[Wet Thumb Forum]-Lighting for 24" square planted aquarium - DIY Aquarium Projects

vandermark5 · 03-14-2005, 07:42 AM

Hi,

I am thinking of setting up a 24" x 24" x 18" planted aquarium (roughly 40 gallons), and I wondering how to set up the lighting. Currently, in my 10 gallon tank (10" wide) I have a 28 watt Coralife aqualight (5" wide) and I have noticed how everything grows towards the middle of the tank where the light is strongest. Now with a 24" wide tank, I am thinking that I am going to need two or three bulbs equally spaced out, which makes me think I am going to need to build a custom hood. My preference would be not to have a hood, but spacing out three aqualights would be worse. Any help/thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

vandermark5 · 03-14-2005, 07:42 AM

Hi,

I am thinking of setting up a 24" x 24" x 18" planted aquarium (roughly 40 gallons), and I wondering how to set up the lighting. Currently, in my 10 gallon tank (10" wide) I have a 28 watt Coralife aqualight (5" wide) and I have noticed how everything grows towards the middle of the tank where the light is strongest. Now with a 24" wide tank, I am thinking that I am going to need two or three bulbs equally spaced out, which makes me think I am going to need to build a custom hood. My preference would be not to have a hood, but spacing out three aqualights would be worse. Any help/thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

imported_russell · 03-14-2005, 08:53 AM

if you place the light over the front, the foreground gets a ton of light, and if your plants lean foreward, it will explse the tops, which in my openion is one of the most beautiful parts of the plant.

vandermark5 · 03-14-2005, 10:49 AM

I agree with you on the beauty of the plants running across the surface, but on a tank that has 24" of width with the lighting unit placed at the front, the plants at the back will be 18" away from the strongest light. I think it would create one large cave - not sure this is what I want.

Currently, I am thinking of using two 24" Coralife (1 x 65W) units for a total of 130 watts. The only downside to this is that I would have to possibly remove both units to do pruning/aquascaping which is sort of a pain. I know they make units with double bulbs but they have fans and I don't want the extra noise.

imported_BSS · 03-14-2005, 11:09 AM

I was thinking the AHS (www.ahsupply.com) 2x55w setup. I would get the one that has two reflectors. For better coverage, you could have a deeper hood so you could raise the reflectors in the hood giving better coverage. AHS will provide some simple instructions for a DIY hood if you purchase their setup, which uses 'slats' across the top for passive ventilation. It's a very simple design! If you look at the hoods they sell, you could probably guess how to wo it. You could get a bit more fancy, and cut the hood down the middle so you could flip the top half over onto the back half. And if you want to get fancier, you can cut in some grooves along the bottom, so you can also slide the hood back for even more access to the tank top.

I'd show you with a more complex 46g bowfront DIY hood that I started. Unfortunately, it ain't yet completed

.

Brian.

imported_russell · 03-14-2005, 01:50 PM

ya, didn't think of the depth, that is a lot.