bow front canopy retro fit

[toosalty]

I bought a 6x54w kit which is on the way, but I knew my canopy that came with my tank wouldnt be able to support it right so I designed this piece to slip into my current canopy. Im going to prime it tonight for the paint job tomorrow(is any paint safe to use for this or not?) Tell me what you guys think.

 

[toosalty]

Well quite a few ppl have look at this thread, but no comments maybe you guys are confused on what Im using this for. Here are some pictures of the paint job I did today and how it would fit into my current canopy. The reason I added this wooden piece because there was no way that the plastic canopy would of been able to hold my light system coming. I ordered six 48inch 2" wide T5 Reflectors with 2" standoffs, two Current USA LED moonlights, and the rest of the crap I needed to finish kit from reefgeek.

 

[toosalty]

Well I got all my stuff in, but the light bulbs(they are on backorder).

I set up 2 strips with old light bulbs laying around to make sure im doing everything right. Im going to hopefully have everything installed in my canopy today.

 

[toosalty]

I had some extra time yesterday so I finished installing my kit in the canopy. The bulbs should be here on Thursday to finish it off.

Now all I need is to get some corals, but seeing this is my first time with a reef tank I want something hardy and easy to take care of. Any suggestions?

 

[toosalty]

Well I just finished installing all my lights today. To bad the hurricane well be here tomorrow.

 

[rotarygeek]

Mmmm.... i want one.... Looks good. Btw, whats the pvc in the DT for?

 

[devil dog]

Originally Posted by RotaryGeek
http:///forum/post/2754225
Mmmm.... i want one.... Looks good. Btw, whats the pvc in the DT for?
I was think that same thing about the pvc... and good job that looks good

 

[toosalty]

Yea I need to move it, but the PVC is filled with LR so that the copepods can reproduce without the mandarin being able to get to them. Its just a 2" pvc pipe which I cut some slots in. Don't worry its going to be in the back behide everything....won't be able to see it when I move it. I thought it was a good idea since im going to get a mandarin pretty soon.
Thanks, took some time trying to get the lights to fit perfect in that canopy. All I need now is some corals.

 

[bgrae001]

Originally Posted by TooSalty
http:///forum/post/2754397
Yea I need to move it, but the PVC is filled with LR so that the copepods can reproduce without the mandarin being able to get to them. Its just a 2" pvc pipe which I cut some slots in. Don't worry its going to be in the back behide everything....won't be able to see it when I move it. I thought it was a good idea since im going to get a mandarin pretty soon.
Thanks, took some time trying to get the lights to fit perfect in that canopy. All I need now is some corals.

Wow that is a great idea. I think that I'm going to try this too.

 

[toosalty]

Thanks. I thought it would be good to try out and is really cheap to make. I don't know if anyone else has ever done this, but I think its gonna work great. I already see pods in there.
Supplies
2" PVC Pipe 12" long-$2.77
two 2" Endcap-$.65(I might remove these when I put this in the back and just use LR to cover the ends.)
Then all you need is a dremel and cut two 11" long cuts on the pvc about 2" away from each other.

 

[lilzeus99]

Stupid question, but i assume your tank is 48" in lenght due to the size and bulb wattage. How long does the endcaps and the bulbs measue out to be in the real world?
The reason for asking, I have a 36" tank and am looking at a similar light set up, but on my 36" tank, I only have 35.5" of width to work with under my canopy.
thanks
shane

 

[lilzeus99]

Also, do you have any pics of the lighting system with the lights off you could post, I would be interested inlooking at how you intergrated the reflectors into that set up.
Sorry for all the questions, but thanks
Shane

 

[toosalty]

