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Re: free lights


>in.  Also, has anyone had any luck finding good reflectors seperately.  I
>currently have the hood painted white for a reflector.  I use co2 injection,
>a 12 hour light period, and a peat/sand substrate.

AH Supply sells their Miro reflectors seperatly. I used one of their 
55w-size (about 23" long) reflectors to replace some folded aluminum sheet 
I use to use with a Hamilton 55w fixture. It works VERY well. Cost I think 
was under $10 but it's been a while since I bought it.

I use MH on my big tank (or at least am working on it while I set the tank 
up ;-) and single PC bulbs on my smaller tanks so I'll leave the postioning 
question to some one with more expierience to answer...

>Also I got 2 4" 24 volt muffin fans for free.  How much should I pay for a
>DC power supply for these.  Also, could I run this at 12 volts to slow the
>fans down without damage.  They are much quieter at this speed.  I have run
>them at 6 volt, 12 volt, and 24 volt off of some batteries I had.  Thanks
>for the help.

If your fan runs OK with lower voltages (doesn't get hot, doesn't hum or 
vibrate), then you should be OK running it at less than rated voltage. 
There are several ways to supply the power. You could DIY a simple supply 
with a transformer and a bridge rectifier for under $10. This would involve 
purchaising a transformer and bridge rectifier (get one of the 25 amp units 
with 1/4" quick disconnect tabs) and connecting them together. The low 
voltage transfomer leads connect to the AC (labled with little sine wave 
squiggles) terminals, and the fan red lead connects to the rectifier + 
terminal and the fan black lead to the - terminal. Fans aren't picky about 
voltage regulation so you can get away fine with the above circuit. Adding 
a few 1000 uF capictors across the DC output will help to smooth out the DC.

The best blend of easy and cheap is probably to use a wall-wart type supply 
(the wall-wart term comes from the people in the recording industry that I 
used to work with). Be sure to get a unit capable of safely running all the 
fans you connect to it. For example, if you have three 250 mA fans, you 
would need a minimum 750 mA supply. For safety it is advisable to not load 
a supply more than 80% or so, and the nearest standard size is a 1 amp 
supply (1000 mA). Such a supply is available from All Electronics 
(http://www.allcorp.com) as is the rectifier and transformer that I 
mentioned above.

I recommend getting finger guards for the fans. It is amazing how quickly 
things like hoses, filter parts, and hands can become "fan food" :-)

         -Bill