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February 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| upgrading standard tank lighting
I have two standard 15w bulbs in two light hoods on my 55 gal tank. That is just not enough light for plants. I work with a lighting co and have come up with a way to convert these 15w hoods to 55w each. The hoods will still fit the hood frames and look no different from the outside. No light leaking out. That would give me 110 watts of light. I believe it will be a simple procedure. Let me know if you are interested and I will keep you up to date. | 
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February 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| oooh. That sounds neat. Please keep us posted. | |
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February 18th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| I was under the impression that you could not upgrade the wattage over what the hood originally required. Please keep us informed, I would like to know how you will do that. I have a 55 with the standard light/wattage as well and would love to upgrade to a higher wattage myself.  | |
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February 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Me too.............
Quote:
Originally Posted by the57man  I have two standard 15w bulbs in two light hoods on my 55 gal tank. That is just not enough light for plants. I work with a lighting co and have come up with a way to convert these 15w hoods to 55w each. The hoods will still fit the hood frames and look no different from the outside. No light leaking out. That would give me 110 watts of light. I believe it will be a simple procedure. Let me know if you are interested and I will keep you up to date. | I would love to know how to do that. | |
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February 18th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| The57man
I have merged your two threads on the same subject to one thread. It is easier for others to reply in one place rather than in two different threads on the same subject.
capekate (moderator) | |
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February 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| I believe there is a limit in heat transfer the plastic lamp assembly can handle safely.
Upgrading the reflector is one way of dealing with this, but I don't know if to that level of wattage increment it is doable. Some insulating material could be used to protect the plastic assembly. Or maybe small fans to take heat out.
Also check the ballast issue, and I add to the list of those waiting for the outcome of your lighting upgrades.
On the other hand, there are thinner than ever fluorescent lamps available. I recently purchased a 48" lamp assembly with two 36W lamps in it. That means 72W. The light is a bit yellowish but it works well with plants.
Pepe
Santo Domingo | |
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February 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by the57man I have two standard 15w bulbs in two light hoods on my 55 gal tank. That is just not enough light for plants. I work with a lighting co and have come up with a way to convert these 15w hoods to 55w each. The hoods will still fit the hood frames and look no different from the outside. No light leaking out. That would give me 110 watts of light. I believe it will be a simple procedure. Let me know if you are interested and I will keep you up to date. | right on man, definitely keep us posted, id love to up the lights in my 55g! | |
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February 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| upgrading tank lighting
I have purchased the ballast and the bulb socket today and the bulb will come in from reno friday. It is a small slender electronic ballast. The bulb is the color required for aquariums. I will probably drill a series of vent holes in either end of the hood to release heat. I will keep you informed. | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Upgraded lighting for 55 gal tank
Well I did it. I have included a couple pictures of the hood light and the tank. The cost to do both hood assemblies is less that $100. I now will have 110 watts of light as apposed to 30 watts. The bulb is a GE DL55/AQ/ FS. I was able to use the existing hood reflector. I just gutted it except for the hood switch. It actually was easier than I thought it would be. One picture is the hood which is a pretty clean retrofit. The other is my tank. Can you tell which side has the new light? I will do the other side when the other bulb comes in. I have also added some of my favorite fish.
Once everything is removed from the hood, I mounted the new ballast which is thin and long. I mounted it to the hood with pop rivits to the inside of the black part of the hood. the white reflector goes back in where it was. The ballast is covered. The socket was mounted to the end of the black part with pop rivits also. On the outside of the hood, all you see are 4 finish sides of pop rivits. two for the ballast and two for the tube socket. The opposite end of the tube is just held from moving around with a small ziptie. This whole assembly fits into the rest of the hood frame that is sitting on the tank frame. Thats it. Each hood had a switch that I left in place and wired into the circuit. I am leaving the lights on the timer as usual to see how much more heat is developed. I do notice more heat. I have already bought 1 1/2" x 1/1/2" x 3/4" box fans to add to the hoods for cooling. They are 12v component cooling fans. Very small buy move a lot of air. I can hardly wait to see how my plants respond.
Last edited by the57man; February 22nd, 2009 at 01:37 AM.
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| so basically you used the existing hood that you had, removed the old light fixture stuff and put in the new fixture stuff? Thats cool ! how do you attach the new fixtures to the hood? | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| that's really interesting....i'm not very good with this kind of thing but i'm glad you were able to make it work | |
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February 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| looks awesome! good job, now find a way i can do it for about $20 lol. | |
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March 30th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| I Have a lighting issue also but don't know how to do this that you did with you lights. I have two light fixtures on my 100 tank and so far don't see a lot of light I think the bulbs are T8's want to replace them. Can you help?
Thanks,
Riv | |
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Quote:
Originally Posted by navyscuba I Have a lighting issue also but don't know how to do this that you did with you lights. I have two light fixtures on my 100 tank and so far don't see a lot of light I think the bulbs are T8's want to replace them. Can you help?
Thanks,
Riv | What are the watages of the bulbs you have and the length. Are you handy at all? Can you send pictures of the light side of your hood. | |
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April 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by the57man What are the watages of the bulbs you have and the length. Are you handy at all? Can you send pictures of the light side of your hood. | They are the sun-glo 24" 20 watts. I'm at work but when I get home I send you a pic. I do almost everything myself so yeap. Handy. | |
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