Originally Posted by lilzeus99
http:///forum/post/2754478
Stupid question, but i assume your tank is 48" in lenght due to the size and bulb wattage. How long does the endcaps and the bulbs measue out to be in the real world?
The reason for asking, I have a 36" tank and am looking at a similar light set up, but on my 36" tank, I only have 35.5" of width to work with under my canopy.
thanks
shane
Since my tank is a 72g bow front it was very hard to get 6 bulbs set up under my canopy. I had to use a dremel in my canopy to trim about .5" on the wide side to make this light work.
The bulbs themselves are only 45 5/8" long.
The reflectors are only 43 3/8" long.(otherwise they wouldn't fit on the bulb.) You can tell they fit my bulbs perfect from the picture. All you do it clip them on the bulb and rotate them to be on top of the light.
The whole light system without the standoffs from endcap to endcap is about 47". With the stand offs I got it brings it to about 49", but there are the plastic stand offs which would bring it to 48".
There was no kit for sale(6x54) that would fit my canopy without some modifications. I had bought the new 2" wide stand offs and 2" wide reflectors from aquactinics. I used everything else I needed from reefgeek. I liked the 2" wide standoffs but they are longer length wise to mount them with screws instead of width wise which kinda is good, but harder to install inside the canopy. I wish they would of made them a little shorter, but o well. Here are pics of the the aluminum stand offs that I use and the plastic ones that you can get as well.
I hope this helped you out. If you have any more questions don't be afraid to ask. I had asked a ton of question from people before I bought this system.

 

[lilzeus99]

Okay stupid questions here they come....LOL
You said from end cap to end cap it was 47"...what are the stand offs? How do they add 2" to the length, 1" on each side? Or is that to get them lower off the ceiling of the canopy? Also, I assume the ballasts are mounted elsewhere, since this is a piece together home made set up?
Also, how wide are the reflectors from edge to edge...
thanks in advance..
shane

 

[lilzeus99]

Okay, took another look at the pics, are the stand offs on top of the end caps, and that is where your wiring stems from?

 

[rotarygeek]

If you don't mind answering, could you tell me how much you spent total on your lighting? Minus bulbs, just the actual retrofit kits and reflectors and ballasts. Im really interested in doing this for my tank becuase i just don't have the money to buy a nice light set up and i figure i can do 2 54w with reflectors a month for 2 or 3 months and have a pretty decent lighting for my 55 that wouldn't kill my wallet all at once. Btw, i really like you diy refuge idea, once its hidden, i would add an outlet to one end and stick a small powerhead in there to help add some flow so the pods don't just stay in there.

 

[toosalty]

Yes the endcaps push into those square holes in the standoffs. The wires run to the endcap which then gets pushed through the stand off. Then I ran all the wires out of the backside of the canopy(gotta use electical tape or it will be messy). The aluminum standoffs are skinner width wise but length wise they are longer then the plastic ones. Thats why they add about a inch on both sides combined. The plastic ones won't add as much. If you have room in your canopy use the plastic ones. I had to use the aluminum ones becase my width of my tank is only 13".
6X2=12"(metal standoffs)
6X2.5=15"(plastic standoffs)
That is why I went with the metal standoffs so I could fit 6 bulbs instead of 5bulbs with the plastic ones.

 

[toosalty]

Originally Posted by RotaryGeek
http:///forum/post/2754957
If you don't mind answering, could you tell me how much you spent total on your lighting? Minus bulbs, just the actual retrofit kits and reflectors and ballasts. Im really interested in doing this for my tank becuase i just don't have the money to buy a nice light set up and i figure i can do 2 54w with reflectors a month for 2 or 3 months and have a pretty decent lighting for my 55 that wouldn't kill my wallet all at once. Btw, i really like you diy refuge idea, once its hidden, i would add an outlet to one end and stick a small powerhead in there to help add some flow so the pods don't just stay in there.
Well for the wires, ballasts, endcaps, standoffs, reflectors, led moonlights, and bulbs is cost me $500.(shipping included in that price)
Without bulbs about $370.
Without bulbs and LED moonlights $350

 

[lilzeus99]

Thanks, your awesome for the help. Did you buy this as a kit, or piece it all together seperately? If bought as a kit, what brand and did the kit come as a pair, and you bought 3 kits? Thanks a million. I'm looking at a kit very similar to yours, only shorter and it is a Current USA retrofit.
You have been a big help, BTW...your rock work and DT are bad to the bone...
thanks
shane

 

[rotarygeek]

Thanks for the answer. Thats a little more than i want to spend all in one chunch. Thats why im looking at doing it the way i am, I could still end up with a lighting system similar to yours, but do it in peices so its not so expensive at one time. Also, i meant to ask if you can turn your lights on individually or at least the actinics come on early for a dawn/dusk combo?