# Redoing my Aquarium Lighting!



## neven (May 15, 2010)

I used to have my hood set up as 2 or 3 independant lights in its own duct reflector. Whats being used is standard light bulb sockets and 6500k-23 W CFLs. it may not offer the best lighting, but it grows plants fine and doesn't touch the pocket book much.

you can see the lights in this photo sorta









With a 2 year old in the house, i was having issues with him dropping items in the tank, so rather then have 3-4 seperate covers for a tank thats only 29 gallons, i've modified the lighting into a single fixture. A while back i removed the third light as it was causing algae issues, so with that extra piece (cut to size already ) i was able to bridge my remaining two fixtures and have them wired to a single cord. Inside theres still room for future modifications, if i want to throw in that third socket. I may even make one new from 1 piece of duct when i'm back at work, but more screws would be showing.

Heres how it looks now, when im not lazy i'll give it a new paint job. The inside is a very reflective white glossy paint, and the seems were caulked to prevent light leakage. The sockets are mounted on end caps inside, their screws are hidden under the middle piece.
















With this i solved a couple issues, Before the lights were too close to the water, causing leafs to dry out if they hit the surface. Also if a moron played with my lights they could drop the fixture in the water a bit trying to reseat it on the inner rim...

Now to solve the two year old issue. the plastic poster board! Cheap, easy to work with. Im not looking for structural support, just something in which my kid will no be able to throw something in the tank. Plus it covers a bunch of paint blemishes on the fixture which will likely cause me to delay painting longer


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Simple fix, I like it.

Hilarious that your kid does that, I imagine I'd be doing exactly the same thing at their age.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

its no fun picking toilet paper, kraft dinner, game pieces and lint balls out of your fish tank :/


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## wsl (Apr 21, 2010)

I bet the fish don't think it's fun either


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

neven said:


> its no fun picking toilet paper, kraft dinner, game pieces and lint balls out of your fish tank :/


lol, I don't blame you either.

It looks good though!!! Nice work.


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