# Making my own lighting hood - where to get reflectors?



## Fortuna Wolf (Feb 3, 2007)

I want to avoid mail order, so where can I get reflectors for T8 bulbs, or make them myself? 
I would be tempted to go with say, rustoleum metallic spray on, but I think that its albedo is still pretty low. 

The plan is to use a 10 gallon that I already have and put in 2x F15T8 undercabinet lights, disassembled, and reassembled into a hood - The lights will cost me $7/ea from Walmart, and $5/ea for replacement plant grow lights. 

Also want to do the same thing to a 29 gallon one, with either 3x F20T8s or 4xF15T5s, though, since I'd have to run an extra T5 (And thus extra investment and bulb replacement cost), it'll be a matter of if I can find a supply of plant growth T5s. 

All I need now are the reflectors, so, where can I get them?


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

AH Supply has the best reflectors for either T8 or PC, though I know you said you wanted to avoid mail order. Spray metallic is not the best. The actual best DIY you can do, aside from using a metal brake to bend Miro aluminum, is flat of semi-gloss white paint. T5 do best with a parabolic shape designed to fit the diameter of the bulb to minimize restrike. A flattened V shape for the T8 or PC would be ideal, as a DIY approach. If you look at a photo of the AH Supply reflectors, you'll get an idea of what shape you want.

If your really in to DIY and want a little better/more light pretty cheap. You can easily DIY a ODNO T8 setup or a PC setup pretty cheap.


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## dyckster (Nov 28, 2006)

I did the undercabinet light thing for a while and it was alright but in hindsight I wouldn't recommend it. I'd suggest, instead, getting the screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs. Even the twirled ones are better than the undercabinet lights. 

If you really want to go your route, I checked into getting reflectors made by a friend of mine who does metal work. It was waaaay more expensive than anything you could mail-order unless you were buying 1000 of them. Economies of scale as they say..... I used white spray paint on the underside of the hood as a reflector. Again, it was alright but I wouldn't do it again.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I used 3 24" T8 bulbs over a 29 gallon tank, and it was not adequate light. Four would be the minimum, in my opinion. I made my own reflector from wood covered with metalized mylar, which also didn't work very well. If I were to try that again I would glue strips of glass mirrors on the wood instead. White paint reflects more of the light, but it is diffuse reflection, with the light reflected in all directions, not just towards the tank. I have never had the slightest regret for buying AH Supply light kits. And, my DIY light cost about the same as the AHS kits I replaced it with.


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## Fortuna Wolf (Feb 3, 2007)

Stupid question - why does AH supply compact fluorescents? 
They're as or less efficient than a T5, and as or more efficient than a T8, but T8 and T5 bulbs are both cheaper? 

Ahsupply's price for the 2 x 55 watt Bright Kit™ is $65 plus 2x55W lights at $38. 110W total, and I would have to build the enclosure. 

I could buy 5 T8 ballasts, endcaps, and bulbs (not plant growth bulbs, but those are another $5/ea) for $50, $25 for the bulbs. That's 100W or so of light. 
$103-$50/ gives me another $53 to build the reflectors, or $28 to build the reflectors and buy better bulbs. 

Can I use aluminum sheeting, hand polish, bend, and then spray with clearcoat and adhesion promoter to prevent corrosion?

Instead of bending something particular crazy, i may just use a small V above the bulb, and between bulbs a larger V...


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## mulligan (Dec 30, 2006)

I'm using stainless steel that I had bent in a fab shop. I'm polishing it myself with a bench grinder and the different buffing compounds. I expect it to be a mirror like finish when I'm done. I'm just not done yet, so I can't say for sure. I think aluminum would work fine and I don't think you need to clear coat it to keep it form corroding in that environment.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Polished aluminum is the gold standard for reflectors. Stainless steel is not nearly that good. That's why all astronomical telescope mirrors are aluminized. Aluminum reflects the whole energy spectrum well. I keep wondering why someone doesn't get front surfaced glass mirror strips and use them to make a reflector. That should be the most perfect such reflector you could make.


