Building DIY Light Canopy

[Colin_BC]

Hi all. I am now in the process of building a new canopy designed for up to eight 8 compact fluorescents for my 30G. I currently use 60W of light (2x Power Glo, 1x Aqua Glo), CO2, fluorite substrate, and feed with Fluorish. I'm aiming for between 120W to 180W, or 4-6 watts per gallon. I'm going to use either just 6-8 23W CPF's or a combo of 23W & 15W CPF's. Is this going to be overkill? What WPG would be thought to be ideal? I have lots of plants already with varying degrees of light requirements, but mostly medium to high (Limnophila aquatica, a few red plants, etc.). I also plan on adding some glossostigma as soon as I can find it locally. My plans are below for any interested. Questions and criticism's always welcomed...

It's a simple and cheap DYI model. It's a wood box with an open bottom and a hinged top, built to the right dimensions to sit on the inner lip of the aquarium and still leave a couple inches of room for the heater and filter on the back. I am building it to the same dimensions of the glass canopy that my current lights sit on. Inside will be two cheap bathroom strip lights($12 ea + $8 for a grounded plug to wire to), each intended for 4x standard-socket light bulbs. I'm going to 6-8 spiral compact fluorescents ($5ea) for 4W-6W per gallon. I'm a bit worried about the heat generated from the compact fluoro's in the enclosed wooden box, so to counter this I'm drilling plenty of holes for airflow and will monitor with a thermometer. If the heat buildup is still a worry I will cut out a hole in the back small enough to attach a cheap computer case fan. The wood (oak laminate) is one 12"x97" piece sold intended for use as a shelf for $10. They're cutting it for me at the hardware place if I give them measurements. I just have to screw it togther and attach the lights. I live in an apartment where my only power tool is 12V drill. I try to keep anything I build is as KISS as possible.

Colin

 

[elgecko]

Having 60 watts on a 30 gallon tank sounds good to me. 4-6 watts per gallon sound like overkill.
I have had great success with 2 watts per gallon for most plants.

 

[Max]

is it floesent light?

 

[Colin_BC]

Yes, it's fluorescent light. My current setup of 2WPG is working well for some of my plants, but a few of them look stretched and scraggily, like they're reaching and fighting for light. One of my plants (don't know the name of most of them unforunately) has some rooted in the fluorite and some floating on the surface. Out of laziness, I haven't bothered to replant the flloater in a week or two, and the growth looks much better on this than the one rooted in the substrate. I'm figuring that this is from the light being much more intense at the surface, as it dissipates the depper it has to reach.

I'll probably just start with enough compact fluoro's to give me 3-4 WPG. Because I'll have 8 spots to add bulbs, I can always add more after and see what results I get. I also want to make sure that there is tons of light for when I add the glossostigma so it will make a nice dense carpet. Whatever I do, I will keep the results posted as best as I can here. My red plants could really benefit from the boosted light as well. I have plenty of hiding spots for the fish that don't like the light so much, like the albino cory, upside down cat, and the angelicus botia loach. My digi camera isn't that great, but I can try to post pic's of the setup as I assemble it for anyone that is interested.

Colin

 

[Bol]

Sounds like a decent way to DIY, Colin, assuming you can find bulbs that will fit, that you like.

I've got a question, though, ... are the bulbs going to be mounted vertically? If so, what's the total height of the canopy?

 

[Silly me]

4-6 watts per gallon is lots.. wow

I would recomend to use 100Watts of full spectrum light ( 4 x 25Watts ), more light that this cause plant growth to use so much fertilizer that you wouldnt be able to keep up, and some slower growing plant would suffer when faster growing plants uses all the nutrients.

Plant growth might also be so fast that the plant doesnt grow to the same hight or as "bushy".

 

[Colin_BC]

Sily Me: Concern noted and appreciated, but I should also state that this tank is a bit crowded. My killi has been thinning out the tetra population drastically, but I still have some notable mass in that tank. I'll have to monitor and possibly increase the strength of my weekly shots of fluorish. I've been using half strength.

Bol: The bulbs are mounted horizontally on the inside of the front and back walls, same style you're bathroom strip lights would be on the wall. Finding the bulbs is easy, actually. If you look for the daytime spectrum compact fluoro's, expect to pay $10-$15 CAD per bulb. I use six the standard 23W spiral compact fluoro's. They're easy to find at casa depot or wally world for about $6 ea. The spectrum isn't necesarily the ideal one, but they are still quite acceptable for plant growth. It gives the aquarium a cool looking yellow glow, and all the fish's colours are more pronounced.

