I know you said no more pictures but, would you mind posting some comparison pictures between 2 lights and 4 lights on? I'm really curious about that.Well, I guess one more won't hurt too much. Unfortunately, the camera I borrow for use at work is not the greatest so the pics turn out pretty crappy, but hopefully it's obvious that the left is 4x13w and the right is 2x13w. Thanks for the kind words RobD! Link to comment
dsb1829 Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 cool little diy project. thanks for sharing Link to comment
birdman204 Posted November 28, 2003 Share Posted November 28, 2003 Originally posted by tylernt I'll keep a close eye on pH (presumably, if my gas exchange is poor, I'll get a buildup of CO2, which will drive my pH down, right?). CO2 is Basic, The lights go on, CO2 is being put into the water by the animals at this time, hence the rise in PH. At least chemically this would work, I'm not sure if it's actually what's going on. As far as the light hood being completley sealed, I do not know what adverse effects may arise. I believe if the water is not hitting the guard itself , and some air is passed through, you should be ok. Dam Tyler, what are those? 28 W ? That's some serious DIY, Nice. Link to comment
tylernt Posted November 29, 2003 Author Share Posted November 29, 2003 I did get a little too much pH swing day/night, so I ended up opening 1"x4" a slot near the rear of the splash shield to allow for some gas exchange. Doing so helped the pH stay a lot more stable. The lights total fifty-two watts. Subjectively, it's brighter than my 96w powerquad at home. Thanks birdman204! Link to comment
LynusAnn Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 this is an awsome little setup! you've given me some good ideas for my minibow 2.5! Hey, i see you're from ID...are you close to boise? it's nice to have more people around the area since those of use that ARE in the hobby here don't often meet others around the area. Link to comment
Sushi Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 dayum! good job, you did a great job on that retrofit... makes me wonder what other crazy things ppl have done to the mini-bows... LED, then THIS! you probably have the most craziest PC setup on the mini-bow yet! 52w of PC lighting over the teeny 2.5g...amazing! keep up the great DIYing. Link to comment
bladze Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 light madness. We never have enough light. Really creative and nice setup. Link to comment
Davidd Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 where did you get your 13w 10k bulbs? I have 6500k bulbs, and they're really yellowish. I'd like to get 10k's . That's really cool. I have 4 13w power compacts over a 6 gallon. 2.5 is like, less than half of that! totally insane!!!!!!! Link to comment
Cellenzweig Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 CO2 is Basic, The lights go on, CO2 is being put into the water by the animals at this time, hence the rise in PH. At least chemically this would work, I'm not sure if it's actually what's going on. Bird, I think you got it backwards. When the lights go on, photosynthesis begins. CO2 is consumed and oxygen is produced. Link to comment
AndyL Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 CO2 is not basic... CO2 in water forms carbonic acid, driving the pH down... Andy Link to comment
Totlxtc Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Originally posted by Davidd where did you get your 13w 10k bulbs? I got mine from Hellolights.com Just wanted to say that is very impressive. I thought about turning the 13watters sideways to squeeze one more in my little hood but then i would of had to make a splash guard, etc. Link to comment
Davidd Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 are you sure? cause I wanted to get 10k's, but they only had 6500k's. maybe I missed them. Link to comment
birdman204 Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 For a while, I had my acids and my bases backwards. I think Cellen realized it, Kudos to all those who finally figured me out a year later BTW, I think this tank was the special of the day a few months back. Seafood Gumbo - $154.00 a gallon. Sorry for the pun at your expense Tyler. Link to comment
Totlxtc Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 Originally posted by Davidd are you sure? cause I wanted to get 10k's, but they only had 6500k's. maybe I missed them. Ok, guess they were 50/50's (10K/actinic) but are white in color. Link to comment
slaeyer Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 I must say that this DEFINATELY gives me some ideas. Sure hope you don't try to patent your work ;-) I'd image that there are a few people here who are now planning their own 2.5 mini bow setup now! Link to comment
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