Ya, plexiglass was just too expensive when I can just mount the new light on the existing hood. I could get a 1/4 inch standard sized sheet for less than one pre-cut and buy a fine tipped soldiering iron to cut which I understand works well but then I'm adding the cost of the iron that I'll likely never use again. All-in-all I think I'm better off just mounting on the current hood even though a hood that could be totally removed just by lifting off would make maintenance easier.

What ever happened to decent suction cups anyway? I remember back in the 1980s I had a tank set up for South American Cichlids and one of the smaller species liked caves. I got some plastic caves that mounted on the back of the tank with suction cups and they never let go. These days suction cups just no longer hold. With the new light I'll try the cups but expect to have to use silicone or super glue to have it stay in place. I'll probably use silicone as it is a whole lot easier to remove if necessary. I've heard that petroleum jelly helps with suction cups but that isn't something I want to introduce to the tank. Even my tank heater is designed to mount with suction cups but they didn't hold so I ended up using plastic wire ties to attach to the air risers for my under gravel filtration... Air risers are the tubes with bubbles going up that you may have seen. The rising air bubbles actually work like a pump pushing water up the tubes to make water flow through the gravel to filter. It is the closest to nature as to filtration. Don't really know why but it has lost popularity but is the way I still go.

_________________

As for the suction cups, perhaps it's a change in the material composition. I would imagine that porosity would impact the ability to maintain suction. I have a dashboard camera that mounts with a suction cup and it works pretty well. It's been on the windshield over 5 years and has only dropped off 3 or 4 times, usually after a sustained heat wave when my car is parked in direct sun for a long time.

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Porosity could be a factor but I think it is also stiffness. They just feel as soft and pliable as I remember years back. As to porosity that could be why petroleum jelly is supposed to help.

_________________

I didn't know about the petroleum jelly bit. I did know that wiping a thin coating of oil helps some suction cups stick longer, so it makes sense that petroleum jelly would also work well.

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Agreed but I don't want to introduce a petroleum product to my tank. I already have aquarium silicone that I know is safe and already in use holding air lines and such in place. I MAY not even try the suction cups for the new light as they would put the entire light in water. Since it is fully submersible that isn't a big deal except that it would be much more noticeable. I think I just may just go ahead with the silicone to lower the light's presence.

_________________

New light showed up today but I haven't mounted yet. I'm sort of testing the suction cup mounting. Right now it is stuck on my dinette table with a smooth surfaced top to give an overnight test. These cups are a bit different than the ones that totally failed on my heater. They are MUCH softer and almost look like they have been polished. Also there are four cups for a 16 inch length without much weight at all.

I haven't removed the old light yet and hope, once I do, I will find something that I can run plastic wire ties through to mount the new light to make it higher and less in the water. If that does not work out I may try the cups.

_________________

Not a surprise but the suction cups didn't even last overnight stuck to my table.

_________________

YEA!! I figured out my mounting for the new light.

This afternoon I tried using silicone to mount under the hood but it just takes too long for the silicone to set enough to hold the light without it falling off. I'm sure that I could have come up with something to hold the light in place until the silicone set enough but came up with a better way using the suction cup mounts. Ya, as expected, the suction cups won't hold but there is more than one way to skin a cat. Rotate the cup 90 degrees and you can pop out the cup. In the following image note the round part of the mount with the holes. Put the mounts, without the cups, on the light strip and a few drops of Super Glue on the raised round parts and stick it on the under side of the hood. Hold it for a few seconds and job done.

Here is what is in the works. LOL! Do what I said above. The only thing is that I'm going to have to do a little cutting in the hood to fit through the light controller. On the back top of the hood there are vents that I will snip out a few pieces to be able to fit through the controller. I could just cut out more area in the back of the hood where the wires and air tubes go but I have a rope fish and they are escape artists; I don't want larger openings where he can reach.

Will just need to clean the hood really well where the mounting will happen.

