Building a canopy

[waynerz]

Hello, I'm about to start building my own canopy for a 33 gallon tank. It
came with one florescent t8 tube, a power glow. I think its about 2.5 ft
long. I want some more light in the tank and I'm just starting to get some
live plants.

In my new diy canopy I'm planning on using two, twin t8 florescent ballasts,
each one is two feet long. I'm thinking of going with two soft white and
two cool white bulbs. i already have the ballasts on hand from another
project so i'm going to re-use them to save some money, I havent bought the
new tubes yet though.

Any thoughts on this? I'm wondering if my plants will benefit from the
extra light and how the spectrum will be. is there a better choice or
combination of bulbs i can use in these ballasts? I'm not too clear on
kelvins but i know my lumens :-) I'm estimating that the power glow only
gives off 25watts, and my four 2' bulbs will be around 80 watts for 33
gallons. Any advice would be appreciated. WW

[battlelance]

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 19:45:33 GMT, "waynerz" > wrote:


>In my new diy canopy I'm planning on using two, twin t8 florescent ballasts,
>each one is two feet long. I'm thinking of going with two soft white and
>two cool white bulbs. i already have the ballasts on hand from another
>project so i'm going to re-use them to save some money, I havent bought the
>new tubes yet though.

If they are those super heavy shop grade ballasts, then I'd suggest
throwing those in the garbage and picking up a VHO kit or something.
You'll get more watts per gallon, less heat and it really isn't that
expensive.

I thought I saw a VHO kit from a link in the DIY forums on aquaria
central for around $40 with reflectors.

[ITSME]

Basic guide to use that I've found successful, is 2 to 3 watts per gallon...
The plants definitely notice the difference, and algae is kept at bay (for
the most part) if your lighting is correct. Too little or too much light,
and the algae takes over.


"battlelance" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 19:45:33 GMT, "waynerz" > wrote:
>
>
> >In my new diy canopy I'm planning on using two, twin t8 florescent
ballasts,
> >each one is two feet long. I'm thinking of going with two soft white and
> >two cool white bulbs. i already have the ballasts on hand from another
> >project so i'm going to re-use them to save some money, I havent bought
the
> >new tubes yet though.
>
> If they are those super heavy shop grade ballasts, then I'd suggest
> throwing those in the garbage and picking up a VHO kit or something.
> You'll get more watts per gallon, less heat and it really isn't that
> expensive.
>
> I thought I saw a VHO kit from a link in the DIY forums on aquaria
> central for around $40 with reflectors.

[Rick]

"ITSME" > wrote in message
...
> Basic guide to use that I've found successful, is 2 to 3 watts per
gallon...
> The plants definitely notice the difference, and algae is kept at bay (for
> the most part) if your lighting is correct. Too little or too much light,
> and the algae takes over.
>
>
> "battlelance" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 19:45:33 GMT, "waynerz" > wrote:
> >
> >
> > >In my new diy canopy I'm planning on using two, twin t8 florescent
> ballasts,
> > >each one is two feet long. I'm thinking of going with two soft white
and
> > >two cool white bulbs. i already have the ballasts on hand from another
> > >project so i'm going to re-use them to save some money, I havent bought
> the
> > >new tubes yet though.
> >
> > If they are those super heavy shop grade ballasts, then I'd suggest
> > throwing those in the garbage and picking up a VHO kit or something.
> > You'll get more watts per gallon, less heat and it really isn't that
> > expensive.
> >
> > I thought I saw a VHO kit from a link in the DIY forums on aquaria
> > central for around $40 with reflectors.
>


I finally got my canopy hooked up last night. I have had this thing made for
about 2 months and just never got around to doing the wiring but it is done
and looks great. I have a 4' , 77g tank and am using 6 x 32 w T8, 6500 k
daylight bulbs to replace 4 x 40 w T12's. So I only increased my wattage by
32 however I did overdrive the bulbs a bit using 2 x 4 bulb ballasts , one
to each bank of 3 bulbs. Also because my bulbs on now higher up than before
I removed the glass covers and the difference is amazing.

Rick