[BigRed27]

I recieved my new lighting today from AHS. I bought two 2x36 kits from them with their hood. There was some assembly required :shock: but it is much much brighter.

My old lighting

My new lighting

Did you know that I have fish in my fish tank?
I guess going from 20 watts to 144 watts is a big deal \/
I have some pictures of the assembly process. If anyone wants to see them give me a shout.

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

Yes lets see them please!

 

[Justin Fournier]

Feel free to post them up, won't hurt!

 

[Help]

Too bright, IMO. If I were a fish, I'd rather hide in a darker, more subdued Colliseum. It's too bright in there for any fish to "hide".

 

[BigRed27]

Ok here is assemly process as requested. Its not all the steps but hope it helps/shows someone. You have to assemble everything but the instructions are pretty good. If you are mechanically inclined its not a problem at all. The whole process took me probably 1 1/2 - 2 hours taking my time. I had to undo some of my work to make the wiring look better.

Again this is AHS's black 36" hood, and two 2x 36 kits
I have two 5500k lights and two 6700k lights

All the parts (lots of parts)

The underside of the hood

The reflector mounted in hood

Protective coating removed from reflector

The ballasts mounted and some wiring started

Working on the second reflector

The left side complete

All done

And here it is all on.
5500k is in the top right and bottom left
6700k is in the top left and bottom right

 

[litesky]

probably because it was taken in the dark. Causing it to look bright. What is the size of the tank? How many watts are you running per gallon. Maybe you might be going over just a tad bit.

 

[BigRed27]

40 gallon tank 144 watts 3.6WPG
I realize the picture is really bright but it is also blurry. I will take another one tommrrow when the light comes back on. I think the camera is way out of focus.

 

[Corigan]

40 gallon tank 144 watts 3.6WPG
I realize the picture is really bright but it is also blurry. I will take another one tommrrow when the light comes back on. I think the camera is way out of focus.

Definately not too much light, might want to adjust with a white balance is there is one. I assume once some of that plants grow in and more is added that it will produce more shade/blockage from the lights for the fish to hide in. One of my favorite sun blockers for the african glass catfish in my tank are tiger lotus leaves.

Matt

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

Yes those lights should work out great for you! Good job on the install and thanks for sharing the pics!

 

[tsunami]

I hope you are using CO2, plan to fertilize NO3/PO4/Fe+micros, and will be adding more plants with that amount of lighting. Otherwise, you'll be experiencing huge algae outbreaks...

Carlos

 

[BigRed27]

Here is a better picture of the tank. It isn't all washed out like the one above.

tsunami I have my fertz in the mail and I just ordered a CO2 system. It will probably be a week before I get it in though. I hope things are fine until then.

 

[United21Soccer]

What fish do you have in there? I saw some puffers and maybe some tetra's, but couldn't quite tell what the others were.

 

[Justin Fournier]

Nice job on the install, your going to want a LOT more plants in there ASAP!!

 

[BigRed27]

Ahh my fish, well I have a few.

4 green spotted puffers
4 dwarf puffers
6 Zebra Danios
6 Lemon Tetras
6 Neon Tetras
1 Electric Blue Johanni
2 Bumble bee Gobys
3 Electric Yellow Cichlids
1 Plocaustomas

 

[wonder woman]

Big Red-
There's nothing like a properly-lit tank, but...I second Carlos' concern: watch out for algae!!!
The few plants you have will take off like mad, but with lighting like that, so will the algae, unless you put in LOTS more plants, enough to out-compete ( and therefore, out-grow) the algae. DO NOT WHATEVER YOU DO add more ferts or any co2 UNTIL you add more plants. And, the faster-growing, the better. Anacharis, hornwort, val, most stem plants (hygro is really pretty) work best.
Good luck!

 

[IUnknown]

In the future when you add more plants and the bulbs need to be replaced, look into the 9325K GE lights. They will balance the color, and get rid of the yellow tint. The GE makes red plants really stand out.

 

[BigRed27]

Thanks for the info IUnknown I will look into that when I switch bulbs out.