DIY Light Canopy

Here is a very simple and low-cost lighting canopy suitable for any straight fronted tank. It is designed to use common household materials and takes just a couple of hours to make.

 

Thanks loads for that Tim! I'll be showing that to my dad

 

nicely designed.

 

The design was done in a bit of a hurry this afternoon, so I think I should expand a little on the details:

the top panel should be split roughly 1/3, 2/3 to make the access flap. You may wish to put a reinforcing batten on the inside front edge of the back section to take the screws for the hinges and similar on the back of the front section. This will give a better fixing for the screws and avoid any sharp points showing through.

I haven't mentioned wire/tubing access into the tank. This is simply a matter of cutting a slot in the back panel large enough for the wires/tubes to slide into as the lid slots onto the tank.

Another refinement for the lights is to use a 300 gramme coffee jar. When you fix the light fitting to the back panel, simply fix it through the lid of the jar, then when you have inserted the bulb, screw the jar over the top. It forms a really good waterproof cover for the lighting. there is no reason why a florescent light cannot be fitted instead, but this has been designed with bottom end cost in mind. If you have the lighting unit, just fit that outside the canopy and run the wires through for the tube ends, get some spring clips and screw them onto the back to hold the tube in place and it's done.

I didn't mention the way the wiring should run either. the best way is to drill holes through the back panel and run the wiring externally from fitting to fitting. It is easier to waterproof and much tidier. The switch can be a surface mounted light switch or an inline toggle switch similar to most table lamps. the latter is easier to fit, since it just runs straight from the first light.

If the canopy is very long, you may need to put some corner blocks along the back-to-top panel joint to ensure that it all stays secure. you may also need a reinforcing batten inside the front panel to avoid any warping.

The design is basic and can be adapted, altered and changed to suit almost any tank. It's up to the individual to work out what is best for their own use.

It is also possible to split the lid in half, making two access panels rather than one, but this is where the job gets more complicated, so that's something you can ask about if you want to make it work that way.

 

do you know if I can get those little corkscrew style fluorescent lights (shaped like light bulbs with the screw-in connection) that will grow plants or should I just used normal tube lights to have a planted tank under a DIY hood? Lee

 

I have several types of lighting on my tanks and I have built canopies with both standard and florescent lights. Plants will grow best with strong light, but a lightly planted tank will work very well with standard lighting. The rule of thumb is 2 watts per gallon for heavily planted and light-demanding plants, one watt per gallon for low light and lightly planted.

One of the advantages of the new generation low energy bulbs is the output far exceeds the traditional style bulb. An 18w LE will give 100w of light! It is also close to natural light, which plants love.

The corkscrew bulbs you refer to are a variation on the ones I use and give the same type of light, so I see no reason for them not to function perfectly.

 

Thanks for those clarifications TI'm

Now; I know absolutely nothing about lighting (wattage, fixings, volts, kelvins etc.). I have no idea how to wire everything, though I'm sure my dad will be able to help...

So it'd be great if you could tell me the exact sort of light fittings and bulbs etc. (using your low-cost method ;D) you would recommend for my 160L lightly planted tank, and maybe show me a photo of the inside of one of your hoods, with fittings etc.? ??? My dad wants to know what sort of light fittings we'd need. Also, how do you seal the light fittings with silicone, ie. which parts? The coffee jar sounds like an awesome idea Do you think I could just use coffee jars and save the cost of silicone sealant?

Thanks!

~Bill

 

here is a picture of the fitting I use. They are about £2.50 each in the local hardware stores. I could go into lengthy details as to how to wire them up, but I'm sure your dad will be able to do that for you.

The bulbs I use are low energy phillips bulbs, available from netto, Lidl and AldI for less than £1 each. You have the choice of 14w or 18w, which is 60watt or 100watt equivelent.

the second picture shows the light itself.

The coffee jar is a very effective way of protecting your lights and yes, it can be used instead of sealant. Just be sure to find a glass jar that is big enough to take the fitting and bulb. The fitting I use fits into the lid of a 300 gramme coffee jar, not a problem, since I drink a lot of coffee! (Your dad might be able to come up with an alternative light fitting that will fit into a 200 gramme jar instead.)

Point to note: I don't use this method myself, since all of my canopies are built into a long run and I have used removable splash guards to diffuse and protect the wiring above. I offer this suggestion because I have used it in the past with great success.

 

ahhh I'm so glad you let me in on this secret someone said you couldn't use the corkscrew lights to grow plants I just want some anacharis for my different little buddies to feed on at random Ive got a 14w bulb and a fixture like you show wirings no problem will it still pass its growing effects thru glass could I make this light into a lamp at one end of my tank? thanks Lee

 

Is this possible to do if the tank has hang on back power filters? I'm not looking to add lights, just a canopy. I've got a 55 gallon tank with 2 lights/tops and 2 power filters going, and I was thinking of adding a canopy to dress up the tank a little. Would these plans work for it?

