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the tank in question is 72"l x 24"h x 19"w (so as not to obstruct the front of the class cover, i only have 11" on the width). the current light setup is a single 48" bulb- enough to see the fish, but not enough for plants. it is a community freshwater tank.

i was originally going to go with 2 48" t-12s, but it does not look like the light would distribute evenly. also, the wattage output would be kinda low for such a large tank. correct?

now i am looking at using 4 22" compact flourescents. the footprint would be about the same, but it seems like i could position them to cover more of an area. also, this should give me more watts per gall. true? on paper, i could go with 6 bulbs, but i want to have adequate room for the ballasts and such.

would using 4 bulbs require the use of cooling fans? i have a bunch of 12volt computer fans laying around. if i mount one on each end of the hood, should they both be pulling air in, both out, or one in and one out? is a light deflector needed? if so, what should i use.

the tank has been set up for several years with no plants. i have zero experiance with aquatic plants, but am handy enough to build the hood. unfortunately, cost on this is an issue. any ideas?



Last edited by mariosim at 29-Sep-2004 14:48

if you're going to build, try look here, it will give you an idea on what to do.
http://www.ahsupply.com/96watt.htm

I have the 55W kit, it gets hot near the surface of the casing, but a fan is not needed; just drill holes on the cover, that should do it. you can probably use 80mm fan, but that might be noisy and more complicated because you need to setup step down transformer for them.