[Wet Thumb Forum]-Got my PC lighting yesterday!

[trace_lynn]

I have to say that there is definitely a difference in 30 watts of regular fluorescent lighting versus 36 watts of PC lighting is!

I had 2 regular fluorescent strip lights on top of my 10 gal tank and it was always a bother to get into the tank for maintenance. One was a regular light (came with the tank) and the other was a separately purchased strip with a daylight bulb. All my plants were growing straight to the regular fluorescent light in the front of the tank so I decided I should get better lighting and if I was going to spend the money, it might as well be PC lights. All the comments on here about PC lighting really helped too!

Anyhow, I ordered the 1X36W Bright Kit from AHSupply.com along with their tips for doing the DIY enclosure. I have no clue when it comes to electricity so I was crossing my fingers that the included instructions were really good. I also looked on the internet for others' setups on hoods, lighting, “wiringâ€�.

Well, I got my kit in the mail yesterday. I went to Home Depot, picked up the 4 pieces of wood I would need (4 feet and 2 feet sections), a can of black spray paint, and some sand paper. Got home, sat down at the kitchen table and went to work. Five hours later (this is including building the hood and adding my own tweaks, sanding it, painting it, and wiring (re-checking it about 3 times ) and I was done. I did all but the painting at my kitchen table so this was quite easy!

What a difference it makes too! Posted below are pictures of before and after. AFter only 2 minutes of the new lights being on the tank I had pearling from my plants and I had never been able to achieve this previously.

I ordered a new Eheim canister filter today from BigAl’s to replace my HOB Penguin 330 (losing a lot of my pressurized CO2 to that HOB) and a submersible heater along with some “other stuffâ€�.

I can’t wait to get my 75 gallon "other suff purchases from BigAls" up and going as I will have so much more room to work with.

Anyhow, I wanted to post this as I had read somewhere that the person was worried about the wiring part so they were going to purchase already made lighting. It really was not as bad as I had thought it would be. I finally just took the plunge and did it and I will definitely be ordering from AHSupply for my 75 gallon light setup as well!

I'm still working on getting the plants to grow in and look right and I'm still not happy with it myself (But that is a differnt topic and forum section).




Tracy
Ummm, Is it suppose to do that!?

[trace_lynn]

I have to say that there is definitely a difference in 30 watts of regular fluorescent lighting versus 36 watts of PC lighting is!

I had 2 regular fluorescent strip lights on top of my 10 gal tank and it was always a bother to get into the tank for maintenance. One was a regular light (came with the tank) and the other was a separately purchased strip with a daylight bulb. All my plants were growing straight to the regular fluorescent light in the front of the tank so I decided I should get better lighting and if I was going to spend the money, it might as well be PC lights. All the comments on here about PC lighting really helped too!

Anyhow, I ordered the 1X36W Bright Kit from AHSupply.com along with their tips for doing the DIY enclosure. I have no clue when it comes to electricity so I was crossing my fingers that the included instructions were really good. I also looked on the internet for others' setups on hoods, lighting, “wiringâ€�.

Well, I got my kit in the mail yesterday. I went to Home Depot, picked up the 4 pieces of wood I would need (4 feet and 2 feet sections), a can of black spray paint, and some sand paper. Got home, sat down at the kitchen table and went to work. Five hours later (this is including building the hood and adding my own tweaks, sanding it, painting it, and wiring (re-checking it about 3 times ) and I was done. I did all but the painting at my kitchen table so this was quite easy!

What a difference it makes too! Posted below are pictures of before and after. AFter only 2 minutes of the new lights being on the tank I had pearling from my plants and I had never been able to achieve this previously.

I ordered a new Eheim canister filter today from BigAl’s to replace my HOB Penguin 330 (losing a lot of my pressurized CO2 to that HOB) and a submersible heater along with some “other stuffâ€�.

I can’t wait to get my 75 gallon "other suff purchases from BigAls" up and going as I will have so much more room to work with.

Anyhow, I wanted to post this as I had read somewhere that the person was worried about the wiring part so they were going to purchase already made lighting. It really was not as bad as I had thought it would be. I finally just took the plunge and did it and I will definitely be ordering from AHSupply for my 75 gallon light setup as well!

I'm still working on getting the plants to grow in and look right and I'm still not happy with it myself (But that is a differnt topic and forum section).




Tracy
Ummm, Is it suppose to do that!?

[imported_Platy]

well it looks like you had alot of turbulance from the HOT filter, why not just put an extension on the HOT filter down into the tank? I did and it works just fine...

125 Gal - 3.07wpg - 99% flourite - Pressurized Co2 - Uv Sterilization when needed - Densly Planted

[imported_Platy]

oh wait - i see now what you mean. I was thinking of a HOT like a Magnum 250 HOT... thats what i use, got it off ebay for 26.00 NEW


Dustin

125 Gal - 3.07wpg - 99% flourite - Pressurized Co2 - Uv Sterilization when needed - Densly Planted

[trace_lynn]

Yeah this dual bio wheel from Penguin actually barely fits on the back of a 10 gallon tank, but it really keeps the water clear *330 gph*

I tried putting a plastic sheeting type material over the lip of the "waterfall" to lessen the drop into the tank, but it didn't work. The pictures were taken when the water level was covering the lip at about 1 inch up so even with the water barely "falling" into the tank, it causes quite a bit of turbulance. And, that is why I ordered the canister filter.

I had bought this when I first started out (originally had a little 5-15 gallon filter that came with the *set*). I've learned a lot from these boards since then and so I am just having to upgrade things on this tank and I'm getting everything seperately for the 75 gallon acrylic I'm putting together. I've been nagging the crap (can I say that here?) out of my LFS for about 2 weeks now about getting it in. They finally pretty much told me to CHILL as they were trying to find a lower price cause everyone wanted too much.

Thanks.

Tracy
Ummm, Is it suppose to do that!?