 

THanks for the info.

 

Is this possible to do if the tank has hang on back power filters? I'm not looking to add lights, just a canopy. I've got a 55 gallon tank with 2 lights/tops and 2 power filters going, and I was thinking of adding a canopy to dress up the tank a little. Would these plans work for it?

He mentioned that this would work with a HOB filter, you just need to cut a opening in the back for it. You might have to make the top taller at the least to be able to fit the lights under it.

I'm going to try and make a hood like this for my 55 gal and will post pictures once I finish it.

 

He mentioned that this would work with a HOB filter, you just need to cut a opening in the back for it. You might have to make the top taller at the least to be able to fit the lights under it.

I'm going to try and make a hood like this for my 55 gal and will post pictures once I finish it.

Great, thanks! Let me know how it works for you!

 

Well, here it is. I just finished one the other day for my 55 gal. When I got the 55 gal it came with two smaller tank hoods that sat on screens to provide lighting. It was pretty bad looking so I built this. Thanks for the design timandkaren.

All in all the cost was pretty low:

About 3/4 of a sheet of plywood - $0 - Got it for free from a friend.
Couple feet of 2X4 - $0 - Free from the same friend.
21 Screws to connect the wood - $0 - Left overs from a previous project.
4 Hinges - $8
Box of 100 Screws for hinges - $4 - Used 24, 6 in each hinge.
Gallon of Oops paint - $5 - Only need a quart of it.
2 double sided Light sockets - $0 - Used from hoods that came with tank.
4 CFL 14watt - $9

Total Spent - $26

If I had to buy everything I would guess that the plywood would cost $20 a sheet, a 2x4 $6, longer screws $6, and light sockets and wires $20, totaling $78. This is a high estimate and leaves you with leftover paint, screws and some wood.

 

Very nicely done!

 

I am doing something similar but with pine ( going to make a pine stand also) for my 55 gallon.I am putting two 4 foot ,two 2 foot and 2 blue led lights .the 4" lights are aquarium and plant lights the 2" are white lights the blue for night time on three timers.will post apic when completed.( I bit cold right now to work in the garage to stain and clear coat it don't want to do it in the house)

 

Well, here it is. I just finished one the other day for my 55 gal. When I got the 55 gal it came with two smaller tank hoods that sat on screens to provide lighting. It was pretty bad looking so I built this. Thanks for the design timandkaren.

All in all the cost was pretty low:

About 3/4 of a sheet of plywood - $0 - Got it for free from a friend.
Couple feet of 2X4 - $0 - Free from the same friend.
21 Screws to connect the wood - $0 - Left overs from a previous project.
4 Hinges - $8
Box of 100 Screws for hinges - $4 - Used 24, 6 in each hinge.
Gallon of Oops paint - $5 - Only need a quart of it.
2 double sided Light sockets - $0 - Used from hoods that came with tank.
4 CFL 14watt - $9

Total Spent - $26

If I had to buy everything I would guess that the plywood would cost $20 a sheet, a 2x4 $6, longer screws $6, and light sockets and wires $20, totaling $78. This is a high estimate and leaves you with leftover paint, screws and some wood.

Was it as easy to make as it looks? I've been wanting to make one, but I don't want to get into something that I wouldn't be able to do myself.
It looks great by the way!

 

It was pretty easy. I predrilled the holes and then hand screwed them in. But I did need someone to help hold the wood in place.

 

It was pretty easy. I predrilled the holes and then hand screwed them in. But I did need someone to help hold the wood in place.

Maybe I'll finally get to working on one for mine! Thanks for sharing the info and pictures!

 

VERY NICE!

I think it's always great when we can do something ourselves, saving money and feeling pride at a job well done.

Some questions:
Now that you've had this set up for awhile, how are the plants responding?

I can't afford the expense right now of a sophisticated lighting system, so am planning on doing something like your setup. Only I don't plan on a canopy. My tank is a 90g so it's 24" high, the cabinet is 36" high. Since I'm only 5'2" "stretched" going any higher will be difficult for me to feed, maintain etc. So based on your idea of using household cfls, I figure on building a light hood. With 24" depth, do you think the cfls will reach deep enough into the water. I figure on using a pair of 100 watt equivalents, low & mid light plants light will hopefully be ok.

Do you have any idea what the kelvin rating is for cfls?

With a glass tank cover, I don't think I need any additional protection for the bulbs, like the coffee jar. Does this sound ok?

