Hood Mod for 12G Nano

[Runner]

The 12G nano I traded for this past week has a 70W DE MH light retrofitted into it. The previous owner had to cut up the plastic inside the hood to fit it in and the light was murder on what was left behind. It practically fell apart when it took it out to re-wire it. But the good news is, I am back at what I enjoy most in this hobby -- tinkering with things. I pulled out my WeldOn 4 and scrap acryllic and went to work last night. The result is this:

I did go out and buy two 11"x14" sheets of 0.093 acrylic sheets and weld them together to make a single, thicker base plate roughly 13-5/8" wide and about 8" deep. My old 0.220 hobby acryllic reenforced this. The glass is now bracketed and held in place by the thicker pieces. The acryllic will insert nicely into the hood. I have placed thicker acryllic over where I will need to drill mounting holes for the screws. I also bought some brass screws to counter-sink into the acryllic and hold it in place.

Another modification I made was to get a few 1" wide but thin rectangles of glass and silicone them to the main plate. I hope they'll hold up to the heat. Anyway, I wanted to shield my eyes and my sons' eyes from the direct light of this bulb when I open the front to feed them. UV makes me paranoid.

Tonight I'll put together the wiring and get my new nano-cube going. 70W over a 12G (really only holds 10G of water) will be extremely bright even with this older bulb.

 

[EvilMel]

Awesome Scott!

 

[cee]

Add some fans, you're going to need them!

Dave

 

[tangboy]

Hmm I guess I will have to see it in action to undestand exactly what you mean. Glad you're getting into a smaller system and not just quiting the hobbie totally. Oh yeah... enjoy the new toy... 6-strings and all!

 

[Runner]

It already has a couple of fans in the hood that are wired up to a varible-voltage DC power supply. At 4~5 volts, it is almost quiet. I'll post a pic after I have it assembled so you can get a better idea of how it goes together.

If I keep clowns in here, I might have to get them an anemone.

 

[edwar050]

Great mod on the lighting underneath the hood. I am glad that nano could be put to good use. Those zoanthid frags are really starting to come out and look great.

The acrylic housing you build looks perfect! That will be amazing in the stock hood. I love how the back is vented with the fans being able to suck all the air right up out of the backside of the tank.

 

[Runner]

Here is a pic of the light cover installed. As you noted, Brad, the cover closes off the vents to every side except where the fans are located. The fans blow out and draw air from the hood vents right across the MH bulb. I ran this thing for 10 hours and could still lay my hand on the hood exterior right over the bulb. I'll just have to time the fans to come on with the lights.

One minor problem was that I could only get 1 screw secured. I messed up the other two (both accidentally drilled out). I have placed a couple holes over some other screw points, but will need longer screws to reach them -- back to Home Depot... For now, electrical tape along both edges holds it steady enough. It rests on the tank lip when closed, anyway.

 

[ct_vol]

Looks good Scott... But I think you'll still need more fans...

 

[Runner]

We'll see. One of the fans can go back on a hydrostatic chiller and put that into service if I need it.

 

[Runner]

It has been running straight all day and holding at just under 76F. I was starting to get worried when I saw the digital readout jump from 75.5 to 80+ over a short time, but then I realized that I have the RTD probe after the heater in the filter area. So the filter side is hotter because of that, but the main tank is okay. I measured it with a glass thermometer near the bottom of my tank. I consider it my most accurate method of measurement. Perhaps the surface is running a little higher, but I dougt it the way the rotating return line mixes this thing up.

If the temperature holds, I am definitely keeping this setup and eventually turning it into a high light and flow tank with some hardier corals.

Now I just need to get the auto-top-off working right.