Diy?

gonefishn

gonefishn

Member
:happy:
Ok. So I am new to this side of the water. After a very little research I have concluded that perhaps DIY might help my son and I learn more and cost less. It might be kinda fun too.
I've found several DIY instructions. Refugium, moon light(cool), "live" rock, hmmm, but none for lights? Would you have access to instructions for those "cadillack" lights? And how much do they run anyway?
Thanks alot.
 
darknes

darknes

Active Member
I'm not sure what you mean by "cadillack" lights.
I love doing DIY projects, and I did my own lights, skimmer, and auto-topoff.
It depends on what you're doing with your tank as there's many different types of lights. You can buy a retrofit kit that comes with a ballast, sockets, reflector, and bulbs, and then you pretty much build a hood to put it all in. That's what I did, and it saves a lot of money.
 
fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
We are doing our on MH.
What where are using is a bare ballast w/ capacitor and
the parabolic reflector w/ socket.
The ballas was $80 and the reflector is $40
We are going to get a junction box from HD to house the ballast. I think is probably around $15
We are going to use 2 computer fans with approx the same specs at the fans (IceCaps I think) that are made for aquarium use. All you would need is an ac adaptor to run the fans.
The fans we are going to get are about about $ 15 each and we will use 2
The adaptor we picked up at walmart for $11 but the have them at radio shack from about $15 -$40 depending on the one you need.
My fiance is putting it all together for me (I don't understand all the details)
But if you do a search on this site or on the web I am sure you can find detailed DIY instructions.
You can also get retro kits. They are probably easier to do.
We are doing it the hard way because I want my light NOW and this is the only way we can get the lights in the next few weeks.
We also did our moon lights for about $15
Jessica
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
They have a virtual plethora of DIY instructions for sale in the back of Aquarium Fish Magazine every month. You can probably find these on the internet for free though.
I tend to shy away from DIY, as once you have purchased all the materials and paid shipping on what you might need to order, then the money you save in the long run is minimal at best.
If you are doing DIY to have fun and learn though, thats an altogether different story.
I've found that if you go into a fish store with a cellphone, pick up an item and call all the other fish stores asking for prices.. you tend to get huge discounts. I kind of cheat and quote prices lower than the competition actually offers... but this is just haggling.
Haggle the lfs and you can get such cheap prices it will amaze you. Of course, we have 4 lfs's within 15 miles where I live so you have to take that into consideration.
 
gonefishn

gonefishn

Member
Wow!

That's enought to make anyone grin. :happy:
I have one real fish store that seems well cared for and a couple others that are chain stores. I'm not sure how their quality is. So I kinda think I'll have to stick with my one LFS. That thing with the cell phones is what I do when buying a car though...right about the time they tell me what rate of interest they're offering.
 
X

xoxox

Guest
I've found that no matter what you add on to your tank your always gonna have to DIY something. I had to do it for my sump, by DIYing your getting the better part of the saltwater experience. You have to think about how to build things that will work.
 
mystangt

mystangt

Member
I think it's a great thing your doing by including your son. You two will enjoy the DIY part just working together. When the setup is complete you guys can think back about the times when you did them and laugh. Good luck.
 
nosmada

nosmada

Member
i built my own retrofit metal halide for about $65.00/each not including the bulb. im running 2 250watt on my 55 with 20k's and it rocks. i didnt like the brightness and color of the moonlights i did so i actually went and bought those.
 
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