# Favorite Lighting Hoods/Equipment



## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

I have my 20H gallon tank without a matching hood/lights for the moment, but my ten gallon hood and another lamp are currently doing the job.

I want to know what is everyone's preferred lighting hood or lighting equipment. It's hard to pick something since they're so many and I don't really know the difference between them. I've seen some that are mounted, some that look like a hood.

I also want to know what the preferred bulb is for growing plants, generally mid-high light plants. (I'm going to be keeping Anacharis, Contortion Vals, Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias, Dwarf Sag, Dwarf Hairgrass, Cryptocorynes Wendtiis 'Green', Amazon Sword and a few other plants perhaps)

Tell me why you like it whether its how much it costs vs other competitors, the quality of it or whether it produces little heat... etc.. tell me anything.

Thanks in advance.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

I use a desk lamp with regular full-spectrum bulbs. Since I don't have a huge tank I have to light, this works out pretty well, since the bulbs for a desk lamp are easier to find than aquarium bulbs (at least for me), and ended up being cheaper too


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

Kehy said:


> I use a desk lamp with regular full-spectrum bulbs. Since I don't have a huge tank I have to light, this works out pretty well, since the bulbs for a desk lamp are easier to find than aquarium bulbs (at least for me), and ended up being cheaper too


Hmm... Well you just gave me the idea to look for a DIY. But yeah I'm currently using desk lamps... I'm even using one permanently for my 5.5 gallon because it looks nice over it and my plants are growing like crazy. I just want my setup to look neater lol


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## Russell (Jun 20, 2011)

Nova Extreme SLR T-5 HO 24" $75-$100, depending on where, and a standard glass top. Provides lots of light, enough to make learning about algae control jump to the top of the list, but looks nice and plants are doing well now that I've got it a little figured out.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I don't like hoods myself. I always get glass canopies and then pick the light I want. The light mentioned will work, but will require good management of lighting time to avoid algae. Its high light for a 20g. Similar light I am using on my 20 tall.


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

Ahh! Just wanted to make it clear I have a glass top atm, I'm just looking for the light... I just mentioned "hood" cause there are some "hoods" that are meant for the glass tops.

Thanks for the suggestion... If I get the light mentioned... Would I have to mount it higher than where the glass is?


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## Russell (Jun 20, 2011)

Comes with legs that hold it off the glass.
Sure wish someone would come up with a direct conversion for T5 HO wattage conversion to standard T8s so the watt/gallon figures are compatible.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Russell said:


> Comes with legs that hold it off the glass.
> Sure wish someone would come up with a direct conversion for T5 HO wattage conversion to standard T8s so the watt/gallon figures are compatible.


It would never work. There is so much difference in quality on the reflectors it would be near impossible. Some are not so high quality and others are top notch. Just depends on what you pay for it.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Pigeonfish said:


> Ahh! Just wanted to make it clear I have a glass top atm, I'm just looking for the light... I just mentioned "hood" cause there are some "hoods" that are meant for the glass tops.
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion... If I get the light mentioned... Would I have to mount it higher than where the glass is?


A lot of them come with legs, even the fishneedit light I have has legs. I wouldn't go without them, but you can still raise it higher if you wanted. If the tank is going to be a lo-tech tank and you want just solid medium light, you can still raise it quite a bit and be within that range - going with the mentioned T5HO wattage anyway.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I have the nova extreme light too,over my 29 gallon.Its very nice looking,works well,silent,and cool.Plus it comes with the legs too which place it about two inches above the tank.

But as mentioned,you do have to fine tune your lighting period.


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

Would I have to basically keep my lights on for less than 12 hours? I know some of you guys use timers.. etc..

I'm guessing once I get those lights, I'll be experimenting until I get it right? lol


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I have a Nova Extreme T5HO over my 29 XH as well, with a glass versa-top. I get low light at the bottom of the tank (25 PAR), and high light at the surface. I'm using a 5500K bulb and a 10000K bulb. The Nova Extreme has legs to hold it up, and it puts out 48 Watts of light with independent reflectors for each bulb. Runs warm.

I've noticed two things with the glass top - 1. I need to scoot the light to the back edge of the tank so I can open the hatch on the lid. And 2. my PAR levels are significantly higher without the top on, but evaporation is higher and CO2 is lower.

On my 10 gallon I have another T5HO fixture with 48 Watts and the same two bulbs, but this one has no legs and sits directly on the glass top. The fixture gets very warm, but not warm enough to warp or melt plastic.

I bought the Nova Extreme new from my LFS for $100, and the other T5HO from my classifieds for $30. In addition, I bought a 65 Watt PC 30" fixture for my gf's tank for $40 and it puts medium light at the bottom of her 29 gallon.

I run all of my lights 7 am to 7 pm and actually attempt to grow some algae (my cleanup crew likes the fresh veggies).


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Guy, you and Bev mentioned something about this light that caught my eye...you said it runs warm and she said it's quiet....is the ballasts in the light and is there a cooling fan? If so, glad I didn't get that light. My old Coralife lights used to have cooling fans and they ran hot....never again. None of my current T5HO lights I have now use that methodology. Not knocking the light per se, just thought it was odd what you guys said.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> you said it runs warm and she said it's quiet....is the ballasts in the light and is there a cooling fan


No cooling fan, and not sure on the ballasts, haven't taken the light apart but if it does have a ballast it has to be an electrical ballast since the fixture is very low-profile. It does have vents on the side of the fixture that look as though they are fitted for a cooling fan.

The fixture I have sitting on top of my 10 gallon is not a Nova Extreme - it's a cheaper one that I don't recall the company of off the top of my head.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

From reviews I read,the older models did indeed have a fan but since the ballasts were changed to a different model,they are not prone to get hot.Therefore there is no noise from the light fixture.

Its warm on top but the lights that I got from kits and the basic canopy lights are much hotter than this one.The vents from where the fans used to go give enough room for the fixture to cool from normal air circulation.


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