With a glass tank cover, will that diminish the amount of light reaching down into the tank?

What about a reflector design? Your photos look like there is an angle type reflector.

Any other thoughts based on your experience would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

Timg hasn't been on for awhile, I'll pm him and see if I can get him to respond to your questions though. He is a GREAT resource as he has super ideas.......

I have a DIY hood I purchased it has 4 X 96 watt compact 50/50 fluorescent tubes, mounted with reflectors...the best part of it is that it has a 'piano henge' on the back, which allows you to open the top without having to get on a stool....(I am 5'2" also). Mine doesn't have any protection between the water and lights and I've never had any problems.

 

Susitna-Flower
thanks, I'd apreciate that. Didn't know if TI'm would see this.

What do you mean by 50/50 fluorescent? And when you say 4x96 watt, are those actual 96 watts or the equivalent.

Your 125g is one of the ones I was impressed with. The shrimp are really neat. Are they difficult to keep? Also, somewhere, I think it was in the plant thread, some mention was made about shrimp eating the pond snails.

I have a serious snail problem. Too many for a lone botia to keep up with. I'm hoping the move to a new tank may get rid of them but rather doubtful. If I want to seed the new tank with gravel from the old then anything that will kill the snails will kill the bacteria. Way back someone at the lfs told me pretreating plants in salt water before adding them to a tank will kill snails. Do you know anyhthing about this? If that works would treating my pantyhose bag of gravel in salt water kill the bacteria?

 

HI there!

I got susitna's PM and had to come and have a look, so lets see what we can do:

Lighting: The low energy bulbs are fantastic for plant growth, including algae, unfortunately! I've not come across a kelvin rating for any of the household bulbs that I use, but florescents are much easier to rate than incandescents. One thing I have found, is that the bulbs do need changing regularly. the light goes yellowish after prolonged use, and that is not helpful, so if you can afford them, tubes are a better option for long-term use. The expensive part of the tube is the choke unit, or ballast, as it is called elsewhere. Due to the tubes location, unless it is well protected, waterproof end-caps are essential, so aquarium units are required really. If you wanted to use a standard household fitting, it's quite possible, but you need to fit a perspex cover over the entire fitting to be safe.

That said, you seem to be aware of this potential problem and the glass cover should be enough to allow for a few short-cuts! (I'll post a few ideas in the way of drawings later)

Depth: Water is very dense, where light is concerned, and a 24" tank is getting very close to the maximum for light penetration. Whatever you use above it will need to be powerful to reach the bottom effectively, but as most plants tend to grow upwards, this helps! Plants will follow the light, so will grow towards it. T5s, halides etc will still only work to a limited depth, and they have serious consequences on the upper part of the water, with heat being one of the major issues. On a budget, you are looking at plants that need moderate to low light and that grow tall, rather than bottom covering. I could recommend a few, but that's not my strong field, so ask at the local store or on here for specific types to use. One other thing that would be helpful for plants, is building up from the bottom with large rocks, effectively moving the plants upwards, a bit like a grassy hill with caves under. The fish would love it!

Reflectors are always a good idea, and here's a cheap and cheerful idea: For LE's take a foil baking tray, the type that you use for pies, and just re-shape it to suit. These are firm enough to stand the heat and rigid enough to staple or glue in place above the bulbs. For tubes, make a simple plywood reflector and cover with turkey foil.

You asked if the glass cover would affect the light. In my experience, it doesn't, as long as it is clear glass. If you want a diffuser effect, change it for frosted or decorative glass instead, or a perspex of similar finish. (Perspex will have a small detrimental effect, even if it's clear as the properties are different to glass)

Height: You have mentioned that you are short of stature, so here's a neat work-around on the hood build: Fit the hinge on the front of the top panel, so that the fron flaps upwards, instead of the top. It needs very little re-working to do this and I have done so on several canopies I built afterwards for the same reason. Although I am 6', when the tanks get high, even I need to have a stool or something to stand on! Another simple fix for this is to make a small step that you can remove when you don't need it. I made one for my wife when we got the new washing machine, since it's a top-loader and she couldn't reach the bottom! All it needs is a piece of 12mm plywood, around 600mm x 300mm and 4 pieces of 100x100 timber, all cut to the same lengths, screwed one on each corner. The legs can be whatever is comfortable, but I wouldn't go any longer than 150mm using this simple design. It might not sound like it will make that much difference, but an extra 6" really can make a big difference!

I think this has covered the main points. I hope it's of use! I will work on some sketches and add them to this when they are done. Enjoy!

 

VERY NICE!

I think it's always great when we can do something ourselves, saving money and feeling pride at a job well done.

