Quick Hood Inc Lighting

[samyboy]

today i bought myself a clear seal 15 gallon tank £20.85 so im well chuffed (as i really dont have much cash to spend) this was more to keep forgien depris from entering the tank until i can afford the rear mcoy/build a propper cover, its not entirely complete as intend to perspex the hole up to prevent condensation knackering the light up, also the light is an energay saver bulp (10watt) im shure an ordinary househuld bulb would heat the water up too much, the material is just corragated plastic i found lying around the garage

before, standard table lamp using a low watt energy saver bulb to light tank, tank water exposed

after, as you can see the lamp is removable (i will cover the hole with perspex so condensation wont cause safety hazards

here you can see with the light removed gives easy access for feeding (appologies for the blurred image my digi cams screen doesnt work)

again this is just tempory as hoods are readily available for the tank and ive got plenty of plywood around to make my own if i can be bothered , all critisisam and advice welcome

Sam


p.s. the tank has just been set up and begun cycling thats why its a little bare

 

[bobf]

Looks like a neat idea samyboy!

Don't know about the bulb you're using but if it's one which gets hot you might want to leave a little space between the (planned) perspex cover and the edge of the lampshade - pic 2 ? Otherwise you might find you get through a few more bulbs than you'd want as they will 'pop'.

I would be careful too, as the light you are using will probably not be earthed and runs at 240v (UK?) - too much moisture getting behind the bulb may short to the lamp stand or even you!

 

[Neal]

I had a glass cover on my fry tank (it was a betta at the time), and my brother (hes an electrician) was fitting a light in my cabinet for me, but he forgot the brackets so he placed it on the glass, we went down for dinner and came back up, only to realise the cover didnt exist anymore and it was inside the tank in peices, and so was the light, still turned on! We turned the light off and let it out to dry and turned it back on, and it's still working today! Now i've just got a sheet of perspex my mam nicked from work (B&Q) over the top.

Neal

 

[samyboy]

eeeeeeeeek..you could of had fryed fry glad there were no injurys fish or human

 

[Qays]

cool. btw, what are the dimentions of the tank? and why is your water-line so low?

 

[Marcos]

As the others have said, that light fitting is not designed to seal against the bulb, once there's enough moisture built up behind the bulb it will short. It may create enough heat that (dependiing on what the light is made of) could even cause a fire. Why not replace that sheet of perspex with another without the hole in it so the light fitting doesn't gat covered in moisture? You won't loose a lot of light through the perspex and it'll be a lot safer.

 

[samyboy]

cool. btw, what are the dimentions of the tank? and why is your water-line so low?

24x15x12 - 14.81gallons, that was during set up thats why the water level was low

and ive stopped using the cover too much hassel the light now sits about 6 inches above the water line with no cover, next time i goto the lfs that stocks clear seal stuff im going to get the appropriate condensation tray and eventually the hood and some propper lighting