houseofcards

I'm looking ideally for a small clip-on light for my 5 gallon tank open-top. Anyone have any recommendation on where to purchase or a DIY project. I'd like to have moderate light levels.

acbaldwin

I made one myself (not clip on) out of a dual spiral incadescent fixture with dual self-ballasted (spiral) PC lights (18 watts total). I mounted the fixture according to direction inside of a plastic container that was painted and lined with foil on the inside.
I put it over my tank for the first day, looked & worked great. I thought, "Gee, what an economical and aesthetically pleasing project!". I was wrong.
The POS incadescent fixtue basically fell apart, landed in the open top, freshly set up nano sitting below, and BOILED THE FREAKING TANK.
If I had put in my planned livestock, we could've had fish sticks and shrimp gumbo for dinner that night.
Lesson:
I dunno, be careful I guess.

So.... I wouldn't suggest building a retro spiral PC kit if the kit came from "Lee's Aquarium Supplies". Perhaps doing a super low profile LED setup?

bpm2000

Those AZOO galaxy 13w clip-on lights are your best bet probably if you want a clip-on. People re-do the reflectors and paint them something other than their ugly original colors to make them more useful.

houseofcards

Yes, exactly I did see those but they were only in purple/green/purple. That would probably be enough light 13w on the 5g.

Thanks!

random_alias

Yes, you can paint the reflectors and the housings. I painted my NEON PINK galaxy solid black with FUSION spray paint. Just make sure to put 3 or so GOOD coats on the inside, making sure to get paint into the screw holes. You'll never see the underside of the Galaxy once it's reassembled because the reflector covers it so it's best to put the really thick light-stopping coats on the inside. Then, just put 2 or so coats on the outside. The inner coats will be blocking the light so you can focus on getting a smooth appearance on the outside. I found them very easy to paint. Be sure to hold the bulb under the housing before you reassemble it. This way, you can see if any light spills out. If you don't test it like this then you may end up assembling everything back together and turning it on, only to find that you have pull it all back apart and paint it again. Don't just hold the plastic housing up to the light, put the very intense bright bulb under it. You can paint one, hold it up to the light, see no light coming through, put the bulb under it and then see light.

Regular satin white spraypaint seems to be adhering to the metal reflectors quite well.

The Azoos look really sharp painted black and their color is better if the reflectors are painted flat or satin white, not glossy white. Glossy white doesn't reflect light as well. The black FUSION paint sticks to the plastic really well and gives it a very very good looking finish in my experience.

I run 2 of these modified Galaxy lights over my 2.5g Excel tank. I would imagine you might want 2 or 3.

This is where i bought mine: http://www.aquariumconnection.com/ge...galaxy&x=0&y=0

They sell the red ones for half price, around $15, which is great if you are planning to paint them anyway. They also sell the replacement bulbs so you can grab a few of those for future use. For $30 each I would say the Galaxies are not a good deal. I was originally very disappointed. But for $15 I would say that they are a good deal when you take into account their potential when modified. If I were starting a new nano I would probably buy more Galaxy lights and paint them. I like the open design and low profile appearance.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pl...ano-56k-i.html

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/li...ht=azoo+galaxy

houseofcards

Random,
Thanks much for the info about purchasing the Azoo lights, but I'm a bit confused. It sounds like your recommending them, but then in another in one of your links you describe problems with the last few you purchased.

random_alias

Yeah, here's the story behind that:

I didn't re-edit my comments in various locations because I thought it was important for people to know how I felt about the lights as an original product versus how I felt about the lights with a little work. As I worked on the light my opinion began to change because the quality of the light was changing. It's a good platform and design to work from.

I originally purchased them to use just as they were. I saw the normal price of $30 everywhere at the time and I assumed that they were high quality units. It turns out that their reflectors are bad and that my units produced different colored light, even though all the bulbs were labelled as having the same kelvin temperature.

Suffice to say, I was ticked and contacted the seller to arrange for returning the items. As I was about to return them, I began looking for other lights that fit my needs and desires and I realized that there really weren't any other lights that I wanted to use. So, I decided to play around with one of the lights. If I ruined it I would only be out $15 and could still return the other one. As I worked on the light I realized it was turning into something that I really liked.

So, now, I don't recommend to anyone to go out and buy a $30 Azoo Galaxy light because I personally don't feel they're worth the $$. Lots of people love the Azoo Galaxy lights right out of the box so there are opinions on both sides. However, I do recommend getting the $15 red ones if you are looking to paint one black. At half the price their value greatly improves. Also, painting my reflectors made the colors match up much better for some reason. So, if you want a black clip on light I like the cheap red Azoos from the above retailer for the modders. If you want a clip on light that you use straight out of the box, I'm not a big fan of the Azoos.

I still haven't found a clip on light that I like better than my painted Azoo Galaxy lights. However, I like almost everything I've seen better than I like the Azoo Galaxy lights out of the box. It all comes down to whether or not you want to put any time into the light. With a little spray paint it turns into something really nice, somthing I plan to continue using in my other small tanks.

I've based my experience on the three Azoo Galaxy lights I've owned.

houseofcards

Thanks Random for all the info pro and con. At $15 it's probably worth it to have one around.

I might also go this way for the light, although it doesn't give you as much flexibility it does look good.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll..._BIN_Stores_IT