Adding light to Juwel Rekord 120

[Alien Anna]

Hi Everyone,
my Juwel Rekord 120 (120 litres, 30 gals) comes as standard with a single, built-in, 25 watt light fitting. I currently have a 30 w Aquaglow bulb in it, with a very bright reflector (supposed to double the light coming off it), but it still doesn't look all that bright to me and my plants aren't doing well.

I'd like to add another bulb but Juwel don't do double light fittings or hoods for the Rekord 120 and said they would "not recommend" adding another single light fitting. There is just about enough space in the hood, but without a condensation tray, a standard light fitting would not be safe (not waterproof).

There is an additional problem that the Juwel tanks are non-standard sizes. This particular tank is 38" long by 12" wide, so I can't easily obtain a condensation tray to fit and there is no shelf or anything to hang the condensation tray off. I also couldn't buy a ready-made hood for it and fit my own lights.

Here's the pdf of the technical specifications.

 

[CFC]

I fitted a second tube to the mrs rekord 120 without any problems. Just drilled a couple of holes in the front of the hood and attached a 30" tube with plastic clips which you just bolt to the hood with little plastic nuts and bolts (clips and bolts are made by arcadia and should be available from any lfs). The tube is powered by a arcadia light unit, whole thing costs under £30. One thing is it does make it awkward to remove the hood, have to unplug the jewel light and lift the hood sideways so you dont yank the tube out of the clips and end up with it in the tank, although this has happened on numerous occassions (normally when the mrs attempts to take the lid off herself) without any disasters i think it is best to try and avoid eletrocuting your fish .

 

[Alien Anna]

I fitted a second tube to the mrs rekord 120 without any problems. Just drilled a couple of holes in the front of the hood and attached a 30" tube with plastic clips which you just bolt to the hood with little plastic nuts and bolts (clips and bolts are made by arcadia and should be available from any lfs). The tube is powered by a arcadia light unit, whole thing costs under £30. One thing is it does make it awkward to remove the hood, have to unplug the jewel light and lift the hood sideways so you dont yank the tube out of the clips and end up with it in the tank, although this has happened on numerous occassions (normally when the mrs attempts to take the lid off herself) without any disasters i think it is best to try and avoid eletrocuting your fish .

Hi CFC,
I was thinking of doing something similar, involving brass picture wire and an arcadia light unit. However, I was worried that due to the lack of condensation tray, there was a danger of getting water in the end caps. I've been mulling over this problem all day and I was wondering if either Duck tape or silicone sealant could be use to secure the end-caps? Or if there was some way to create a condensation tray? I'd need some sort of access port in it, like I've got in my Monarch hood, for feeding and what-not, but often I end up having the take the whole hood off anyway.

I'm absolutely dreadful at any kind of DIY that requires imagination - I'm great at following diagrams, but written instructions or inventing things myself I just can't do.

 

[CFC]

The caps on the arcadia units are water tight anway so i wouldnt worry about condensation, i have 3 arcadia lights on my rio 300 with no condensation tray, i have even come home to find one of the tubes floating in the tank (one of the jumpers had presumably thrown a fit and knocked it out of its clips) and it was still on and all th fish were fine .

 

[Phase2]

Let us know how you get on....one thing I was thinking of doing in a tank with no hood was to incorporate three low voltage light bulbs (thru a transformer) as I have no live plants in either of my existing tanks and I am not likely to have any in this new tank.....would this type of lighting 3 x 25 watt halogens be any good or would they be bad for the fish....

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi - I've just ordered a Hagen light unit (similar to Arcadia but cheaper) plus a Daylight bulb, plus some clips and screws and things. I'll try to attach the light to the inside of my current hood and if that doesn't work, I'll just keep it until I've built my own hood.

I'm also planning to put a 15", 10 watt light in my Juwel corner tank as I believe there is a little space I can just about squeeze it into.