Project Detail (Light Box 1.0)

Forgive the appearance of this page - although I do web pages professionally, I seldom make a personal page I'm happy with - soooo why bother ;)

fulham workhorse 7 'long'  approx 2ft long!

fuzzy pic of powercompact sockets GYQ10 I believe?

a shot of the lightbox from the top

sizing up the reflectors - they needed to be cut down about an inch

reflectors and stainless steel bulb clips installed

bulbs installed and wired up

lights, camera, action!  the "smear" is some sort of glitch caused by 12000+ lumens right into the camera!

close up of my "el cheapo" reflectors

List of Materials (Light Box 1.0)

1 sheet of 2 ft by 4 ft Birch plywood                 $18

1 roll of 10 ft by 6 inch aluminum flashing        $4

1 box of #6 zinc plated screws                         $5

1 fulham workhorse 7 long                               $36

2 Custom Sealife 6700K 96 watt PCs              $40

2 PC sockets                                                    $12

2 feet of 18/2 bell wire                                      $0.40

1 bag of 25 wire nuts                                        $1

Total Cost                                                        $116.40 USD minus shipping

Cost of similar pre-made system                     $250-$300

Savings                                                            You Bet Your Ass!

Assembly (Light Box 1.0)

Plywood was butchered into roughly shaped pieces that amazingly assembled to make a box!

Reflectors were made by unrolling approx 30" of the flashing, cutting it off with scissors, and using a gloved hand and 2x4 chunk to put some creases in it, in a futile attempt to mimic the popular "gull wing" reflector design seen in commercial fixtures.

Tools used: old circular saw with plywood blade, jig saw with metal cutting blade, various measuring instruments, guides, and heh, angle squares, 2x4 chunk, clamps, elmers glue, screws, hammer to help the screws into their homes after stripping their heads off.

Original design called for the box to fit over top of my 30 long and hinge open, however, following the rule of measure once, cut thrice, the box will now be hung about 6 to 12 inches over the top of the 30 long

Reflectors and box interior will be painted with Rustoleum High-Gloss White spray paint, outside of box will either be unpainted or painted with rustoleum high-gloss black craft paint.

Reflections (Light Box 1.0)

Overall, I am pleased with this project ... it will give my 30 gallon tank a hell of a kick in the ass as far as lighting goes ... enough so that I will probably have very bad algae and floundering plants, as I have yet to purchase a real CO2 system

Assembly took about 3 hours, most of which was spent fumbling with the circular saw ... had I possessed a table saw, things would have gone quicker and turned out better, with pieces actually being the correct size, and not sliced at random angles.

Fine Print:
All pictures and text are copyright (C) 2003 by Gordon L. Mc Lellan - Pictures are digitally watermarked to track circulation, as if it would really occur.  Commercial or for-profit reproduction is  strictly prohibited.  Hobbyists feel free to use anything here as long as you mention my name somewhere in the publication. The FULHAM label is probably copyrighted by Fulham, and is reproduced without their permission.