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## Fortuna Wolf (Feb 3, 2007)

stainless steel, and steel, are both not very reflective. you might do as well as simply spray painting the housing white if you use them. 
Why would you use glass mirror strips? The perfect reflector would have a smooth curve. Maybe glass with aluminum sputtered on. Although, then its a toss up between silver and aluminum. Anyhow, that's just way too OCD for my tastes.


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## mulligan (Dec 30, 2006)

stainless steel is a fine reflector for this application. for any material, just shine a laser pointer off it's surface and look at the reflection on the wall. If it shows as a line, no good, if it shows close to a dot size, then it's fine. We aren't trying to split the atom here.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Telescope mirrors have been aluminum coated for probably the last 100 years. Back when I was working with light and mirrors I did a lot of research looking for the best reflective surface for radiation from infrared to ultraviolet, and aluminum was it. It isn't possible to make a perfect parabolic mirror for a tubular light source. Parabolas only focus a point or a line, not a tubular surface. So, it is just about as good to use a series of flat mirror surfaces as to use an unfocused parabolic surface. And, it is almost childs play to make one with flat surfaces vs. with curved surfaces. (Where the surfaces and angles are actually chosen to optimize the reflection and not just generalized.) It is also a great deal of fun to design and make a reflector. And, this being a hobby, having fun is the primary goal.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

If you want to make your own reflector you need to be able to bend metal. Doing that precisely and with results that are not looking ugly is not as easy as it seems.

If are not too concerned about the bending you can get the polished aluminum from Home Depot or Lowe's. Get the extension for what is known as "Sun Tunnel":
TCR Commercial Sun Tunnel™ Skylight - Welcome to VELUX America

The price for the extension is about $30 for a piece that is about 24 x 36 inches. The extension is polished aluminum and it's covered with protected film.

Another link (scroll all the way down on this page) for "Spectral Aluminum Sheet":
Aquarium Lighting, reef aquarium lighting,Metal Halide lighting, IceCap A4 ballast, Power Compact, Compact Fluorescent, VHO Lighting

For a cheaper alternative you can get roof flashing and polish it to a mirror finish with a polishing compound, an electric drill. and a lot of elbow grease.

As you see - AHSupply's reflectors may be a justified purchase. 

A final note - a perfectly shaped reflector ("M" shape, Spider, etc) helps get only a little more light than a "tub" or dome shaped one. If you are not concerned with getting these 5% extra light don't bother with bending metal in some funky shapes.

--Nikolay


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## Fortuna Wolf (Feb 3, 2007)

Ok, thanks for that info Niko! 
We'll see what I come up with (but I bet its ugly!), 
AFAIK, the outside of the hood will look nice, but the inside can be whatever. 
Like my eclipse aquariums got their hoods spraypainted white on the inside - pretty ugly, but it works. 

Btw, I bought out of the $10 walmart 24" T8s and disassembled it for fun. Its a cheap POS, but it has endcaps, a light, and an electronic ballast for $10 ($8 if I get the daylight bulb!), and it is possible to disassemble and use. I'll try and get a camera and take pics of it. The light seems dim, but its a grow light. I'll probably have to do 2 or 3 growlights and 1 or 2 daylights.


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

i think if you do go the reflector route, i would still paint the interior white. that's what i did with my new canopy even though i got reflectors for my T5's. every little bit helps


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Fortuna Wolf said:


> Stupid question - why does AH supply compact fluorescents?
> They're as or less efficient than a T5, and as or more efficient than a T8, but T8 and T5 bulbs are both cheaper?


Because they work?

110w of T8 is not the same as 110w of PC in my experience. You really can't go wrong with AH Supply products or service.

I have 110w of T8 over my 40g breeder and it isn't enough. Combination of T8 bulbs and crappy reflectors. I'll never go back to T8 lighting for heavily planted tanks again.


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## rnocera (Feb 14, 2007)

Fortuna Wolf said:


> Btw, I bought out of the $10 walmart 24" T8s and disassembled it for fun. Its a cheap POS, but it has endcaps, a light, and an electronic ballast for $10 ($8 if I get the daylight bulb!), and it is possible to disassemble and use. I'll try and get a camera and take pics of it. The light seems dim, but its a grow light. I'll probably have to do 2 or 3 growlights and 1 or 2 daylights.


