jflysmooth Posted February 17, 2003 Author Share Posted February 17, 2003 Okay... here it all is! The hood closed... The hood open.... The finish I'm going to use... and the crazy ballast I got... I need to take a picture of the 13 watt PC shoplioght I got for 9.60 at home depot, but I forgot, so it'll be up next time I take pics. Any suggestions on how I can get that ballast into the hood? I hadn't planned on using MH till I got that. Link to comment
MacnReef Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Very Nice! I used to be a carpenter, but it seems I left my carpentry skills at the last job! Whenever I build things, they never turn out like that! Great job. Actually, last night I was at petsmart with my dog. And I came across a wood canopy for a 29g for only $19.99. It is completely stained and ready to go. I wish I could find one for my 20! Still looking. I had built one but it turned out very cheezy. :x So I am looking to buy one or build one that would look as good as yours. Well, I will stop rambling! Later MacnReef Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted February 17, 2003 Author Share Posted February 17, 2003 Oh geeze, you should easily be able to make something like that if you used to be a carpenter. I only used the poor mans table saw (circular saw, some sort of straigh metal 90 degree cornering, and clamps)... some wood glue, a plastic miter box, oh yeah, and my dad got this fancy new drill press that we used a router bit on to do the sliding door. Too bad it only spins at 3000rpm, it doesnt cut as nice as a router would have done. I have barely more than zero carpentry skill. I just looked at a lot of pictures and tried to copy what I liked with my own little twist. Now for rigging up that new ballast... wish I had planned on having it! Link to comment
MacnReef Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Maybe just order a new mogul socket from www.premiumaquatics.com. That may make it easier to mount. I hate those side wall mounts! Also, mount the ballast outside of the hood, that will help with the with some of the heat! Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted February 17, 2003 Author Share Posted February 17, 2003 The only problem is that the hood is only 5 inches high. Its 6.5 but 1.5 covers teh ugly plastic. Can I use the same ballast on a DE bulb? Link to comment
MacnReef Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 That I don't know about. Actually you might want to find out if that is too short of a hood for metal halide! I thought I read some where that it needed to be like 10" above the water surface. If not, I can use my hood and put a 175W halide and redo my door. If I redid my access door, my canopy would look great! May still do it anyways! Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted February 17, 2003 Author Share Posted February 17, 2003 I was thinking I could cut a hole in the top of the hood if necessary. I started another thread about just the ballast. I finally have the door all glued up and ready to stain when I get back from class. Its hard to go to class when I could stay here and work on this. Link to comment
MacnReef Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 What does cutting a hole in the top going to do for you? I think I am bit confused!??? Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted February 17, 2003 Author Share Posted February 17, 2003 If I cut out a square hole in the top of the hood I could put the light up there and give it a few more inches... of course, that cuts down on the spread of the light a little bit. Ah... I dunno. I'm just toying with ideas right now. I could get a reflector like they have on outdoor halogen bulbs and mount it in there and plop that on top... shrug. Link to comment
MacnReef Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Ohhh, I see! Keep me posted on what you decide! I would like to see some more pics! Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted February 17, 2003 Author Share Posted February 17, 2003 All the latest pictures are at... http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~jcoombs/reef...7%20New%20Tank/ So my current thoughts (after having daydreamed through class) are that cutting a hole in the top of the hood the size of the bulb, or rather, slightly larger, and then setting it on there with a reflector may be the best approach. The question is... how ugly with that look having a reflector on top? The advantages... the light will be slightly higher, and I think it will also be cooler. I'm not sure, but I think those light reflectors ( the outside halogen ones) have tempered glass on them as well. Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted February 20, 2003 Author Share Posted February 20, 2003 The new tank with the old hood on it. The new hood ater staining... The arch I built with the rocks.. it looks better in person, I should take some more pics so its more obvious... Another angle... And more pics at... http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~jcoombs/reef...7%20New%20Tank/ Link to comment
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