Lighting Mods In D&d 24g

[Anguilla82]

Hi all,

have seen on another site that someone has put some blue LED strips into the hood of their 24g D&D nano.
they were pretty cheap so have ordered a couple of strips for myself too.

They had also squeezed in another 24 watt power compact light into the hood. Looks like it fits in under the plastic where there is a gap towards the rear of the hood.

Can anyone foresee any problems with making this mod, before i shell out the money to buy the light?

too much heat?
not enough air flow around the tubes?......etc.

 

[SkiFletch]

Nope, should be fine. You're even downgrading the amount of heat in there

 

[Anguilla82]

err, how would i be reducing the heat in there?
if i'm adding more lights and LEDS to the existing lights surely there would be more heat produced wouldn't there?

 

[Crazy fishes]

I think Ski has misread your message since the LEDs produce less heat but they are equivalent to a 24W PC tube. Ski making a mistake is an extreme rarity; it is as common as rocking horse poo!!
You will actually increase the heat produced but I think it should be fine. The LEDs are a really good idea since they are compact, efficient and they are 'aesthetically pleasing'. I was wondering if you could replace the stock lighting with LED strips? That would be efficient and produce a tiny amount of heat but would it be sufficient light for lower down in the tank?

Hope this helps

Regards

 

[SkiFletch]

Wait so you want to squeeze 3 24watt tubes and some LED's in there? I thought you were just giong with 1 tube and the LED's, thus using less flourescents than a standard (2 if memory serves). Looks like I did screw up

 

[Anguilla82]

yeah thats right.

the other guy had the standard 2 x power compacts + 45 LEDS + an extra 24watt power compact.
not sure if this will work but.....

i like the idea of having alot more light (especially as i intend to go more towards sps than softies in the future).
The LEDS as Crazy Fishes said does look very cool. (the leds should turn up within the next week or so, i've gone for 30 of them spread over 2 strips).

the extra light would be good, but i didn't want to have to go down the road of adding a load of fans/chiller.

 

[SkiFletch]

Ah I see. Well, do you have problems with heat in the summer as is?

 

[Crazy fishes]

I see that modified hood and I like !!!! Two 36W and a single 24W PC tubes plus 45 LEDS; INGUINUS!! Why didn't I think of that. My only concern, as Ski eludes to, is the summer and will the unit over heat.(Ha, like we get a summer in the UK. Does a spell of half cast days count as a summer ?)

Regards

 

[Anguilla82]

Summer in the UK

no have had no trouble this year.
The tank isn't in direct sunlight at all.

so consensus is that it might be ok?

time for some DIY then me thinks!

 

[SkiFletch]

Worth a shot, you can always unplug it if it's too much

Man, I wish we didn't have problems with summer heat, but we do... Probably the same yearly average temps as you guys here in upstate NY but our extremes are much more extreme, on both the hot and the cold

 

[mutantbigman2000]

we have extremes too.

From cold wet and sh**ty to warm wet and sh**ty.

 

[Anguilla82]

quick update.

the extra 24 watt PC hasn't turned up yet, but the 30 LEDs did last night.

i turned all of the other lights off and just held the LEDs over the tank. WOW, what a difference they make.

The D&D nano came with 2 tiny LEDs any how, but when i used them they were pretty pathetic and you couldn't really see anything.
These new LEDs are amazing. all my corals just look totally different. My LPS just look incredible.
i can't wait for the other light to come then i can fix all these bits in place.

will put photos up when i'm done.


was just wondering about lighting times. hows this?

10am - LEDs On
11am - Main lights On
1pm - Extra PC On
5pm - Extra PC Off
8pm - Main lights Off
9pm - LEDs Off

At the moment its:

1pm - Main lights On
9pm - Main Lights Off

are timings about right or should the extra light or LEDs be on for longer.

Rob

 

[SkiFletch]

Sounds fine to me

 

[Anguilla82]

It would appear that Interpet have stopped making the 24W power compact lights due to new electricity regulations!
shame the online shop i'd bought mine from didn't tell me this till I phoned them up to ask where my lights were!!!!!

Not sure what i'm gonna do now for extra lights.

I have fitted the LEDs and they look brilliant (will get pics up when i get the chance)

 

[Anguilla82]

just happened to pop into an LFS on my way to somewhere else, and they had the interpet PC lights in stock!
i immediately got the 24W version and th ecorrect ballast.
When the guy who had done this before said that he 'squeezed an extra light in', he wasn't kidding!
i had to cut a load of the metal sheeting out top fit th elight housing into the top of the tank, and even then it only just fit!

it does look good, though it came with a daylight bulb and an actinic, so slightly different light from what i've already got but i don't think that can be a bad thing?

my encrusting montipora has already expanded a fair amount over my rockwork so it'll be interesting to see what the effect an extra 24W on top of the standard 2x 36W is.