Kessil H80 sump light containment

[tc2007]

Kessil H80 has a outer diameter of ~4.8", it's on a sump compartment area roughly 10"X12"

I need to focus light only on that area and prevent any other areas from getting the red light. Is there some kind of hardware hood (maybe a duct reducer) that will do the trick?

[LQT]

Can you lower the light over the surface of your fuge? Here is the coverage map per Kessil for the H80 on their website.

[tc2007]

I could, but my skimmer is too big and take up the official refugium compartment and so I had to put the chaeto in the 1st chamber in front of the socks. If I lower the light, it comes in front of the socks and will be a pain to replace them.

[slief]

Best bet is to get some black ABS and cut it to fit between the walls/dividers of your sump so you can block the light off from the other compartments. You can notch the bottom so water can flow through the weirs and make it taller than the sump walls to contain the light to the fuge compartment.

[slief]

Or get a plastic cone like this and cut the top to fit the diameter of the H80. Make the opening a bit small so you can force the H80 into the cone from the underside of the cone. Cut the cone a few inches long and that should create a cheap make shift reflector that will reduce the spread of the light. That said, if it were me, I’d use the ABS approach to contain the light that way you prevent algae from growing in the other compartments and skimmer due to the ambint light from the H80.

Anyhow, here is the cone.
https://www.sstack.com/product/12-training-cones-white/

[tc2007]

That cone is something what I am looking for. Another item that caught my eye was a duct reducer like this

https://www.commercial-industrial-su...4-rc-1005.html

[slief]

Originally Posted by tc2007

That cone is something what I am looking for. Another item that caught my eye was a duct reducer like this

https://www.commercial-industrial-su...4-rc-1005.html

That could work. You could drill and tap 3 or 4 screw holes and thread some screws into it to hold it to the edge of the H80. If you go that route, I would at least paint the inside of it white so it’s reflective. My only concern would be that it appears to go from 5” to 10” very quickly which would increase the spread of the light. You want a fairly narrow angled cone to reduce the spread of light. I would still suggest you strongly consider some blacked out panels inside your sump. Regardless of how you limit the light spread, algae growing in your skimmer and return compartment will more than likely be an issue down the road unless you fully contain the light with a combination of a narrow reflector and some blacked out walls.