noob question about lighting

[disisgustavo]

well i actually have a couple of questions

1) i got one of those all-glass aquarium brand lids hoods for my aquarium and in the instructions it says i need to use this with a glass aquarium cover or something so the electronic parts dont get damaged or something but there is already a (what looks to be plexi glass) cover over the light so any evaporation wont get onto the actual light or electronic portions of the lid. do i still need to get a glass cover to put the hood on top of?

2) we have a couple of live plants and the light is only 20w, should we get a more powerful light, and if so can anyone give me any links to a good store that sells them for an affordable price? (the hood is 30'' so im guessing the light itself would be 24''?)

and

3) is it ok to leave the light on 24 hours/ should i keep it on during the night and off during the day or vice versa?

thanks in advance.

 

[Sammie7]

1. I wouldn't worry too much about this as many fish tanks don't even have that piece of plastic as a barrier so you should be fine.

2.Should definately get more wattage since you have plants in the tank ,but that is as much as I can help you with. Perhaps you can try a local pet store, petsmart, petco, or even walmart if you have one where you live.

3. You should turn off the lights at night as fish don't have eyelids and need to rest. Also keeping on the lights for too long may start problems with algae growth. You should kept the lights in your tank on for about 12-14 hours since you have plants.

Is this your first tank? Anyways good luck! :dance2:

 

[plah831]

what size is your tank (gallons)? I'm guessing 29 gal, from the size of the fixture. If so, 20 watts is not enough light unless you have low light plants. With that amount of light, you wouldn't have to add ferts or CO2, though! Do you know what kind of plants you have?

It's not ideal to leave lights on 24 hours at a time. Fish and plants need the period of darkness to reset their daily rhythm. I guess doing that for one day wouldn't be a problem. But if you did that a lot, it would stress the fish out. You can get a timer to keep it on a day/night pattern.

I have All-Glass lights and I've never seen them with the cover attached. My 55 gal marine tank (years ago) did have a plexi-glass plate that slid into the fixture to cover the electronics and bulbs. Is that what you have? If so, that should be fine. I had salt creep building up on it, and no problem with lights shorting out or anything

 

[ljse]

AH supply sells very good fixtures, but you have to put them in a hood yourself. www.ahsupply.com