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I just moved and I am setting my 30 gallon tank up again. I don't have any fish or anything yet. I have an eclipse 3 system hood/lighting/filter combo which is what I used previously. The problem I always had with it was that it didn't allow enough lighting for me to grow really nice plants. The lighting was low and so I was very limited in what kind of plants I could have. So I was wondering if anyone had any reccomendations on what kind of hood I could get to give me pretty bright lighting. And I would also need to get a new filter ( a power filter?) and all that. I don't have any idea what size or kind I would need for my tank. My tank is acrylic and so the front corners are sort of rounded, and I wondered if a regular hood would fit on right. After reading all this, I wonder if I should just stick with what I have...seems so complicated

Thanks,
Lauren
Atlanta, GA

Oh, and I forgot to mention I don't have a whole lot of money to spend on this either! I did just move afterall!

Hi,
I suggest you look at the Drsfostersmith.com, or Big Als'
site for your options as far as the hood is concerned.

I'm not familiar with the eclipse 3, and when I did a
search on it, none of the things I looked at told me what
kind of lighting system it had. I'm guessing it is either
a screwin incandescent bulb or two, or a single, thin,
flourscent bulb.

If it uses screwin incandescent bulbs you have it made!
Toss the old bulbs and go to any hardware store and
purchase one or two screwin flourscent bulbs. You don't
need to spend the extra $$ for bulbs from your LFS. Just
purchase any screwin flourscent bulb that is labeled
DAYLIGHT or SUNLIGHT. Do not, purchase any one that has
"Warm" or "Cool" anywhere in its name. Those are for
reading and will not give off the light that you want for
your plants.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks. My eclipse 3 hood (it's made by marineland, the sell it at petco and petsmart) has two screw in flourescent bulbs, but it says you can only use a max of 2 18 watt daylight bulbs. So that only gives me a combined wattage of 36, and since it says on it not to use more, I would be afraid to try. Thanks, I'll just have to shop around and see what I can find!

~Lauren