New Hood pics

[Goofnut]

Here's the tank a couple of days ago. I included this pic because the tank got washed out when I took the pics of the hood

 

 

 

Here's the new unfinished hood after I completed the pre-wiring:

 

 

Here's the hood after the polyurethane stain was applied with the lights installed:

 

 

And here's the front of the hood. Like I said, the tank looks washed out, as I only have the 13W 10,000K/ACT 03 bulb on for the picture:

 

 

 

I'm going up to home depot today to get some parts to make a moonlight and night viewing setup, and I'll also be picking up some custom-cut glass to fit into the dado to protect the fixtures from salt spray, etc.

[Paul G]

Nice hood/setup Goofnut - what timber is that ?

[NaNO ReeFiN]

Very nice looking DIY hoods and lights, the tank looks great.

[tgoodrich]

Hey Goofnut, I've been looking into setting up a moonlight also. Let me know what you find at HD.

[yrureefing]

I wish I had a nice hood like that. Mine is butt ugly:(

[Goofnut]

Thanks Nano Reefin, Paul :-) It's "premium grade" pine. I believe it's a whitewood pine, but I'll have to double-check when I go to Home Depot in a few minutes.. It's definately not the standard heavily-knotted WW pine that is used for general framing, etc. I was just about to say that I didn't think they had a comparable wood in the UK, but I did a quick search and found that they do sell WW pine there

 

http://www.old-basing.co.uk/timbertypes.html

 

I made it from a single 1"x6"x10' board and the top, although it looks solid, is two pieces biscuit-joined and glued. There is a BARELY visible seam when viewed from the top. I was actually VERY impressed with how the top piece turned out.

 

I'm probably going to be making this again with Red Oak, but it turned out nice enough to keep for a while. I had originally used the pine as a test so I could work out the design and save money.

 

I am particularly pleased with how the stain turned out. I used Minwax Polyshades (poly/stain-in-one). I had expected it to be blotchy and very uneven (being that it is pine), but I applied the Minwax wood conditioner for soft woods, and it turned out much better than a previous project I had done with Polyshades alone.

[Goofnut]

tgoodrich, I bought some stuff to try out here and I spent under $8 so far for:

 

2-pack of 4W nite lights (clear bulb) with integrated photoelectric eye -$4.49

***(At least one of these will be used for the moonlight effect. I will use some glass stain to tint the bulb blue, unless I can find unfrosted 4W blue bulbs somewhere...)

 

1 standard 4W nite light (clear bulb) with on off toggle switch -$1.89

***(This will be used for the red night viewing light. I only want it on when I want to view critters)

 

1 6' white extension cord -$.97

 

I will test this out, and if the "moonlight" is bright enough for me to see inside the tank, I may just leave out the red altogether.

 

I'll post the results here -it may not be what I'm looking for. If that's the case, the only thing I lose is $.97 for the extension cord which will have to be cut to go inside the tank, and my time, of course; but I have lots of that at the moment

 

[tgoodrich]

Hurry up!

[Goofnut]

hey yrureefing,

 

I'm considering making a few of these for locals in a couple of weeks. They won't be that expensive, especially if I don't have to provide the lighting -unless people want Oak, etc. If you're interested and in the area, let me know and I'll see if I can come up with a price that is reasonable. :-)

[ross76053]

Goofnut,

 

Wow - the hood turned out really well! I like the placment of your lighting. The dado was a great idea for your glass - looks nice.

 

I'm working on nightlights myself...three LEDs. They're more expensive (with the relay switch I'll build to work in opposition of the PCs), but don't really care. LEDs are good for the "spotlight" effect, and that's what I'm after. I won't run the LEDs all night, only a couple of hours after the PCs shut off.

 

Ross

[Goofnut]

I won't have the chance to really offically wire it up tonight -I'm packing for a trip to Santa Fe. However, I laid the bulb inside the hood on top of the glass sheets that I bought tonight and turned all of the lights out in the house. I think it looks great. It'll look REALLY nice once I paint the bulb with the glass stain.

 

I tried to take a couple of pictures for you to see what it looks like, but it's a very subdued light, much like natural moonlight, and the pics just didn't come out. Even after I edited them to adjust brightness and contrast, you just can't get an idea of how it looks -not even close. Sorry, I just don't have a good enough digital camera to do it. I hope to get one soon!

 

SO, if you hang an old nightlight over your tank and turn off all the lights, you should have an idea of what it will look like X) -it will be a bit less bright and should have a fairly blue hue once the paint is applied. The best thing about it is the shimmering effect on the substrate -like you get from incandescents, halides and the moon over moving water. VERY pretty! It's not a spotlight effect like we saw in the post the other day -it's a bit brighter directly under the bulb, but darkens gradually towards the edge of the tank.

 

I'll see if I can't get my friend to come over with his adjustable shutter speed digital camera so we can take some better pics of my tank :-)

[xalex1]

He Goof Nut , where did you buy the conector part were you conect the 13w bulb ??

 

 

??

[Goofnut]

Thanks Ross Maybe we should go into business together You did a great job on yours as well! Now I have to go get some matching wood molding so I can cover up that black plastic base!

 

xalex, the 13W kit was purchased from hellolights.com. I understand that they don't sell parts individually. The 36W kit was purchased from ahsupply.com.

[Dave ESPI]

Looks like one of my own hoods ! Nice job... I also like the incorperated routered glass shield on the hood. Perhaps Ill have to try that on a hood... My only concern is the wood snapping as the rabbet is only a 1/4 inch. also I would reccomend wrapping the connections in electrical tape.... salt will still creep.

 

So AGAIN.. I was right about the Home depot Photo eye huh..? LOL 4.00 and makes fer a happy reefer !

[Goofnut]

Thanks Dave :-)

 

I /wish/ I could have used a router on this project. The rabbet had to be a hair over 1" and the largest rabbeting bit I have is 3/4". I had to do it with a table saw and without a rabbeting jig! Boy was that an adventure

 

I also had to do the dado with a normal table saw blade. I don't have a dado head just yet. The glass I got slides in perfectly into the dado (with a bit of room on either side and on top in case the wood swells or warps.

 

I can't vouch for the long-term stability, as I did use pine and I suspect it will probably warp a tiny bit, but I don't anticipate it snapping off. It's not terribly heavy. In the long run, I plan on using Red Oak for the next version; but that can wait a while, as I'm quite happy with this one.

 

Once I get everything completely and finally wired, I plan on shooting some silicone into the wirecaps to make sure everything stays dry and in place.

[xalex1]

thanks goofnutt !!

[Goofnut]

hehe :-) The moon light is almost ready. I put the glass stain (red and blue) on a couple of bulbs. It took quite a few coats, but it seems good to me at this point. NOW, I just have to mount it and I'll let you guys know how it turns out