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I couldn't find a hood for my 42 Hex so I built this one last weekend. What do you guys think? Also I was curious if you thought it would help with light transfer into the water. The lighting was just sitting directly on a glass top. Now I just need to find the time to build a matching stand![img]

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Tank before hood:

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Last pic...hope that wasn't to many! Here is the tank with the new hood on it. I think it looks at little tall, but I believe it will even out when I build a matching stand.[img] The hood is only 10", but it looks huge to me on the tank...if you guys think it looks a little weird maybe I can cut it down a little?

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dmarkham0117,

mattyboombatty, our in-house (aka on FP) do-it-yourself kinda guy, would be very proud of you.

I, on the other hand, with my two left hands, am more interested in the technical details of the setup. Like:

- How much and what kind of light did you put into the hood?
- I assume you have it up and running already, does it increase the temp of your water?
- Is it possible to turn the units on individually?
- I hope you are still using a glass top, right?
- Even if you do, I assume that there is a possible problem with condensation from the HOB. Is the hood moist on the inside?

And anything else along this line that may come to your mind.

Nice job, I couldn't do it,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Same lights as the ones that I had before.
1 96W Quad tube 6700K
2x18W 6700K
All three bulbs can be turned on individually.
I put two ventilation fans in the hood to circulate air, I was hoping this would keep the heat down; plus the actual bulbs and ballast are now 10" above the water. I definately noticed an increase in the temp with the lights directly on the glass. I just put the hood on last night..so I won't be able to check the temp until I get home today after work.

The reason I built the hood was to get rid of the glass.
I was hoping that the light would penetrate the water better without the glass. The glass would only take a few days to get dirty on the underside with hard water deposits....I was getting tired of cleaning the glass constantly. Plus the dirtier the glass the less light I was getting into the tank.

As far as condensation in the hood...I polyurethane coated the entire thing. I did wait 24hrs for it to dry in case of toxic fumes.

Here is the 29g from work with DIY hood and stand. It has 2x55w 6700K lamps from AHsupply. I have NEVER seen any condensation in this hood and it is only 8" from the water surface. This hood has a ventilation fan as well.[img]

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Full shot of the 29g with stand.[img]

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dmarkham0117,

You are the man

My concern about condensation was less the wood itself but more in line with:

- Light contacts corrosion (also the Ballast)
- Moisture on the bulbs, which could lead to hard water deposits right there and they would really burn into the glass
- Condensation running off on the side of the wood, and flowing down on the outside of the tank, aka creating a puddle on the floor

But seeing your 29G with almost as much wattage as the new hood, I would assume that you would have noticed any issues there already (How long is that one up and running already?).

On to a different topic:
You sure have quite a lot of light now. What do you do in terms of plant fertilizers and CO2?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo,

The wattage on my hex is the same, just transfered from on the glass to a little higher up. I use Flourish and Flourish iron + I still have compressed CO2. I haven't used any of the other trace elements other than what the plants are getting from my local water supply during water changes. Currently have 132w over my hex. I did the measurments and I will be able to get 2x96w with the Coralife if I switch them perpendicular to the front. Next project...save enough to buy another 96w quad tube fixture!

The 29g tank here at work has been going about a year, with current lighting about 7-8 months.

Dan

Dan,

Excellent, I guess with having your 29G with the hood on for such a long time is enough of a "Proof of Concept"

And I assume that your ferts and CO2 are good as well, or are there any issues with your plants you would like to discuss.

Again, very nice and solid handy work

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo,

Well my stem plants are a little weak...diameter of stalks are narrow with the leaves being more spread out. They grow fast IMO, but not as compact as I would like. I attribute that to the amount of watts per gallon that I have. I'd like to have around 5 wpg...hopefully I will fairly soon!

Dan,

When I first read that you want 5wpg I was in shock, as this is a level that allows for very little margin of error (in ferts and CO2). But then I remembered that the 42hex is a rather tall tank, right? If I remember that right then these tanks have a constant issue with getting enough lighting into the lower levels of the tank. Also, the fact that your units are 10" above the water should have quite a bit of light going astray and hit the side of the hood instead of the water (and then some in the water will exit through the glass as well, but that is a given anyway).

Longer than usual sections between nodes is often a sign of not enough light, so upping it may be a good attempt to correct the situation.

On the ferts note: I recently ran out of my micro fert solution and the discussion we had here was about a replacement that I could use (I used TMG = Tropica Master Grow, no longer in production). One option was to use Flourish, and some of our members here use it actually for that purpose. The point is, most use it for traces alone, but still "feed" the macros extra, like Potassium Nitrate and Potassium Phosphate. These two elements are sometimes supplied by the fishload, but in unstable amounts and proportions to each other. Do you by any chance know what the N and P values in your tank are?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The water depth itself in my tank is about 20-21 inches.
I do not have a test kit for the N and P. I'll check into it though....

Hey, that looks great. Ingo's right, I am impressed. I agree that the hood looks a bit tall, but most hoods do. You definitely took your time and did it right. I always rush things and they never look as good. Practical, but not nice. One of these days I'm going to build it up right like you have. The only thing that I would have done different was paint the inside of the hood white. Glossy white paint reflects as much or more light some metals, so you'd end up with more light into the tank that will, as it is now, get absorbed into the hood.

As far as the stem plants go, it may be lights, or IMO stems can grow pretty weak if there aren't enough macros in there. N and P would be my main concern as LF said. Oh, and most of us(not including me) don't have test kits for NO3 and PO4. We estimate. I estimate a bit different than most though and I get yelled at when I talk about it, so I won't. As you can see below, I micromanage. The other guys will probably gladly tell you about the estimative index though.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I never thought about painting the inside white...that does make sense though! I wonder how primer would take to the polyurethane...I'd probably have to completely sand the inside down to do it. I'll think about doing that sometime. Thanks for the tip for future hood building projects!

I would definately be interested in the NO3 and PO4 estimative index!

I have also started to notice the spot algae on the glass of my tank is starting to thicken. I've had it a long time, but just a few spots here and there that I would scrape off. Would some more fast growers help? Think it may be time to get new bulbs? Or could I be dosing to much with the Flourish?

I've had the brown algae (diatoms)...otos took care of that nicely!
I had hair algae and bought some American Flag fish (1 male and 2 females), those guys cleaned up every strand of hair algae in about 2 days! This spot algae is the only one I can't eliminate...?

That's a nice hood you've built! It looks very well made and solid enough for all the equipment you've put in it. How much does the whole thing weigh, if I may ask? I'm currently fabricating a new hood for my own tank and trying to figure out what the best way is to keep it light and simple. I was going to make it from Aluminium corner profile, but now I think I'll just keep the aluminium as a frame and then cover the rest with thin wood panels.

You've gotten me thinking about the design again thanks

Dan,

Just a quick piece of info:

Here you can see Tom Barr's Estimative Index and how quite a few of us handle the usage of N and P.

For all others that know the link already, it is still worthwhile following it as Tom has beefed up his website . Looks very fancy now.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Dr. Bonke,

I'd say the whole thing weighs between 10-12lbs.
The panels are made of 1"x10" (wish I would have used 1"x8" now!) and the top is made of 1/2" hardwood veneered plywood. Of course the bulbs and reflectors are minimal in weight and the electronic ballast isn't very heavy either.