Roy wrote:
Started to work on that hood, with the built in fuge in the top of
it......gonna try it out on a 29 gal tank. I was gona try it on the
converted 48 gal reptile tank, but I decided to keep it for a river
tank, since it already has lots of perfectly placed holes in the glass
that I can use for plumbing water to various levels of the side
terrain.

The hood for the 29 has a water depth of 3" max, and it can be caried
by use of a standpipe. I even managed to mount a few power compacts
under the fuge itself, and still keep hoods overall height to about 6"
POwer to supply water is a Hydor pump, and water flows from one end of
the hood fuge and exits rthew oppoisite side. I have to put a hob
resivoir on the tank so if power goes out, the water in the fuge will
have a place to overflow / drain to, or when you may need to take the
hood off. Still working on an idea to allow water that drains back
into main tank after power outage, to flow into the hob resivoir, fast
enough to keep it from overflowing the display tank, but still allow
enough water in the main tank to come up to the bottom of the top
trim as a minimum. Thinking more of a slot than holes, would work
better.

The front panel on the hood opens for feeding etc. Its all made out of
acryic, and today I water tested the fuge and its water tight, no
leaks...anywhere. Hydor pump does a good job of pushing water up, and
gives good flow, but I need to install a few baffles to help channel
and slow water in the fuge a bit.

Weather it will work or not, matter not, it gives me something to play
with., but it does look promising.

You have me curious here...you are making the hood out of acrylic? I
might have you wrong here but the amount of natural light you could
provide that way in a room with sufficient light would be great....

If this is the case, how do you cope with artificial lighting and the
heat generated? or don't you bother...

I'm asking because, if you haven't noticed from recent postings, I'm
working on a custom built 6 foot tank in a very brightly lit room...I've
done a bit of reading - I found Richard Sexton's comments in his
Artificial Lighting document quite illuminating (pun intended). My tank
has a glass sliding top with triangles cut out for the pipe work...last
summer with the old traditional black plastic hood on a different tank I
had to keep the lights off in daytime to stop the algae growth but the
plants still did great...

Right now, I have the tank without any artificial lights...I have
planted some of it but it is still a work in progress (I've been waiting
for the LFS's to get the plants I want - sussed now they are ordering
what I've asked for)...one thing I have noticed is that the anubias are
actually flowering which they never really have with the flourescents in
the more conventional set ups...

So, please let me know your lighting plans....

Thanks
Gill