How easy are those to tear apart & rewire? I've been wanting to do the same thing, and thinking about it. I hear all the time that it works out to be about the same price, or even slightly more expensive than doing the AHsupply lighting, but my idea with it is that a) it's DIY, which is always fun, and b) I could spend $10 at a time, rather than a minimum of $50 all at once. As a college student who has to scrape together pennies to afford feeding himself & his animals, it's a lot easier for me to spend $10 at a time than it is to drop a chunk all at once. Seems like most aquarium people don't understand what a budget is.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

rnocera said:


> Seems like most aquarium people don't understand what a budget is.


Nonsense, it is a cichlid, a dwarf variety I think. No....wait....it's a variety of ludwigia.


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## rnocera (Feb 14, 2007)

Ah, see, my last response I got was that it's a small type of bird.


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## dyckster (Nov 28, 2006)

> I could spend $10 at a time, rather than a minimum of $50 all at once.


This is true and I thought this the best plan of action a few years back. Now I'm kicking myself because I was unsatisfied with the results to I spent the money on the AH kit. I now have a really nice light that cost me $100 shipped to canada and ~$100 worth of junk T8 parts & bulbs in my closet. (It's $100 bucks because I broke things a few times.)

That said, I did learn a fair bit from tinkering with the ballasts and wiring but I also learned to do my homework and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and spend the money or you'll end up paying double.


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## Fortuna Wolf (Feb 3, 2007)

Well, the cheap ones from walmart are dead simple to tear apart. There'll be a decent amount of work fabbing up some housings for them though, but the end caps and e-ballast are about $2 after the price of the bulb. 
For a 10 gallon tank with 3 F15T8s the price works out to $21+reflector+hood, which is great, and you can't buy a PC setup from ahsupply that will work with that. 

If I were wiring up a 50 gallon or greater tank I would definitely go T5HO or PC, but with the smaller tanks I'm going to play with T8.


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

dyckster said:


> This is true and I thought this the best plan of action a few years back. Now I'm kicking myself because I was unsatisfied with the results to I spent the money on the AH kit. I now have a really nice light that cost me $100 shipped to canada and ~$100 worth of junk T8 parts & bulbs in my closet. (It's $100 bucks because I broke things a few times.)
> 
> That said, I did learn a fair bit from tinkering with the ballasts and wiring but I also learned to do my homework and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and spend the money or you'll end up paying double.


True dat. If you look around the forums, it's hard to see any person who actually sticks with the DiY fixtures over time....they aren't satisfied with the output.

btw, this applies for people looking for high-light alternatives. People use the $10 T12 shoplight fixtures over tanks without any problems if they're looking for a low light setup.


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## Fortuna Wolf (Feb 3, 2007)

Well, I haven't built the other two enclosures yet.. 
But I made one for a 2.5 gallon nano tank tonight out of plywood and put in 2x F8T5 fluorescents. The lights are rated at 800 lumens, and with the reflector I'm guessing its around 1200 lumen, so about 17 lumens / in^2. Still - its very bright.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

You can always start out with an "interim" reflector out of mylar. A crude, half cylinder of mylar film won't be optimal, but even that is better than what you get with most commercially available fixtures out there.

It can take a long time to make a really good reflector. For T5 tubes, it would be really hard to beat the Tek reflector. You can get them from http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Sunlight_Supply/Tek_Reflectors/
This is a parabolic reflector with a notch at the top, so it's better than a purely parabolic reflector.

Some other notes:
AH Supply has decent reflectors for Compact Flourescent tubes. Since CF bulbs are curved and bend back against themselves, there is a limit to how good a reflector can be. I keep reading people recommend AH reflectors for linear tubes, but this doesn't make much sense since a pseudo-parabolic reflector will be much better than shiny reflector designed for a CF bulb.

T5 normal output gives the most light per watt, but isn't the brightest light. Your electricty bill should be noticably lower from this bulb choice though. So long-term you are minimizing the primary cost of a planted tank. This also means that this has the lowest "carbon footprint" from an environmental perspective.


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