I agree completely.

Some questions:
Now that you've had this set up for awhile, how are the plants responding?

My plants are doing great. I have posted some pictures of them since I have gotten them in my members tank post:

I can't afford the expense right now of a sophisticated lighting system, so am planning on doing something like your setup. Only I don't plan on a canopy. My tank is a 90g so it's 24" high, the cabinet is 36" high. Since I'm only 5'2" "stretched" going any higher will be difficult for me to feed, maintain etc.

I agree with trying what timg said about a hinge on the front panel if you want a hood.

So based on your idea of using household cfls, I figure on building a light hood. With 24" depth, do you think the cfls will reach deep enough into the water.

Yes.

I figure on using a pair of 100 watt equivalents, low & mid light plants light will hopefully be ok.

That would be a little low on the lighting. That is about 0.5 watts to the gallon if its on a 90 gallon tank since "100 watt equivalents" are only 26 watt florecents which is what the watts per gallon rule is based off. Judge the wattage off the real wattage not the equivalent incandescent bulb. I can explain this more if wanted.

Do you have any idea what the kelvin rating is for cfls?

They vary in temp. Most are rated at one of three temps. Soft, Daylight and one other wording. You want the Daylight ones since those are 5500K for most bulbs and 6500K for some. The bulbs I would go with are GE 26 watt Daylights since they are 6500K. They are cheap if you order them from here:
Standard incandescent bulbs by the way are around 3500K I think.

With a glass tank cover, I don't think I need any additional protection for the bulbs, like the coffee jar. Does this sound ok?

Yes.

With a glass tank cover, will that diminish the amount of light reaching down into the tank?

Yes, by about 5-9% of the light lost I think. This is from reading other people's tests using various light meters.

What about a reflector design? Your photos look like there is an angle type reflector.

My reflectors are really bad. They are just from the plastic hoods I had taken the bulb sockets out of. I would do something like what timg said. Other things you can do are just to paint the inside of the tank white. This will have to be a nice quallity white paint though so it does not turn yellow quickly. As it turns yellow you would have to repaint it to keep the reflectivity strong. Or you could just layer it in foil. But the best would be something like bending a shiny piece of metal like the pan idea timg said. I will be doing this at some point just haven't taken the time.

Any other thoughts based on your experience would be appreciated.

Thanks

Can't think of any but feel free to ask anything. I have done a lot of research on CFLs and light in general. (It's an interest of mine and was my major in school)

 

Well done GreenMan13! I was very interested in the temp ratings, as it's something I hadn't looked into very well, mainly because I don't have anything deep enough to worry! (Most of my tanks are 18" or less)

If cost is a controlling factor, could you not add 2 more fittings to double the wattage? (4 bulbs rather than 2?) I have done this in the fish house with great effect. It's still way cheaper than the florescent tube equivalent, even with the extra cost of the holders. That would give the rating of 1 watt per gallon, just on the lower limit for plants.

It will make a difference just which plants are used though, and I would definitely go for low to moderate light requirement plants to be sure of good results. Again, tall plants will work best, IMO.

The idea of paint is pretty sound too, apart from the reflective abilities, it waterproofs the timber and it is mentioned in the original build plan, I think. (BTW, we all know you mean "hood", painting the inside of the tank would not be beneficial to good viewing! He He!). I favor the foil purely for simplicity and cost. The easiest way to do this is just to stick it to the entire inside of the hood, (you could cheat here by applying the foil straight after the paint, using the wet paint as the adhesive), rather than trying to make a reflector, but I would still recommend a baffle to stop the light from dazzling you when you open the cover.

 

If cost is a controlling factor, could you not add 2 more fittings to double the wattage? (4 bulbs rather than 2?)

That's what I did in mine. If you can find them, they make two socket outlets so you only need to wire two sockets and still have 4 bulbs. You could put as many bulbs in as you can fit if you really wanted.

The idea of paint is pretty sound too, apart from the reflective abilities, it waterproofs the timber and it is mentioned in the original build plan, I think. (BTW, we all know you mean "hood", painting the inside of the tank would not be beneficial to good viewing! He He!).

Hehe oops. Ya, painting the tank would be bad. Ya, the hood definitely needs to be painted or stained to protect the wood from the massive amount of moisture. If you go with paint though and can afford two colors or don't mind a white outside I would paint the inside white even if you use foil. That way any hole in the foil will still be a bright color compared to a dark one that absorbs light. Home Depot has oops paint that you can get for $5 a gallon, just need to keep an eye on it and wait for a nice looking color.

I would still recommend a baffle to stop the light from dazzling you when you open the cover.

Definitely, this happens to me even with a gray inside.