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Protect PCs from water?


ross76053

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Just spent a couple of weekends making a custom canopy and base for my first 10-gal...

 

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p...4032&uid=647360

 

The PCs will be about 2 1/2 inches off the water - do I need to protect the bulbs with a glass lid? I'm hoping not, since much of my time was spent making the perfect removable front cover on the canopy for easy access.

 

A guy in another forum said you need to protect your PCs from water. First time I've heard that, and the PCs have moisture boots on them (2 x 36W blue/white).

 

I'm familiar with the possible heat problem and have two built-in fans on back blowing inward - just need advice on PCs and their exposure to water. ???

 

Thanks,

Ross

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If the sockets are water resistant, then you don't need to protect them, unless you have fish that are going to cause a lot of splashing. If I had dotties or gobies, I'd probably worry a little, especially the first ocuple weeks. But if you decide to get a fish like that, you can just use a glass cover until they seem to have settled in.

 

Incredible work, by the way. You just made me feel horribly inferior after my hood project.

 

http://ubermensch.org/reef/photos/diy5

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great looking hood, i'll take three! ;)

 

you should place a acrylic sheet at least between the water and the bulbs. the reason is splash on the bulbs. hot bulb with relatively cold water goes bam! just like a coffee decanter the hot glass can't make the adjustment. you're gonna want to make some turbulence on the surface for oxygen exchange so there's most likely going to be some splash.

 

mkramer also makes a good point on the endcaps. true water resistant endcaps like you find on vho's has at least two flexible seals to keep out moisture. i haven't seen a water resistant pc endcap before (that's not to say they don't exist though).

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So how do you guys/gals feed your critters? Is it:

 

1) Take off the canopy

2) Take off the glass/acrylic

3) Feed

4) Replace the glass/acrylic

5) Replace the canopy

 

There's got to be a better way... What do you think about a sheet of glass that doesn't completely cover the top - one that leaves about 1 1/2 inches length-wise on the front for feeding?

 

Ross

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it's what i do for my nano, although i feed very rarely (only inverts).

 

on my main i feed the shrimps first thru the refugium (10g aga-versa top) which has a space in the back as you mention. whatever they miss goes to the fish.

 

can you further customize a little door on the canopy? the pc's just need to be protected from splashing water. you may be able to get away with a partial top.

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I just lift up the front lip of mine and slide it back. But maybe just that works for my particular design. My glass also sits inside the hood, not on top of the aquarium, so it goes with the whole hood.

 

For my 10g, whose hood sits on the inside lip of the aquarium, I just lift up the acrylic (which the hood actually rests on) in the back and slide everything back.

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Thanks for the responses - I spoke with a guy today (at an LFS) who says he built basically the same canopy as mine - he had a HUGE heat problem, even with two fans blowing inward through the back of the canopy (2 x 36s). He had to redesign his canopy.

 

Here's what I've decided to do - raise the entire canopy three inches from the top of the tank so that the canopy is only supported on the corners (you'll be able to see under it). I'll attach a small clip-on fan in back if necessary.

 

Raising the canopy (& PCs) to this level will protect the bulbs from splashing water (unless one heck of a coral-fight breaks out), solve the heat problem along with the "how do you guys/gals feed your critters" problem.

 

Will it look as nice? Probably not. Just want to provide the best environment possible for the little guys. This will require a canopy re-build, but I think it'll be worth it.

 

Ross

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printerdown01

As far as I know, no one has created a waterproof end cap (or socket) for PC bulbs... Scary thought!!! My only recommendation would be to post a thread in the General Nano Reef Discussion Board to see if anyone out there has actually kept these things exposed. It would be hard to imagine that SOMEONE hasn't!! Another tip, if you do decide to go this route, I would highly suggest that you go with PCs from HelloLights.com... THey are extreamly cheap, so if you do blow end caps or ballasts you won't have to pay a fortune to replace them! No worries, you won't electricute your tank or anything if your end cap fries! I have had water proof ones (for NO bulbs) blow in the past on my 55.

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See my DIY thread on my Custom made hoods for sale. ;) I never really had a heat problem. I use glass covers on all tanks. Thre are a lot of reasons to use a cover. Do a search on Glass tank covers :)

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Hi Ross :-)

 

Love your work.. I'm building a similar hood at this very moment and have been debating the various methods to make the front of the hood removable/openable. Any way you could post some additional pics of it for us?

 

My thoughts on the heat problem:

You've got the fans blowing in, but that really sort of makes a convection oven inside there and increases the heat transfer to the water surface. I've seen a number of DIY hoods where they put slits or holes in the top of the tank to allow the heat to rise up out of the canopy. Of course, you're in good shape now considering you've raised the whole thing a couple of inches and created an additional airspace. However, don't you have light just blowing out the gaping space between the canopy and the tank? I am of the opinion that this will dramatically reduce your lighting's intensity...

 

I have an idea that I'm really interested in, which is to make a dado around the entire canopy just below the reflector which would act as a slot to fit a piece of glass or acrylic. I would cut the material lengthwise about 4 inches from the front of the canopy so that I could slide out the 20"x4" segment at feeding time while the rest of the glass/acrylic would stay in place. I'm going to build this this week and weekend and it should be ready by the first part of next week. If you'd like, I'll post some pictures when I'm finished -or maybe we'll meet at one of our LFSs and have a hood "show-n-tell" ;)

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A guy at an LFS talked me into the suspended hood thing, but the more I read, the more I realize I'll be introducing more problems, like jumping fish, evaporation and salt-crusted bulbage. So I'm changing my mind again (just a guy trying to build the perfect hood...)

 

Dave ESPI, I looked at your custom canopy design - really nice work. I noticed that you leave the back open for equipment. Questions - do you prefer glass or acrylic? And when you feed, do you simply remove the hood and then the glass? By the way, I wound up reading many of your posts - your sense of humor cracks me up! So do you service reefs for a living, or part time (or for fun)?

 

Goofnut, sounds like you're wanting to build the perfect canopy as well. I just blew back into town from Delaware and will be working on a new design this weekend. Who knows what, but I'm good at woodwork, and dang it, I'll have something finished by Monday. Like your idea about the dado & acrylic - sounds good.

 

I'm not really happy with my removable front cover - it's a little snug, and after I stain & finish it, it'll be stuck for sure. Think I'll start over, forgetting the removable front cover & searching for another easy way to feed. I'm looking for easy access through the canopy without having to remove the whole danged thing. Then there's the glass/acrylic that'll be in the way as well... I'd like to see what you come up with.

 

Ross

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yeah, I was thinking about a hinged front, but I'm not sure how good that's gonna look/work with mitered corners. I'll post back here when I get it to the finishing stage :D

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Just finished my hood - did a reality check and gave up on the "perfect hood" thing. I'm sure it can be done, but until someone tells me how, I'm going with the slide-off top & glass.

 

I decided to open up the back completely to prevent overheating. Kudos to the people at AHSupply for the PCs I purchased from them - they took all of 20 minutes to install. New pics at:

 

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p...4032&uid=647360

 

I'll stain & seal the wood tomorrow. I'm using "Varathane" for the sealant - I've heard it's toughest, hardest surface you can buy (also mixes well with vodka for a quick pick-me-up).

 

Can I get a poll on the best place to buy live rock? Not impressed with my LFS's stock. Also, is it okay to cure in the tank itself (& add sand & coral MUCH later) ?

 

Ross

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