New lights for a 37 gallon... New hood required

[Muerten]

I have a 37 gallon tank, and currently all that I have by way of lighting is (sigh) the the eclipse hood, with only two 20 watt bulbs. 1 is a 10,000 K and the other is a 50/50 blue actinic. Awhile back I had gotten 2 55 watt power compacts, 1 10,000k and the other 50/50 as well. What I hadn't managed to do was get a hood for them, I had planned to build one. Unfortunately, my carpentry skills are somewhat... lacking. The tank measures 2 feet and six inches long and 1 foot wide. Is there anywhere I could order a hood to size where I could simply screw in the power compacts? They came in a kit so I have all the parts and such. Or would it make more sense to simply buy a completely new set of lights already built into a hood? I would like to get some mushrooms, and maybe a few other soft corals in the future, but hopefully nothing that requires too much light. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

most LFS that sell tanks and stands can have custom stands or canopies made. i had an odd sized tank and they had no problem filling my order for a stand.

 

[Muerten]

So you're saying that I should just buy a new hood with the lights attached?

Are power compacts the way to go in my case? If so, do you know of any good online places to buy them? I had taken a look at
http://www.hellolights.com/helligsys.html .
Would I be able to fit the 4 x 36 watt system on my aquarium, even though it's listed as being larger than my tank? Is there somewhere else where I should look for lighting?

 

[Anonymous]

no, i'm saying that you can most likely give your tank measurements to your LFS guy and he'll order a hood that'll fit it. then you can screw your lights into the hood.

as far as where you should buy your lights; i'd go with with either hellolights or championlighting. probably get a better price at hellolights but better equipment at champion.

imo and fwiw, i'd go with this: http://www.hellolights.com/4x55wretrofit.html

 

[JohnD]

Muerten - I have the same sized tank as you, a 37 gallon AGA tank. I bought the tank, stand and canopy used from a member of another board. AGA makes canopies. Talk to your LFS and I am sure that can order one for you.

 

[Anonymous]

Go to Petland Discounts. They have a large line of AGA pine or oak hoods. You can go to All Glass Aquariums website and pick out the one you want before going there.

 

[Anonymous]

The AGA pine canopies are cheap and also look nice.

 

[Muerten]

Sorry, I was out yesterday and didn't get to see the responses! As far as getting AGA canopy, would it be fairly simple to mount the lights onto it? As in, screw them in and I'm done? Or would it be a little more labor intensive? Also, if I wanted to get the 4x55 watt helios system, which is 47.5 inches, would that be too large? If so, would the 4x35 watt, 35.5 inches be too large to at least fit onto it? It looks like the mounting brackets can slide to fit. And do you have the address of the All glass website? Thanks again!

 

[jcm1229]

This is the canopy I built for my 37. It houses a 4x55W retro from hellolights.

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?s=&postid=762093

 

[Muerten]

How did you make that? Did you find instructions or build it from scratch? Was it hard to assemble? Sorry again for the questions. Doing that would provide more lighting, but it would also cost more. I see that you've done it, so would it be a much better bet than to buy a pre-made hood?

 

[jcm1229]

Well, I'm no carpenter, but I do value quality materials. I asked lots of questions on reef central and here, looked at any post for hoods with pics, emailed other 37 gallon reefers for pics, etc ...

I pretty much decided on a design with front access for feeding etc. Top access if I needed to dig in. I estimated the height I wanted/needed for my lighting. I woked around pre-cut lumber since I wanted to minimize my cuts. I used 1x4, 1x6, 1x8 and 1x10. I chose poplar, since it was a "straight" hardwood that paints well (my stand is black) and is cheaper than Oak. My front panel is made of 1x2s glued and screwed. I didn't cutout the windows. I then primed and painted it. I have three 4 yr olds, so I tried to spend 15 minuted each night working on it. It took a while to complete, but I also was able to alter a bit of my design given the amount of days it took to complete. The top is made of 4 1x3 with a 1/4 inch of space between them. I thought it would help cool - probably does, but not much. The reflector is not monted directly to the hood, but rather to 2 boards attached to the top so I could adjust the height of the lights. I probably spent 40-50 on wood and materials, but I built what I wanted and a lot cheaper.

My lights were kind of expensive, but I sold my existing light fixtures 1x55PC and NO to friends for their FW planted tanks, so my cost for light was lessened.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[Muerten]

Hmm. That doesn't sound too difficult. So after buying the amounts of wood that you suggested, it would simply be common sense and preference as to where they should go? If I'm going to build my own hood, then what I'm thinking is this: I already have a 2x55 watt retrofit kit from AHSupply. One bulb being the 10,000k and the other the 50/50 blue actinic. How about getting another 2x55 watt retrofit kit from AHSupply, thereby giving my 4x55 watt lights. I can mount them onto the hood, except I will put the two 50/50's on one kit and the two 10,000k's on the other. Since I'd have to have the two of them on a timer anyway, I can set the 10,000k's to turn on about an hour later and off an hour earlier, as compared to the 50/50's. I could have a more progressive day/night effect like this, yes? Thanks again!