kwirky
Community Member
I'm thinking of finally building a proper canopy for my 40 gallon breeder. Are there any favorite builds out there that people like to refer to for ideas? Are there any reference designs out there that solve a lot of needs, including ones I may not be thinking about? Here's what I've come up with so far, for needs & design ideas:
I can raise the lights up much higher without light spilling into the space and wood's an easier material to cut to fit around the hardware & cords going in and out of the tank than the extruded aluminum of a mesh top. I'd like something that can allow for up to 14" of height between the top of the water and the bottom of the lights. The dual 360X lights are only ran at 30% max at 8" so following inverse square light laws I can probably go 14" off the surface with similar light levels, by boosting the led output?
I'm so far thinking of using peg holes (cabinet shelf pegs) to raise and lower beams holding lights, for adjustable light height. I considered extruded v-slot aluminum, used for building 3d printers, for a custom lighting rig but I'm afraid that the salt spray would trash the aluminum & render it unusable within a year or two. What about airflow? What sort of ventilation will I need for two kessil 360X lights and potentially 2-4 T5HO in a room which sometimes has an ambient air temp of 78 F (if we forget to turn on the luxurious floor standing AC in our Canadian home during the summer).
Does anybody think 4x T5HO via a retrofit kit with individual parabolic reflectors, plus the dual 360X lights, mounted 24" off the water surface, can provide adequate light in the 40 breeder for SPS? throughout the tank's depths? I prefer the lighting to be pretty blue, if that's a deciding factor.
I'm planning to use wood (I have a job site sized table saw, miter saw, routers, belt sander, palm sanders, hand planers, circular saws). I also plan to paint the interior with a marine paint from Canadian Tire. Are there other materials I may not be aware of which are reasonably priced, safe with reef critters & salt water, and easy to work with said tools?
Feedback would be appreciated.
I can raise the lights up much higher without light spilling into the space and wood's an easier material to cut to fit around the hardware & cords going in and out of the tank than the extruded aluminum of a mesh top. I'd like something that can allow for up to 14" of height between the top of the water and the bottom of the lights. The dual 360X lights are only ran at 30% max at 8" so following inverse square light laws I can probably go 14" off the surface with similar light levels, by boosting the led output?
I'm so far thinking of using peg holes (cabinet shelf pegs) to raise and lower beams holding lights, for adjustable light height. I considered extruded v-slot aluminum, used for building 3d printers, for a custom lighting rig but I'm afraid that the salt spray would trash the aluminum & render it unusable within a year or two. What about airflow? What sort of ventilation will I need for two kessil 360X lights and potentially 2-4 T5HO in a room which sometimes has an ambient air temp of 78 F (if we forget to turn on the luxurious floor standing AC in our Canadian home during the summer).
Does anybody think 4x T5HO via a retrofit kit with individual parabolic reflectors, plus the dual 360X lights, mounted 24" off the water surface, can provide adequate light in the 40 breeder for SPS? throughout the tank's depths? I prefer the lighting to be pretty blue, if that's a deciding factor.
I'm planning to use wood (I have a job site sized table saw, miter saw, routers, belt sander, palm sanders, hand planers, circular saws). I also plan to paint the interior with a marine paint from Canadian Tire. Are there other materials I may not be aware of which are reasonably priced, safe with reef critters & salt water, and easy to work with said tools?
Feedback would be appreciated.
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