saulat

I recently upgraded to a 55 gallon aquarium, 48" L and approximately 20" H and I think 10" W. I am wanting to get a good lighting scheme going, I have two 18" 6700k Med zoo lights. I wish to do a heavily planted aquarium. I think this is a good article for lighting although I am still trying to digest it all.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts...._lighting.html

Toward the bottom it suggests doing a polycarbonate material as it blocks less UV rays than glass or acrylic, is this correct? Is this material better to use in general, does it yellow? I am probably going to do the SHO compact flourescent bulb but am still wondering whether to do a combination of other lights and whether to do one or two. I'll probably end up having some help as I am not really all that handy. I would like to take the measurements, price the material, and have the plans sketched out. If anyone knows a simple design that might be helpful for me that would also be appreciated.

Tony G.

it sounds good to me, POST PICS

saulat

I guess Ill have to call around and see if I can find a place to cut and round the edges of some material for me. I may just get two long panes that I can move if I am feedeing and not even worry about a hinge. At least polycarbonate I think I can cut and drill myself.

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saulat

Im still a bit confused as to polycarbonate and whether it scratches easily and whether I need the uv light that it lets pass through. Also, whether it yellows and whether certain types of light could rest on it such as 2 to 4 T5 bulbs and or sho cfl bulbs. I have a plastic crossbeam across my aquarium for the two fixtures to rest on now, I am thinkink Ill just cut that out.

mathas

From what I've heard, yes it does. It also depends on how hard the material you expect to be rubbing against it is.

Fingernails? Probably won't scratch. Sandpaper? Probably will.

In my opinion, you do not. Botanic photosynthetic use of light drops off sharply below the 420-430nm range, and UV light is typically between 10-390nm.

If the properties of glass that block UV light also have a diminishing effect as the wavelength increases, there might be a point at which it also slightly inhibits penetration of light in the lower ranges of photosynthetically active radiation. If that's the case, there might be a very slight difference between a glass and polycarbonate lid, but that sounds like a lot of effort spent trying to minmax a very small determinant of overall plant growth.

That's really not a good idea. The center brace helps to keep the glass of the tank from bowing under the pressure of the water. If the tank was designed with a brace, it was designed that way for a reason.

saulat

Thanks, that helps a lot. Hope I can post this from the website I mentioned earlier...


I think it is just to give the two separate light fixture/hoods a resting place, its really not very strong and I don't think it has a effect on bracing the sides.

I am starting to think maybe I'll just do a glass top and maybe add a hinge. I think it will be much easier to find, make, or buy a double or quad T5. --Would these Flourescents be allright to rest over the glass, most fixtures I see have some vents in the top? I want to optimize plant growth and do the CO2 and fertilizer My main plan is seeming to be buy a precut piece of glass allowing space in the back for the filter and other equipment, a hinged front for feeding and to just rest the lights right on top. Just thought that glass is going to be heavy.

mathas

As the article you're quoting mentions, the spectrum for photosynthetically active radiation is 400-700nm, but the article doesn't mention that UVA is 320-390nm. If plants need light in the 400-700nm range, any time spent worrying about light penetration for wavelengths outside that range sounds like wasted time to me.

As long as the fixture is either well-designed with regards to natural ventilation, has cooling fans, or both, there should be no heat-related problems with a glass lid.

It's really not that heavy.

Do you know who manufactured your tank? Perfecto and All-Glass/Aqueon are the two common US manufacturers, both of which have pre-made hinged lids for all their standard aquarium sizes.

saulat

Oh, seems like a good article to me, it just threw me off that they put important next to irrelevant information.

Just checked and its a perfecto. not sure there will be a premade lid due to the crossbeam in the middle, guess I could try to find smaller quads for each side, perhaps go down another lighting route than the T5. Kind of upset the condition my dwarf anubias arrived in, think I may lose it. You can kind of see it in one of the pics.

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mathas

There is, it's actually a set of lids designed to sit on either side of the brace. I have a 55g Perfecto as well, and I can attest that it works perfectly.

I've seen this at PetSmart as well as sepcialty fish stores, or you can buy online at sites like http://www.aquariumguys.com/glasscanopy5.html

saulat

Great, that helps a ton. I just measured and it comes to 11.5in on the inside where I assume it rests to about 12 on the outside of the frame. Concerns me how the filter and stuff would fit too but, I would guess it is made to fit the tank appropriately, may have to check petsmart so I can return if need be.

saulat

Nevermind, I see the panal on the back that I assume is where I cut sections out.

I have not read about needing a night time light for planted freshwater. Would I be better off with 4 48inch Flourescents or 2 and then 2 other night lights, for optimum plant growth?

mathas

Correct. The plastic piece at the rear can be cut with scissors or a utility knife to make the openings for equipment as large as necessary without leaving huge gaps.

Four 48" bulbs is a lot of light for a 55g. If my 55g was a planted display tank, rather than a holding/QT tank in my basement, I would go with either a two- or three-bulb T5HO fixture. Even then, if I went the three bulb route, I would not have all three bulbs on for the entire photoperiod.

Of course, it also depends on the fixture and how good the reflectors (if any) are.

saulat

I may go with some night time lights then or just do the 2 bulbs if you think that is sufficient for optimum plant growth. Browsing some of the listings on ebay and elsewhere the fixtures seem to come with bulbs of higher kelvin ratings. Do I want to stick with 6700k or would it be a bad thing to have a 10,000k bulb or above?

mathas

There's a lot of factors involved, such as what plants you plan to keep and the design of the fixture in question.

With a well-designed fixture such as Catalina or TEK, I would think 2-3 bulbs should be sufficient. I plan to use a 4-bulb TEK fixture when I rework my 90g, which is both wider and taller than a 55g.

Color temperature is a fairly misunderstood topic. Some people swear it's of vital importance, I think it helps to determine how the tank will appear to human observers but offers little of significance beyond that. For further reading, I posted a windy monologue on that topic a while back, with links to even further reading at the end:

Color Temperature: Does it matter for a planted tank?

saulat

Well I found the lid at a store up by me and it fits perfectly. I also picked up a dual T5 fixture. The problem I am having now is I added some flourite and the water is super cloudy. The bigger problem is the light just cut off and when I turn it on a just flashes once and goes off, not sure what my issue here is. I have it plugged into a power strip and had it resting on the glass and not on the raised supports. I hope I didn't buy a defunct unit.

saulat

I took the light off, slid the splash guard off and messed with the bulbs. It looks like it is just one of the fixtures that flashes and then goes out, the other one does not turn on at all, except when there is only a bulb in that one then it turns on. I tried both bulbs in the 'bad socket' and they did the same thing. After switching them around a few times it seemed to work so I plugged it in again and after about 15 minutes it turned off again. I felt the splash guard, a piece of acrylic or something and it was pretty hot. Any suggestions? Should I take it back?

Toxic

Check your measurements, the ones you gave are for a 40 gal.

saulat

Think it is about 48x13x20 which i think comes out about right for 55. Just measured again. Took my light back down and got it to work again, again it cut off

Its the Nova Extreme T5 2x54watt

- Looking at the bulbs again the one that should be pinkish isn't really lighting up correctly, it looks half lit and is not any sort of pink

saulat

Its packed up, I am either exchanging or getting a refund.