Another question about lights on my 125 gal project

H

hmt321

AC Members
Nov 21, 2005
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OK here is a pict of my plant layout
Drawing1.jpg


now here is a pict of my DIY hood, total wattage will be 336 watts

fishtanktoplightplan.jpg


the long yellow rectangle across the back is a 96 watt kit from here
http://www.ahsupply.com/96watt.htm

there are 2 of them

the 4 shorter lights are 36 watt lights
http://www.ahsupply.com/36-55w.htm

I will have large hinged lids on either side, (they should provide good access)

now bulbs, they sell 5500k, 6700k, and 10,000k, they price diff is only a dollar, what is the difference and which should i get?
http://www.ahsupply.com/bulbs.htm

I will have room to mount the ballast's on the back of the hood would this cut down on heat or do the bulbs create the heat?

I can cut out large portions of the back of the hood, or should i try and mount vent fans? which would be more effective?

How much heat do you think this setup will produce? I would like the tank to stay between 70-74 f

I realize that i have 2 large area's with out light, i am thinking of cutting some "windows" in the lids to allow room light to shine through not sure on this yet.

I am hoping that my light scheme will give my plants the biggest bang for my buck.

Thank you all for the great info on some of my recent posts, I am learning tons and i greatly respect your opinion.

thanks

*********edit*********

how high off the water do i need 2 be? I was planing on using 1x6 (so top will be 5.5" off the top of the tank, figure the water lvl would be .75 below the lip, and the kit mounts 2", so thats 3.5"- 4" off the water)

Is this enough or should i use 1x8, (note i am not that tall, and i do not want to have 2 use a stool to clean the tank)

thanks
 
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If your set on a DIY hood. You could probably strip out and fit 5 48" T8 shop lights in that space. That would put you at around 400w, and would cost about half of the CF lights from Ahsupply. If you stager the bulbs you'll have full light coverage on both sides, and still have extra lighting in the center. Something like this.
light.jpg
 
tai95 said:
If your set on a DIY hood. You could probably strip out and fit 5 48" T8 shop lights in that space. That would put you at around 400w, and would cost about half of the CF lights from Ahsupply. If you stager the bulbs you'll have full light coverage on both sides, and still have extra lighting in the center. Something like this.
light.jpg
Click to expand...

i see what you are saying,

the reason i designed the hood like that in the 1st place is because the hood will be to large for one person to move, i had hoped with large assess lids on each side i could do a good gravel wash of the whole tank and whatever in-tank maintenance i need with out having to remove the hood. also i am hoping that having the light concentrated over the planted areas will provide more light to the plants, rather than be "wasted" on the bare areas.

any ideas about the heat that these things produce?

what about my height off the water, will approx 4" be enough???

what about the 5500K, 6700K, and 10,000K bulbs what is the difference? the cost is almost the same so i want to get what is best for the plants.

thanks
 
Well you could still make the hood like I showed you and make it so one person could manage it. Just split the hood lengthwise and use a piano hinge. Then get some strong locking support hinges for each side and it should be fine. Something like this should work fine.
http://www.hardwaresource.com/Store_ViewProducts.asp?Cat=1016
I can understand about the wasting of light, but it may look off having certain areas spotlighted like that. Also what if later on you decide you want plants in the areas that aren't under the lights.

The bulbs will produce some heat, But the majority of the heat comes from the ballasts. If you could mount the ballasts outside the hood you shouldn't notice much of a difference. If you have to mount them in the hood you could cut some vent holes one each end and get some cheap computer fans and install them. You could do this after the hood is built if you see any severe temperature swings.

4" seems like a reasonable height.

The different kelvin ratings have to do with the color spectrum produced by the bulb. 6700k is a good plant growning spectrum. The 10,000k will be more blue looking, while the 5500k will be more on the yellow side.
 
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