Lighting Question

[aprilmayjune]

I have a BioCube 29 and wanted to upgrade the lighting. I'm not too impressed with the retrofits I've seen so far, was wondering if I could rig this up:

http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=209&osCsid=1 5e2b1b78965cdb1bac288f4b255c556

The tank is 20", the fixture is 18". I like the clean look of the hood, not to mention it keeps the fish inside where the belong, so I was thinking about taking the stock lights out, cut a hole in the hood just large enough so the new fixture can hang above water all while keeping the clean and neat look of the hood.

Is this just wishful thinking or does it seem like it will work? The only thing i worry about is melting the hood but if the MH is 6" above and not directly above plastic it should be ok right?

Any suggestions would be helpful!

[aprilmayjune]

no one to give me a yes or a no? i just want to know if i'm thinking realistically.

[alton]

Looks like a possible heat problem for me with a 20 gallon tank unless, you are going to keep the top open with a fan blowing across the top of the water? Or you keep your home at 70.

[tony]

what about something like this?

http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=24817

[caferacermike]

Another thing you could try is an Iceprobe chiller. I see the guys over at nanotuners running halides directly in the hoods with the Iceprobe.

[aprilmayjune]

the halide would be a few inches above the surface of the water with a fan blowing the heat away and i do keep my room pretty cold, i think i'm part eskimo as everyone complains about how cold i keep everything. i had a 20 gallon with 130 watts with a similar setup with no problems of heat. i would get that coralife but i don't have a way to clamp it on the side.

i will probably just get the pc upgrade and do some fancy lights on my next tank. thanks for the help.

[matt]

I'd consider using this or another pendant (the coralife circular pendant is kind of nice, and the Geisemann pendants are beautiful but pricey) and going open top. Any mh bulb that close to the water on a such a small tank would probably cook things pretty well.

For comparison, I have a 50 gallon corner tank with alot of surface area open, my mh pendant is about 7" off the water, and it runs at least 6-7 degrees over room temp; that's with only about 60 watts of pumps, 45 watt external and 2 nano streams.

[Ram_Puppy]

the MH would definately be to close to the water, and I would worry about it, at best, warping the plastic top to the biocube.

if you raised the MH, the hole you cut would need to get progressively larger and larger.

if I were you?

Have Ace (hobogato) build you a nice canopy that looks simlar to the current one, put an icecap fan it, a retrofit lighting kit like your looking at, and don't look back. :)

I just got my new canopy back from ace and did a test fitting on it, it's perfect. now i just need to seal the inside, and stain it and I am good as gold. :) (or good as oceanic cherry in this case. :) )