Replacing Lid On Fluval 125 With Raised Light Ballast And Perspex

[Curiosity101]

Right, hope the title was clear enough.
But here it is in detail.

There is a picture of the whole lid piece. (not my tank though)

And basically I want to remove the whole black section ideally. I have remove it before and so know I can physically, but is it an alright idea or will it be supporting the tank?

I want to attach the lights (via supporting legs that I've seen..?) onto the actual glass tank bit.
Would I need a new ballast or could I simply attach legs to the current one?
If I need a new one could you suggest one please, and where could I get it from. I've seen those 'control/power unit' things that you can plug bulbs into. Never really unerstood what they are for?

I would also like a dimmer + timer switch combo if they exist. So say the lights come on slowly over 30mins, stay on for 7-8 hours and then dim again over 30mins.
Do they exist..if so where and how much?

What sort of new lid would you suggest?
I was thinking something as simple as clear perspex.

So in the end it should be a simple glass tank with the lighting attached at roughly the same height it is now but via legs attached to the sides of the tank.
And a clear perspex lid to stop any fish escaping but let maximum light through.

My DIY skills are good enough to do simple re-wiring. General cutting and shaping etc. So I'm hoping to be able to do all of this myself. But if not and there is anything really complicated then I can always get my dad to do it.

Look forwards to replies.

 

[Curiosity101]

*Bump*
Not being impatient, just want to bring it to the attention of peeps who have just got home from work etc.

 

[rabbut]

You'll have to modify the legs of whatever canopy you are using, to get it to sit over the trim, or remove the trim as well as the plastic flaps and I bar

To dim T8 or T5 lights, you need special ballasts, the magic box things that go between the power supply and the bulb. They do exist, but they are fairly expensive I think and are absolutely MURDEROUS towards your lamps On top of the dim-able ballasts, you'll need a computerised thingy watsit (technical I know) to control the dimming. I don't know the exact costs of the kit needed, but it will be a lot. The computers are about £100, the ballasts will probably be about the same, then you'll have to re-wire the luminare with the new ballasts, then you'll be going through a new set of tubes every month or two...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Curiosity101]

Hehe. So dimmers are off the list then. Nevermind I guess, I was just trying to make things a tiny bit more 'natural' for the fish.

What's the 'I' Bar?

And do you think removing the whole black plastic section will be ok and not take anything away from the strength of the tank.
Or well obviously it will...but I think I should ask the Fluval people if it's strong enough without the black plastic part.

And moving on from that...so I can just attach those legs onto my current ballast? Do they just sort of grip onto it? I've tried to find some but all I could find were the rather expensive T5 ballasts that come as a full set up for marine tanks.

And would you think some clear perpex will be sufficient?

 

[rabbut]

OK, the I-bar is the current light rig, I assumed you have two tubes currently?

Not sure about removing the black plastic, if it's a bit of plastic that goes across the centre of the tank from front to back, it will be a brace bar and needs to be left in place Well, actually, you could remove it an install a new clear glass one across the centre instead...

The luninares you are finding are the kind of ting you'd need to use to raise the lights off the tank as I'm understanding you want to raise them... You can get single and double tube units though, check Ebay for Silver Sun units

You can use Clear perspex, but it scratches easily and reflects out a lot of light. Glass would be better, or just leave it open topped

HTH
Rabbut

 

[Curiosity101]

Yep, two tubes in the current lighting rig.

Well basically that black bit that the 3 seperate lid parts sit on is a solid piece of plastic that slots on top of the physical glass tank.
So by the sounds of your description it will be giving support to the tank.

Hmm, Ooo I know. What if I made a clear square of plastic to make a tight fit around the top couple of inches of the tank? Think that would brace it enough?
I could easily get it shaped and such.

Then I'm thinking more along the lines of some simple plastic netting for the top instead...

And I WOULD need an entirely new ballast? That sucks a bit. I was hoping they did nice leg attachments that work in the same way any normal 'clamp' would.

^^Like that, Sorta clamps onto the rig/ballast and the other end onto the tank.

It's starting to sound like a bit much effort now

 

[MBOU]

Just a random thought as not everyone thinks of it..

If you alter your tank like that it any way, you are automatically completely voiding your whole warantee on your tank, if it doesnt work and your tank cracks or it a seal goes and it leaks or anything that would be resulting in Hagen reimbursing you will no longer count.

This goes for altering the tank in ANY way same with their pond pumps etc (laguna). If any hood or trimming or light unit is removed and replaced, any plugs taken off or wires shortened etc it all voids the warantee.

Personally i wouldnt mess with a tank, i would sell it and buy a much cheaper clearseal tank with no hood or better still, get a tank made to your dimensions then you can specifiy support bars etc that will make the tank more suitable for bearing the weight of additional light units.

At MA we use Seashell Aquariums to make tanks to order and they can make a tank to any design and with different types of glass etc. I even had a weird tank designed that was 3ft x 1ft x 1ft with a hood that took the viewing dimensions to 3ft x 0.5ft x 1ft.

 

[Curiosity101]

Thanks for the thought but I probably dont have warranty on it anyways. It was second hand...so yah know.
You are very correct btw. I hadn't thought of it.

I will prob just leave things as they are. I'm off to uni in like...7 weeks. It's not worth it now. But in the future thanks for the heads up. I might eventually get a custom tank.

 

[dave_oddballs]

if its just the height of the actual light that you want to change and not the strength, amount or type of lighting then you would hav no need to buy anything else at all really.
as for removing the whole plastic rim, i think it would not be a good idea, i have the 240 version of your tank and mine has the brace in the middle, which yours wont but the plastic rim would provide some kind of strength to the glass. the glass the fluval tanks are made with is just about thick enough to withstand the pressure of the water they hold, mine, even with the brace, bows out in the middle, when i say bows out i meen if you look from one end acoss the front or back pane of glass it looks like a bow fronted aquarium!
this in mind i wouldn't reccomend removing anything which could take away even the smallest bit of structural strength.
you could raise the whole lighting unit with little effort, easiest way being to source another plastic rim, either new from hagen or second hand off someone with a broken 125 or free old one as the rim wil fit directly on top of the existing one very neatly needing just a bead of silicone on the inside to secure.
you could also manufacture your own using wood, plastic, stainless steel or various other materials.
simple really you can get dimming timers, at reasonable prices, but the problem would be that the light unit wouldn't be compatable. you would be best just getting a normal plug in digital timer, the fish in the tank don't take long to adjust to the fact the lights go off all of a sudden as opposed to over a period of time. actually most fish will only of ever known of lights that go off all of a sudden and wouldnt know an different!

Dave