Another lighting question

[Mighty Prawn]

Okay so my 55 gallon long tank came with 2 canopy hoods, both housing 18" bulbs.

I got some bulbs that were reccomended to me, the Deluxe Daylight bulbs at Home Depot by Phillips. However these are just 15W each. So 30W total. From what I understand about the W per gallon rule, this is soooooo far from what I need.

I can't however, seem to find 18" bulbs any higher than 15W. Does something with higher wattage exist? Please don't tell me I'm going to have to buy a new canopy.... Please tell me I can make the existing one work.

My existing bulbs are also only 15W. I have a second 55 gallon that also came with a double canopy, that also had some Eclipse Natural Daylight 15W bulbs in em.

Help meeee.

-Hideo

[jvision]

MP, you're probably going to have to do some DIY work for your lighting. You could almost scrap the lighting you have, and go pick up a 4 x 40W light fixture from Home Depot for less than $50 lights included.

[Mighty Prawn]

Is that Home Depot setup something I can set right on my tank like my current canopy, and keep the little hatch doors to feed the fish/plant stuff, or is it something else? I can't hang anything above it unfortunately, so hopefully it's something I can set right on the tank.

-Hideo

[jvision]

I've done many a DIY hack job with lights, but it's easy to make it look good. Most of them come with a reflector, so you can keep the light in the tank - if not, CDs work great!

On my 55 gal, what I did was gut a twin strip, and placed 3 40W bulbs under it. I actually bought a new balast, but what you could do is buy the 4-strip, and a reflector for a twin. Gut the 4-strip, and place the bulbs on the glass under the twin reflector.

This should keep the light going into the tank, and allow you to still open the lid.

I'll take some pics tonight when I get home, and post them for you.

[Mighty Prawn]

That definately doesn't sound like something I am capable of building. I might have to pay someone else to do it for me. Would a lighting store do something like that?

-Hideo

[jvision]

You can buy special lighting packages, if you want. But, if you can wait a day or so before you go shopping, I'll post the pics for you - it's pretty easy. I am, by no means, an electrician!!

Actually, I had it set up, and my electrician friend came and made a few mods, but it's pretty simple, anyway.

Also, Tanker has some great plans for building a canopy that will hold your lights, and allow you access to the tank, as well. I think there was a recent thread in the DIY section...

[nyb440]

How much lighting do you think you'll need? On my 55, I bought a 48" twin tube fixture from Revy (Rona now?), put aluminium foil on the inside of the vertical sides of the light diffuser, and then painted the whole thing black. The size is very convenient as it sits perfectly on the tank and can be lifted up a little bit to slide the glass top back for feeding. I had the glass custom cut so they fit the tank exactly, and glued a thin plastic strip at the back for filter/heater cutouts. You'll want to put a two thin strips of the plastic backing on the bottom of the top piece of glass so that it will slide easily over the one below. This system is going on 7 years of age for me, so it's held up well.

For light bulbs I use a 5500 K sunlight tube, and a 6500 K ultra daylight tube, which seems to give a good mix. As Jason said, the process is really easy, and much cheaper than going for a dual strip light at a pet store ($165 last I checked). If you need even more light you can go the route Jason suggested with 4-tubes. I had reasonable luck with plant growing in my 55 with the two lights, but if you want a very densely planted tank then the four is probably the best option.

[jvision]

Ok... here's what I have

This is my 55 gal tank

Here's what I have my lights under

The canopy has glass tops on the top of it, so the tank is kind of 'open-top'

Under the reflector - standard twin flourescent reflector - I have 3 T6 bulbs at 40W each

Originally, I had the regular end caps that are 50¢ ea - or less. But, my electrician friend wanted something a little more waterproof b/c these lights are open to the water. I used the end caps from the Hagen light systems with the remote ballasts.

If your lights are going on top of your glass cover, then you can easily use the regular end caps.

The reason I did this was to get the light bulbs closer together. I think I'd still like to go with 4 bulbs.

But, to make this is easy. Just take apart the 4-bulb system. You'll probably have to get new endcaps b/c I think these ones have all 4 in one solid piece. But, just clip the wires that go from the balast(s) to these caps, and place them in the new ones. Then place the lights as close as possible, and put your twin strip reflector over them.

Done and done!