Nano Lagoon (My Light Hood)

This is my take on the light hood. Granted not very different from Ipsfdotcom's verion. I just wanted to explain how I cut the acrylic. It may not be the right/best way, but it worked for me with the materials I had :)

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• reef
• lagoon
• nano
• sea
• aquarium
• ocean
• DIY

[christiansthename]

Hey where did you find the bulbs I've been looking and I can't find them is this lighting good for corals?great video and videos btw also

[LordoftheReef]

@christiansthename aquariumguys (dot) com has them.

[alexgs43]

It doesn't matter if it is aquarium grade or not if it is only being used for the light hood as it needs to seal out water being splashed against it not actual water pressure like the type of adhesive sealant you'd use on the pieces of acrylic actually making up the aquarium itself. Nice work on all of this but work on your presentation some.

[LordoftheReef]

The reason it is not a bad idea to get aquarium grade is if it does get wet, there is no chance of anything bad leeching into the system. Early on when I was toying with my overflow and such I did get it way more wet than I should have. I agree on the presentation comment, but then again I didn't post this video to win an Emmy, just show people what I did with the light hood :)

[10secondstolate]

it would of been cool if you can put a 2 way Velcro on the hood and acrylic for ease of removing

[LordoftheReef]

Yes, however it would not have been waterproof, killing the purpose of even attaching it in any way. I did make a silicone lip and let it dry ontop of which I simply layed the light hood. The silicone was tight against the plastic but small amounts of water were still getting through. For safety there needs to either be an "O" ring with some pressure against it or some sort of glue (in my case silicone) keeping the water out. The silicone REALLY isn't hard to cut at all. I can almost just rip it

[LordoftheReef]

You have to cut through the silicone, which isn't hard. It's softer than a stick of butter straight from the fridge. It is a bit of a pain, but for the price saving for now it is great. Who knows, I may even get an upgraded light fixture within the year that I will need to replace the bulbs. The bulbs cost more than the fixture at this point anyhow :)

[quadrunner706]

how are u going to change the bulbs if u siliconed the thing up like that?

[1mkwiet]

Well I've gotten it done, it took some bending of the acrylic with a torch but it looks really good and should work well. I've currently got no way to take pics or video, but I'll be getting a cam soon to make some nano lagoon inspired footage :)