Most minibow owners soon find the stock lighting to be inadequate. Finding a good lighting system can be
tough, and knowing what you need can be confusing. I decided to dedicate my tank to mainly SPS and LPS
corals so this is the system I decided on. I am working on a better tutorial, but this will have to do for now.
I started out with an oak canopy, similar to the ones available here. I coated the inside of the canopy with
several coats of white appliance paint. I put a thick enough coat of paint on that the grain of the wood was
no longer visible. This insures that the moisture inside the canopy won't soak the wood and warp it.
I used a 32w retrofit made by Custom Sea Life. I also modified this fixture for the metal halide. I had to cut
the back out of the fixture so it wouldn't block the light coming from the PC's. I left little "legs" extending back
from the fixture to support the glass. The included reflector has been modified with tin snips so as not to
block any light.
The advantage of this system is that the halide fixture is heavy enough to diffuse the heat. In addition, use
of the HQI halides requires a glass shield to block the UV light. This glass is included with the fixture.
tough, and knowing what you need can be confusing. I decided to dedicate my tank to mainly SPS and LPS
corals so this is the system I decided on. I am working on a better tutorial, but this will have to do for now.
I started out with an oak canopy, similar to the ones available here. I coated the inside of the canopy with
several coats of white appliance paint. I put a thick enough coat of paint on that the grain of the wood was
no longer visible. This insures that the moisture inside the canopy won't soak the wood and warp it.
I used a 32w retrofit made by Custom Sea Life. I also modified this fixture for the metal halide. I had to cut
the back out of the fixture so it wouldn't block the light coming from the PC's. I left little "legs" extending back
from the fixture to support the glass. The included reflector has been modified with tin snips so as not to
block any light.
The advantage of this system is that the halide fixture is heavy enough to diffuse the heat. In addition, use
of the HQI halides requires a glass shield to block the UV light. This glass is included with the fixture.
More to come!
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Lighting |