Lighting in Canopy

[Iconz]

k, i'll make it happen. Heh, I'm startin to catch on to some of this stuff, I had thought about the gas exchange problem! haha I'm learning, slowly, but surely!

[dakar]

There are other reasons not to use glass or plexi over the tank... but it can get pretty deep... reflection, angle of incidence and all sorts of stuff... Run it bare and if you notice any salt spray on your tubes then it may be time to look at things. Are you using waterproof endcaps?

[Iconz]

yeah, I have them. I haven't even started making the canopy yet, that should be either this week or next.

[iVgOnMaD]

You can add one fan that will blow air between the Acrylic and the water surface and another one on the opposite side to suck the air out. You can attach them to the acrylic itself. It might even help LOWER the temperature of your tank.

The reason I like to add a barrier between the water and the Electrical components is for my safety and my aquarium's safety, and to keep the salt-creep from damaging any of my components. You have a lot of fans, take advantage of them!

Hope this helps with your project.

[Iconz]

Yeah, I'm looking at every option. Thanks for the input, keep it coming!



Here's a sketchup of my current plan (prior to the barrier idea between the water column and the tubes).

[Iconz]

Alright! More questions!

Heh. I started laying out the wood for the canopy last night. Which, in turn, led me to laying out the lights in the canopy. All of that seems fine. Here's where I ran into an "I don't know":

- Where in the canopy do you place the ballasts? And are they water-proof (for the most part) ? If they are not waterproof, what do you do with them?

[perpetual98]

I generally mount them on the back of the canopy. Keeps them out of the heat and humidity of the canopy and keeps the wires to the bulbs short.

Eric

[dakar]

I'm with Eric, on the back of the canopy, and be sure you have some sort of drip loop in the wire s to/from the ballast... better safe than sorry.

[Iconz]

Gotya! Thanks guys!

[Iconz]

also, the wire you sent me that goes from the lights to the ballasts, eric, is stiff wire. Is there a reason for this? Does it work better than the more flexible stuff?

thx,
JD