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I just got a new light fixture for my Hagen Waterhome 25 gallon tank. The hood that came with the tank holds only a single 20 watt bulb. I wanted to upgrade for the sake of my plants but ran into some issues. Due to Hagen's design system, there is no glass top for these tanks, the light hoods also only come in certain sizes, so if you want 2 bulbs you have to buy a bigger tank.
The fixture I bought is the Coralife Deluxe Series single linear strip Freshwater Aqualight, it is 24" 65 watt 6700K fixture.

Here is a pic of the tank with no hood,

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c56/luvmypetz/Tanktopwithnohood.jpg

and here is a pic of the existing hood,

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c56/luvmypetz/Lighthood.jpg

Any suggestions? I will be going to a glass outfit for the cover but without a rim to hold it in place I am not sure how much good it will be. Thanks in advance.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Sorry, off topic question: WHere did you buy that figture and how much did it cost? Its really nice =D

I bought it at Paradise pets in St. Albert (Alberta, Canada)but I believe you can get the same one at Big Al's online. I paid $119 CDN for it, but that store is higher priced than some and I wanted it Now.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

I should add the tank dimensions, at least the dimensions of the top, 80 cm long by 30 cm deep.



"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

luvmykrib,

I mentioned my (limited) comments about the glass top in your log.

But now I see here something that concerns me a little:

Why did you get the 24" unit? Your tank is over 30" long, right (80cm = around 31inches)? You should have gotten the 30" 65W unit instead, the shorter one would be hard to elevate over any glass top as the legs (that I recommend you get) would have to sit on the glass and the light distribution to the left and right sides of the tank would be really limited.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'll run back and see if I can exchange it for the bigger size. It should then sit nicely on the tank right?
Still need a way to set a glass top on it, they don't seem to come in this size, though I haven't been to Big Al's or Aquarium Services Warehouse, I may get lucky there.

A question about the glass top, how does the filter and heater etc go in with the glass in the way, is there another piece of hardware I need, like another plastic canopy?

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

luvmykrib,

the All Glass Aquarium glass tops have usually 3 pieces.

- In the back is a clear plastic strip that can be cut to allow filters etc. to come through.
- The middle is a glass plate over which usually the light is placed
- The front class plate is narrower and connected with a plastic hinge to the middle class plate. There are also small handle pieces available (you need only one) that allow you to lift the fron to feed the fishies etc.

If an all glass unit should fit (and I believe it doesn't), then you should get the one with the wider middle glass (is for the double flourecent fixture) as it will allow more light from the Coralife to hit the tank, otherwise the hinge to the front class gets a little in the way.

Here is a link to the All Glass top. Something like this would be great. I also know that various only stores and (at least) my LFS sell the individual parts. So if you could get custom glass plates you could order the back plastic, the hinge, and the handle piece. But make sure that the glass thickness fits the plastic parts.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The store doesn't have the 30" in stock right now, but next week they should. I am now hunting down the glass top, I will see what I can find, a trip to Big Al's is in store, if I have to get bigger and get it trimmed then I will. No-one seems to carry the size for my tank. 30" or 80 cm, all I can find from Hagen is 75" or 90" very frustrating, otherwise I have really liked my Waterhome set-up, the new Geosystems only come in the larger sizes so they come with double light hoods. Ugh! Wish they had been out when I bought the tank!

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

This is kinda like Little Fish's suggestion. I would get 2 pieces of glass cut eather 3/16" or 1/8" thick. One piece for the main cover and a smaller piece cut for a feeding area. These to pieces should set on the aquarium just fine. If you wanted to get fancy you can order the All-Glass versa top hinges and handle plus back stop (eather 3/16 or 1/8)from Pets warehouse.com. I would for go the back stop as mine dosn't set right and just have a piece of plexiglass cut to fit the back with cut out for the filter and stuff. If you have a good glass man they could cut slots in your main glass top for the filter. Make sure you have the edges of the glass sanded so you won't cut yourself.

It might be cheaper to purchase an All-Glass versa top thats close to the size you need and have the glass cut to fit. The hinge and back stop you can cut yourself with a good pair of shears.

Hope this helps
Jim S.

Thanks guys for all your help so far!

The tricky part will be geting the glass to sit nicely and securely on the tank, it has no rim at the top. I really feel it needs something to hold the glass to the tank, I have three active boys in my house and often they have friends and they all seem to not know how to walk, the fish seem to like the waves though. So my big concern will be getting the top to be secure, if I can find a rim or something even for the edges of the glass to sit on the tank then I'm laughing, the glass can be cut and ground, we have a good glass shop right nearby, I don't have a problem with that. Any ideas on keeping the glass on the tank, that's what I need now. Thanks again!

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

luvmykrib,

The 30" Glass Top from AGA will not fit your tank, it was just to give you an example. Your tank is longer, right (31.something)?

And you for sure should look into some form of something (I don't know what though, sorry) to hold the glass in place.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yes it's 31.5", nothing seems to fit it, maybe I will learn something at BA's. I'm hoping to go there today or tomorrow, on-line I can't find anything that will fit. Who knows, maybe the answer is something really easy, I'll find it.

I decided to send an email to All-glass and we'll see what they say.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Why not get anoter rim for the tank that has a shelf for the normal hoods/versa tops? I know your tank isn't standard size, but you could get one similar and just cut little notches so it fits. This would alleviate your problems...

That's exactly what I'm trying to find, something that fits even a little bit, I could even cut notches or just have something on the ends to hold it in place, I can't find anything though. I will keep hunting, I'm heading to BA's today and hopefully I will come back with something.

The new light may even get to be installed today, the store called last night while I was out so I'm hoping they found one in the right size.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Your LFS should be able to order the rims from most manufacturers. I had to order one for a guy who had a 75 that the rim got melted on, i had to call the rep for our company, but he did get it for me.

That's what I finally did, I asked at the till and he called hagen, they took a bottom rim off one of their tanks to send to the store and the store sold me one off one of their tanks. I had to trim the rim a bit as it had evenly spaced vertical supports that wouldn't allow the track to sit properly. Hagen doesn't sell a rim for my tank and it's a non-standard size tank so I couldn't get one from anywhere else. When I emailed all glass they said they couldn't help as I had someone else's product. What a hassle but it's done now.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

If anyone is interested in how it looks now,Here it is.http://w25.photobucket.com/widgets/dynamicflash.php?featuretype=bucketstamp&featurename=NewTankSet-up&pa=/c56/luvmypetz/

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

That doesn't look bad, nice job