Here is what I'm talking about in relation the the suction cup mounts.

_________________

Super Glue to the rescue!

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Yeppers! And oddly the stuff is totally aquarium safe.

_________________

Interesting observation concerning the new lights...

First the mounting. I tried just using the suction on the bottom of the hood but they only hold for close to a week. I'm going to stay with the cups but put a dab of silicone on each of the 4 cups to anchor. Using silicone instead of super glue as I can remove the silicone from the cups if something happens and I need to return the light.

So the interesting part. Within 3-4 days with the new light my rope fish totally came out of hiding and is all over the tank throughout the day. I have no real choice but to figure that he just didn't like the original built in lights, possibly too much blue. Ropes have poor eyesight but are still light sensitive. While it is still argued as to what a rope can actually see most fish have an added cone color receptor for ultra violet. The high amount of blue in the original light may have irritated him. This could also explain why he kept going into the pump chamber of the built in filtration... The light does not reach the chamber so it is quite possible that he was going there to hide from the old lights. While blue is not ultra violet it is getting close. Or mayhaps he just likes the green in the new lights that the original light lacked. With the old lights I could control the intensity of all the lights being used but only all at once. With the new lights I have a separate control for blue while red, whit and green are combined in a different control. I have the red, white and green at a higher intensity than the blue which may have helped. Also the 'temperature' of the new lights is 6500k which is the same as sunlight so more natural.

Regardless of what in the above is the actual reason I truly believe that the new lights are the reason that he is out of hiding and bee bopping all over the tank. Just to much of a change to just be coincidence. I'm just happy that he now seems more comfortable. They are sort of nocturnal but do come out a lot during the day especially if you feed during the day which I do. Right now I just looked over and the tank is mostly dark with the only light coming from my screens and accent lights and he is flopping all over the place. It had gotten to the point that I would rarely see him even at night. He only came out to feed. Fish are easily stressed and I think that something about the old lights put him in stress mode resulting in all the hiding.

Can I actually prove any of the above? Not a chance but nothing else makes and sense. I'm just glad that he seems much more relaxed and happy. This is him out and about yesterday or the day before. Most active that I have ever seen him although my cichlids may not be happy as I've seen them get bopped by his tail a few times. The cichlids seem to be learning and just stay away. He's not attacking the cichlids or anything; it is just that he is ~7.5 inches long and the cichlids just sort of get in the way.

Oh, the black tube looking thing hanging down the right side is actually the power cord for the new light. I just haven't yet used a bit of silicone to run the cord so it won't be noticed.

_________________

That's pretty cool that he seems to be happier with the new lighting.

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

LOL! I think so too. His behavior has remained the same as described. Actually it has even improved more. With this fish the dorsal fin does look like a normal dorsal fin. it is more like ridges which makes the beastie look even more like a mini sea serpent. It is quite common that a rope will flatten these ridges in a tank to where they can't be noticed. Now his dorsal ridges are almost always erect.

I think that I may be on to something with this species. Most lights tend to amplify the red and blue; blue to accentuate the colors of a fish and red for plants.While the new light isn't a high cost super lighting system it does have a light 'temperature' of 6500K which is the same as sunlight. This fish has pretty poor eye sight but still seems sensitive to ultra violet. Most fish have a 4th color cone in the eyes for ultra violet which is why adding a 'black light' to a tank can actually blind fish as the ultra violet is too intense. While blue is not ultra violet it is heading in that direction and may well bother this fish. In the following image you can see the erect dorsal ridges if you look close. Even erect they are not prominent but can be seen especially toward the tail. While the image can be clicked and then shown MUCH larger open the image in a new tab or it will take you off this site. Even without going to a larger image you can still what I mean about the ridges if you look close.

I REALLY do attribute all this change to the new lighting. Oh, the other fish is one of my cichlids. While they will kill other smaller fish they seem to know better than to mess with my ropie beastie.

_________________