Kakarot
Member
Finally getting clearer.... I think my DIY filter sponge is a bit too coarse really.
I've ordered some broad leaf dwarf chain sword plants to go around the edges of the rocks
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Finally getting clearer.... I think my DIY filter sponge is a bit too coarse really.
I've ordered some broad leaf dwarf chain sword plants to go around the edges of the rocks
Costa
Member
May want to consider floodlights, your setup looks great as it is! Can you perhaps write up a tutorial on how you made the light posts?
Kakarot
Member
Thanks Costa, yeah I can do it now, they are dead easy! I won't have photos though, I might chuck it in the lighting bit too.
DIY copper tube lighting pendants:
First was to decide how many lights I wanted and to order, I thought as it was a 3 foot (near enough) 3 would suit me so I ordered 3 E27 black pendants, and three E27 15w 6500k COB LED bulbs from ebay, the only other thing I'd need to actually get them to work was the wire and plug, luckily I had 3 plugs from lamps with enough wire to do the job for me, but any hardware shop would sell wire and plugs.
As I wanted the bottom end of the copper pipe to have a corner going back into the aquarium stand to look neat, that meant I needed 3 corners per pendant stand (9 in total) and 3, 1.5M lengths of 20mm copper tubing. with 2 copper brackets per pendant holding it to the stand.
After deciding how high I wanted the pendants to be i measured and cut 3 lengths of tubing using a pipe cutter (cheap and so much easier than a hack saw) then measured how far from the back of the stand to the centre was and cut 3 more lengths.
To work out the right spacing I divided the length of the tank into 3 and marked the middle of each third, then i screwed the brackets in loose and put the long lengths in before tightening these up. After the verticals were in i drilled a small hole to the inside just below where the pipes stopped, I fed the wire through leaving the plug end on the inside of the stand, then feed the wire through a corner piece (before its connected to the vertical), then up the vertical tube, though another corner piece, then the small length, then finally the last corner piece, Then comes the electrical part, connecting the possitive and neutral wires to the socket (if you're uncertain ask an electrician!) after that connect up all the corners and gently pull the wire near the plug end so the lamp socket is snug against the corner piece
like so 🙂
Then it was just a case of testing them before tidying up all the wires inside! It's easy and gets a lot of comment when we have guests over 🙂 Job done
DIY copper tube lighting pendants:
First was to decide how many lights I wanted and to order, I thought as it was a 3 foot (near enough) 3 would suit me so I ordered 3 E27 black pendants, and three E27 15w 6500k COB LED bulbs from ebay, the only other thing I'd need to actually get them to work was the wire and plug, luckily I had 3 plugs from lamps with enough wire to do the job for me, but any hardware shop would sell wire and plugs.
As I wanted the bottom end of the copper pipe to have a corner going back into the aquarium stand to look neat, that meant I needed 3 corners per pendant stand (9 in total) and 3, 1.5M lengths of 20mm copper tubing. with 2 copper brackets per pendant holding it to the stand.
After deciding how high I wanted the pendants to be i measured and cut 3 lengths of tubing using a pipe cutter (cheap and so much easier than a hack saw) then measured how far from the back of the stand to the centre was and cut 3 more lengths.
To work out the right spacing I divided the length of the tank into 3 and marked the middle of each third, then i screwed the brackets in loose and put the long lengths in before tightening these up. After the verticals were in i drilled a small hole to the inside just below where the pipes stopped, I fed the wire through leaving the plug end on the inside of the stand, then feed the wire through a corner piece (before its connected to the vertical), then up the vertical tube, though another corner piece, then the small length, then finally the last corner piece, Then comes the electrical part, connecting the possitive and neutral wires to the socket (if you're uncertain ask an electrician!) after that connect up all the corners and gently pull the wire near the plug end so the lamp socket is snug against the corner piece
like so 🙂Then it was just a case of testing them before tidying up all the wires inside! It's easy and gets a lot of comment when we have guests over 🙂 Job done
Costa
Member
Very nice!
This is what I've got at the moment
https://goo.gl/photos/P4KXWrRziZmdU9Tv9
The lights are sitting on a diy polycarbonate cover, supported by eggcrate - so yeah it's a very primitive solution
https://goo.gl/photos/B31sndUU96W2XpWb9
What I'd like to achieve is something like you've done with the copper tubing, but I was thinking about bending the tube rather than using the connection pieces, but your idea is more flexible. Then at the end of the tube I want to screw in the floodlights (which give out approx 5000lm each, not bad).
What's the lumen rating on your bulbs?
Thanks again, great work!!
This is what I've got at the moment
https://goo.gl/photos/P4KXWrRziZmdU9Tv9
The lights are sitting on a diy polycarbonate cover, supported by eggcrate - so yeah it's a very primitive solution
https://goo.gl/photos/B31sndUU96W2XpWb9
What I'd like to achieve is something like you've done with the copper tubing, but I was thinking about bending the tube rather than using the connection pieces, but your idea is more flexible. Then at the end of the tube I want to screw in the floodlights (which give out approx 5000lm each, not bad).
What's the lumen rating on your bulbs?
Thanks again, great work!!
Kakarot
Member
Can an admin please delete the above post, it's just a shameless company advert link.
Sorry about the late reply Costa! I didn't see the notification about your reply, your tank looks awesome, I don't know the lm off hand but I'll check, it is possible to bend copper pipe into tight bends but you'll need a long freezer! Haha, if you fill the pipe with water and freeze it the ice stops the pipe from collapsing, then when you've got the shape you want you just let the ice melt out 😀 I don't know how tight you can bend pipe without ice before it collapses.
Sorry about the late reply Costa! I didn't see the notification about your reply, your tank looks awesome, I don't know the lm off hand but I'll check, it is possible to bend copper pipe into tight bends but you'll need a long freezer! Haha, if you fill the pipe with water and freeze it the ice stops the pipe from collapsing, then when you've got the shape you want you just let the ice melt out 😀 I don't know how tight you can bend pipe without ice before it collapses.
