Here's a few Pics of my new lighting upgrade. Pic 1, 2, and 3 were taken before
the tank woke up. Pic 4 is about 4 hours after lights on, and pic 5 is the temporary
setup I'm using for acclimation.
As you can see in the pics, my center brace is screwing everything up. But even
so, the single 250w 10kk HQI doesnt seem to be enough. I'm going to have to spring
for a second HQI setup.
I plan to make a wood hood to match the stand this week.
The new hood is PIC 7.
Pics 6,7, and 8 are with 2 250w HQI's. I purchased them from Reefers where I got a great price and great service.
Pic 8 shows the front door opened, and you can see the moonlight I added. I laminated a piece of 3/8" plywood to the front door in an effort to keep it from warping...But instead, it bowed the board. I now have to make a new front door...dont know why that idea didnt work.. The door is attached with 3 removable pin hindges so it can be taken off easily. The 3/8" plywood top slides along the rails in the hood so I can push it back out of the way (or forward) for more access.
The wood is 1/2"x8" select pine with the top 3/8 plywood (should have been 1/2"). I couldnt find any epoxy paint so I painted the inside with gloss white Krylon polyurethane. The outside is stained with Minwax Colonial Maple (why it matched the "oak" AGA stand I'll never know) covered with satin clear poly also by Minwax.
The lights just sit in the rectangular cut outs, with piexes of flashing cut 1"x1/2" and screwed to each corner to provide support.
The moon light is a $2.79 rubber lamp socket with pigtail from True Value and a Walmart 25w Blue Party bulb, plugged into my Aquacontroller 2.
Currently there isnt any fan in the hood, I dont need it so far. with the lights being on top of the hood, it seems like the only heat I have to deal with in the hood is radiant, and it hasnt raised the tank temp yet. We'll have to see what summer brings.
 Pic 1
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 Pic 2
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 Pic 3
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 Pic 4
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 Pic 5
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 Pic 6
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 Pic 7
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 Pic 8
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 Pic 9
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 Pic 10
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