Ugly store Hoods

[Laylah]

Hi all!

I have a spare tank and am considering turning it into a planted tank (well as planted as a newbe can). My only problem is that I want some decent lighting, but our stores currently sell marine blue (a tad bright) and black (dingy dust collectors) and that's it! DIY is not an option (Baby, husband, work, studies, cat and fish to look after). Is there any way of mounting lighting without a hood? A brackets of sorts? Anything? It's a large tank (by my standards (1200mm x 450mm x 450mm / 4ft x 1½ft) So I'll need something somewhat sturdy.

Thanks for any info :)

[Blinky]

I use strip lights over a glass top on my planted tank. It's not as polished a look as a matching stand and hood, but not unattractive either. If you'd like to see pictures of the fixtures, there are links on my specs page (signature link).
If you want to really keep costs down, one or two standard 4" dual bulb shoplight from a home improvement store should give you sufficient light for most plants, though it's not as nice looking as a strip light designed for aquariums.
HTH :)

[Laylah]

That should work coz I have 2 glass ledges running along either length of the tank, so that could be mounted between the two :)

Keeping fingers crossed that planted works out...hmm...have to visit lfs again...hope size isn't an issue...rats now I have to worry about plant varieties...this hobby sure does give one stress...I love stress...should be fun!

Ta Ta