genie

I have a 33 gallon half hex.... obviously deeper than wide. It only has like an 18 or 20 inch light fixture, and I cant figure out a way to up my WPG to medium or high light. I need live plants to keep the algae at bay. Even if I dropped $100 into a compact florescent, I am only getting 1.8 wpg. Kinda sad. I have had some luck in the past with those bulbs from petsmart... but I want lots of plants! any ideas??

sirdarksol

In one of my tanks, I jury-rigged a setup with two of the xenon hockey-puck lights. You could do something like this, with a few cautions:

First, these lights are not meant to be over water. Every precaution possible should be taken to keep water from getting on the fixtures.
Second, the halogen and xenon lights put out quite a bit of heat. Keep them away from combustibles and try to keep airspace between the aquarium and the lights. The LED lights are much more efficient, and don't have this problem.

You could turn a number of puck lights into an over-tank pendant fixture, or you could create a hood for the tank using these. I've got two over a 20g long, and the crypts I haphazardly transplanted into the tank are thriving.

genie

my biggest challenge is the abnormal shape of the tank. I am forced to use the lid that is on it. If I could custom make a lid, I could add a larger light fixture.

MrWaxhead

Take the lid right off and hang like a 75w metal halide pendant from cables to your ceiling suspended over the tank.

sirdarksol

Is the lid just one of those glass tops? That's what mine came with (I think I may have the same size tank, too). If so, you can just hang the lights over it or make a hood to sit over that.

If it's a proper hood with a built-in light, you can either just remove the top (though this speeds evaporation), or you can try to upgrade the light inside of it.

genie

Ok, here's the deal with the lid... the tank is a half hex... which makes it an odd shape to re-fit. I need a lid, I have some jumpers. The light fixture is separate, and there is a clear part of the lid that the light sits on. I think the light fixture itself is like 24" long. I am just hesitant to buy an new fixture because I am afraid that it wont fit right, and I am afraid that since it sits on the lid, that it might get too hot....

Do you think that this is a real problem?

sirdarksol

It could be, depending on the lid.

So let's take a different tactic...
You say the light fixture is 24" long. How wide is it? Measure the clear space that the light sits over. Also, see if you can figure out if it's plastic or glass (they sound/feel different if you tap on them.) We'll see if we can work out a solution that can sit over that 24" space.

genie

I know that it is plastic... I am at work now, but I would say it is about 5 inches wide.

sirdarksol

Alright. I kind of get it.
Without some major carpentry (I hate making anything that doesn't rely on right angles), your best bets are as follows:

Removing the top entirely and using a pendant light.
Pro: You can put whatever you want in here. You can make your own setup, or you can buy a pre-made one.
Cons: You've got to attach something to the wall/ceiling. Water evaporates much faster.

Finding/making a retrofit kit for your current lamp.
Pro: You can upgrade your light for less money than buying a whole new setup.
Cons: You're limited to the space in the hood (you can't cram six high-output lamps into a 5" wide space ). It takes some electrical savvy to do this (though not a huge amount. If you can follow simple to moderate instructions, you should be good in this aspect.)

Buying/Building a new high-output setup and perching it on top of the current hood.
Pro: You can get almost as much light as you'd want.
Cons: You will need to perch the light several inches above the hood so it doesn't melt the plastic. This will cost you efficiency (as some of the light won't even make it through the clear spot in the top of the hood).

Lastly (and perhaps my favorite )
Jury rig some additions to the current light.
The simplest would be to buy strips of LED lights. Most hardware stores sell them in 10" strips, and they can be connected in groups of three. You could attach these to the inside of the reflector to add some wattage.
Pros: A simple boost of power.
Cons: Extra cords. Takes some building. Has the potential to not look pretty, depending on how you attach them and how handy you are (if I did something like this, I'd end up with Dr. Frankenlight's monster)

genie

ok.... I just got home and apparently I lied.... its glass. lol. The current light fixture is 22 inches... odd size, with 18 inch bulb. I think if I get a 24" compact it will look ok, but I worry that the extra inch on each side will melt cuz that is plastic. Usually though the bulbs are shorter. Any thoughts?

MrWaxhead

Buy a inexpensive piece of 3/8's acrylic and make a template of the shape of your rim of your tank, and cut the acrylic to drop in the rim leaving a small gap at the point where your filter and heater go in etc, and hang like a 70w metal halide pendant from cables to your ceiling suspended over the tank.

And either put handles on the acrylic or put a couple small holes on either side that your fingers fit into and just pull the clear lid right off for maintenance on your tank etc.

This is not my tank, it belongs to a admin on another forum, but I think pendants over tanks with no clutter on the top with a hood, just a glass or acrylic lid look top notch.
This person actually made a post system from his stand to hand the pendant from which is handy if you ever have to move your tank. Halides are also great for deep as in tall skinny tanks as its light does a better job of penetrating the water the water then other bulbs do.

sirdarksol

That is an odd size.
Not sure about the heat. My compact fluorescent fixture produces quite a bit of heat, but it's not quite so hot that I can't touch it. It's also an enclosed system. If you propped one up so there was a little airflow, you may have no issues at all.

genie

Well I am going to try the 24" compact... its a little too big but I will try anyway. If that doesn't work I may try making a lid from the acrylic. That sounds cool, although I am in an apartment and cant hang anything from the ceiling.

sirdarksol

Cool.

If you make a lid, you don't have to hang something. I forgot to mention that you can just perch the light on legs. Some of the higher-powered lights come with leg assemblies so they stand one or two inches above the top of the tank to allow for air flow.

Bnicholson

I'm not sure if this would work for you, but I took florescent fixtures out of both of my tanks and replaced them with 6500k cf spirals. I have 2 13w fixtures in my 10g and 2 23w & 2 13w fixtures in my 29g.

In both of my tanks the plants are thriving. All it cost was $5 per light fixture and about $20 for the lights. I think the total cost was about $50 for both tanks. I was going to buy a T5 setup that would have been $120.

If your interested I could show pictures.