can someone helpme with the hood i got?

[artie]

hi i have had a 15g cube tank and now i would like to set it up for a mini reef tank the tank is one of those u may have seen in your local fish store it got the blk stand that the tank sits on.my question is i came with a hood and the light that it came withis a aqua-glo 12'' /28.81 8w. the light bulb is 12'' long and is as thick as a magic marker.can i get a stronger bulb to fit thi hood i have pleas can someone let me know. i plan on putting live rock 2 percula clowns and a few small corals and invertbrate.

[TJG]

you could go with a PC( or more) depending on the room.

[cjm033]

you should get a 150 mh and pendant that would do great in the 15 gal cube good luck,Chris

[artie]

is that a hood fixture for the tank or a light for the hood i have?and where can i get it?

[duckhuntboy]

You can go down to home depot and take apart some power compact utility lights. Just mount the fixtures, and don't use the lights. If you can fit them in, there's a utility light with side by side 13W PC's in them. Try to fit two of those in, to have a total of four, 13w PC's. Then, get on AHsupply, and order yourself some actinic bulbs, and some 10K bulbs. I would go half and half as far as 10K's and actinics, but it's your preference, however blue you want your tank to be. (actinics are blue). If not, get a custom hood from hellolights.com. You should be able to find something for your hood to fit. Whatever you do, don't go with less than 52 watts of lighting, IMO. Go with more watts if you can.

[duckhuntboy]

Also, BUY the utility lights before you take them apart.;)

[pAtTy]

I would suggest a 55w custom sea life pc retro fit kit.

[kennerd]

Originally posted by pAtTy
I would suggest a 55w custom sea life pc retro fit kit.
Think that might be a bit too long @ 23".

artie: how much room do you have inside that hood. I'm thinking a CSL 2x32 watt (at 13" long) might be a better way to go.

I also have a 7 gal cube that has only 12" inside dimensions that I have mounted a 27w Quad PC bulb and 2x13w actinics.

Either that or small fleet of 4- 13watters ..

[pAtTy]

Well you could use a CSL 55w and just have 5 inches hang over each side, but your right a 32w would be a much better selection. Considering I have three CSL 55w kits mounted into a canopy for my 20 gl. I would expect myself to know the dimensions. It must have been a long day at the time of the post.

[cjm033]

you could also do 2 27 watt quads,Chris

[kozmo02]

:eek:

OH NO YOU DIDNT! OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOU DIDNT! I KNOW YOU DIDNT JUST ARGUE WITH PATTY!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ITS ON NOW! :mad2:

yea listen to patty, he has em, i have seen his tank, he knows what hes talking about.

kthx

k0zMo02

[Nic]

You might need to sit down and go back to the drawing table and study up just a little bit more before you jump into this. Not trying to be rude. I just think that lighting is the most important part of a reef and you don't sound like you know what we are talking about.

An MH is a Metal Halide pendant. It hangs over your tank and uses a special high intensity light bulb. The light bulbs alone can cost up into $50-$80 alone so you may want to go and stuy up on some other people's setups first.

HTH

[kennerd]

Hey, finally took a picture of the lighting in my 7 gal cube (13x13) I am also installing a pair of 1.5x1.5 computer fans in there as well