Made my own light reflector using a...........
Hey all.
I had a 29 gallon aquarium in the garage that needed to be used. The first thing I needed was a light source. Couldn't fit a bank of 4ft T5s in the area and I didn't want to use 24" T5 lights. Hit google to search for some homemade options that would allow me to increase wattage in the minium amount of space. Found a great answer on a site dedicated to of course, marijuana. Those guys get pretty creative. A guy made a simple reflector out of a mailbox. It held one CFL. I wanted one that would hold three. I drew out a quick scetch, got a huge mailbox on sale at Lowes for $10, and another for $3 at a garage sale. Long story short, this is what I came up with. It is not pretty but this sucker works. It can hold up to 750 watts and I mounted a small fan (coralife-on a recomendation by Ross) on the back to pull heat from the lights. When I started out I planned to make it asthetically pleasing as well as functional. However, function took over as the project went along. If I made another one, I think I could make it look more professional with what I have learned. The lights are 85 watt Full Spectrum CFLs that I found at a Northern Tool and Equipment store. If anyone is interested in the details on construction, I can post those later. I bought a bunch of stuff I didn't need and made a few mistakes along the way. Could help you avoid those mistakes. I put a small eye bolt on top so I can hook it to the top shelf which allows me to get in the orchidarium easily. Again it is not pretty I know, but I couldn't find anything like it anywhere at any store.
Neil
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