I spent an hour on the canopy yesterday, 2 if you count the trip to the depot for the supplies and cutting. I had originally measured all my desired dimensions and arranged it on the wood I was using to waste as little wood as possible. My canopy was going to be just over 6" in height. It turned out the depot would only cut simple cuts in one direction only in the 12"x97" shelf I was sacrificing. Because of this I had to rethink my plans in a hurry. It all worked out, except I had to buy another shelf ($10, big deal) cuz I was short 5" for the cover piece. My canopy now stands 12" high. The lights are mounted on the inside so they are about 3" above the glass cover on the aquarium. I want to look for some 5/8" wide oak laminate stripping to cover the edges that are showing. My drill ran out of juice before I could attach the lid, but I probably won't even bother with it now. As it turns out, by having 12" high walls with the lights so close to the bottom, it makes a great unimposing light without blinding you. The bulbs can't be seen unless you hang your head right in the canopy.

It was easier than I though to assemble, even with no clamps to hold the pieces snug while assembling. My tools consisted of a cordless drill and a screwdriver. Now for the tough part; the waiting to see the results.....(an posting them, of course).....

Colin

Birdseye View

Rear View

Ta-da!

 

[Bol]

The bulbs are mounted horizontally on the inside of the front and back walls,

Oh, yeah. Duh. /slaps forehead.

I think 'aquarium light' and automatically think 'top mounted'. hehe.

That's a good, easy idea, by the way, and I just happen to need a light strip for a 20g high...

I'd appreciate it if you could let us know if you have any problems with heat.

 

[Colin_BC]

Oh, yeah. Duh. /slaps forehead

Should see the callus on my forehead

That's a good, easy idea, by the way, and I just happen to need a light strip for a 20g high...

Thanks!

Since the walls are 12" high and the lights are low in the enclosure, I'm probably not going to add the top as it the light on the ceiling looks surpirsingly good. It doesn't light the whole room, but enough to draw a lot of attention to and highlight the aquarium. So far, heat is no prob. I may try the lid just to test. If I do, it will have many large holes drilled in the back of the lid to allow the heat to rise freely. This combined with the same sized holes you can see on the rear view (I hope) should be enough for the heat. You can see in the rear view that my drill ran out of juice before I could finish a couple more holes.

Colin

 

[Nexstar]

You might have problems working on tank without removing the whole fixture. Obviously the reason they are normally mounted on the lift up lid. Looking at the photos if you did place a lid on it you could probably mount them to the lid and be able to lift and work on the tank, water changes etc with out having to remove the fixture.

Also could place a couple of computer 12v fans on the back and pull most of the heat out in the summer and turn them off in the winter and let them save you some heater useage.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Bob

 

[Colin_BC]

Bob: You're right about the removing the top for maintenance, but it very easy to move. The previous 2 fluoro light (total 3x 24" bulbs) canopies I had required removing any time I needed to work in there anyways, so this is actually easier for me with only 1 thing to remove.

As for the PC fans, this is what I had originally planned if it was required. If I decide to add the cover, then I will install the fans. But as I said, I quite like how the open top serves as a nice accent light as well. I have vines growing above the aquarium and the extra light really makes it look a nice bright green. The one downside (for me) of installing the PC fan is I'd have to buy a jigsaw to cut the hole. On the brightside, my power tool collection would double....hmmmmm......

I wanted to get some oak laminate to cover the edges of exposed unfinished wood, but haven't found the stripping yet. Instead, i'm gonna run back to the depot and grab some thin oak molding (for your wall borders). One piece will last me for several of these canopies.

Colin

 

[Colin_BC]

I just realized there is a DIY board on this site where this post would be better suited. Could a Mod please move this post (unless deemed more appropriate to the planted tank board). Thanks!

Colin

 

[Lateral Line]

When we move topics between boards, we leave a "redirect" on the old board that way, your thread is "kind of" on both boards.

 

[Colin_BC]

I'm now considering in the next month building a similar canopy for my 10G. Obviously it will require much lower light. I'm debating on a single 42W CPF or 2x 23W Daylight CPF's. I'm figuring on a total cost of $25-$35 CAD ($18-$25 USD) for the whole thing. I'm currently cycling this tank. I will have to grab a bag of fluorite for it. Once cycled, I plan on making this the home for a pair of apistogramma cacutoides or agassizi's.

Colin

 

[Colin_BC]

Well, the original compact power fluorescents I started with had a yellowish look to them. I just replaced 3 of 6 bulbs with 23W CPF "Philips Daylight Energy Saving Bulbs." It's labeled "a cooler light more like natural daylight." They give the aquarium a much more natural look. Turned on, the bulbs appear a whitish-blue (faint) tinge, whereas the originals where kind of yellowish. Next payday I replace the remaining 3 CPF's with these daylight ones. I am already having nice new growth with the bulbs I started with, but I think these daylight's will be much more beneficial. The original bulbs will just go to use throughout the house as the plain incandescents burn out.

Colin