My 20 Gallon high tank started leaking the day before a week-long vacation! :sad: After much pouting by me, my wife agreed to allow for a new tank in the budget. I of course upgraded a bit, to a 29 gallon! :dance:
I got the plants into the new tank haphazardly, then went on vacation. When I got back, I set to resolving my lighting issues. The cheapo homemade hood I had for the 20 G didn't fit my new tank, of course, and the 3 15 watt strip lights were insufficient for a 29 Gallon anyway.
I had some scrap wood in the garage and a new table saw I was itching to use. So with no real plan I set to cutting wood. I put in 4 standard light sockets and used compact fluorescents from Wallyworld (@ $4 each). Several hours and 2 cans of black spray paint later...
Underneath I put aluminum flashing (bent to better reflect light) under 3 of the bulbs. For the fourth bulb I just used silver heat-resistant tape. The aluminum flashing apparently dissipates heat very well, but the tape does not, so the hood gets pretty hot above that fourth bulb! I'll fix that "one of these days."
I probably should have wiped the fingerprints off before I took the photo, but I didn't see them... the flash really shows them off.
Anyway, now the plants are doing REALLY well!
I had some brush algae issues at first, but I added a second DIY CO2 generator and started dosing with Excel. The brush algae dissappeared in a week! I also started with some better fertilizers (formerly I was Jobe's only). Now I'm dosing with Spectracide, Fleets (I used the self checkout at the grocery store to avoid the shame!) and Flourish. In one month the Temple plants have doubled, the Watersprite has easily quadrupled and I've had to trim and spread out the Lobelia. The photos are all from a month ago, I'll add updates later if anyone is interested.
Bulb holders 4 at ~$2 each, bulbs - 4 at $4 each, plexiglass - $4, spray paint and wood I had lying around. Final cost: $30 for 80 watts of light and a hood.
All in all, I'm much happier! Just thought I'd share.
Tony
I got the plants into the new tank haphazardly, then went on vacation. When I got back, I set to resolving my lighting issues. The cheapo homemade hood I had for the 20 G didn't fit my new tank, of course, and the 3 15 watt strip lights were insufficient for a 29 Gallon anyway.
I had some scrap wood in the garage and a new table saw I was itching to use. So with no real plan I set to cutting wood. I put in 4 standard light sockets and used compact fluorescents from Wallyworld (@ $4 each). Several hours and 2 cans of black spray paint later...
Underneath I put aluminum flashing (bent to better reflect light) under 3 of the bulbs. For the fourth bulb I just used silver heat-resistant tape. The aluminum flashing apparently dissipates heat very well, but the tape does not, so the hood gets pretty hot above that fourth bulb! I'll fix that "one of these days."
I probably should have wiped the fingerprints off before I took the photo, but I didn't see them... the flash really shows them off.
Anyway, now the plants are doing REALLY well!
I had some brush algae issues at first, but I added a second DIY CO2 generator and started dosing with Excel. The brush algae dissappeared in a week! I also started with some better fertilizers (formerly I was Jobe's only). Now I'm dosing with Spectracide, Fleets (I used the self checkout at the grocery store to avoid the shame!) and Flourish. In one month the Temple plants have doubled, the Watersprite has easily quadrupled and I've had to trim and spread out the Lobelia. The photos are all from a month ago, I'll add updates later if anyone is interested.
Bulb holders 4 at ~$2 each, bulbs - 4 at $4 each, plexiglass - $4, spray paint and wood I had lying around. Final cost: $30 for 80 watts of light and a hood.
All in all, I'm much happier! Just thought I'd share.
Tony
