Where to get/how to make an open canopy

[Fish_Mike]

Ok well i would like to have an 'open' canopy on my future 60gal aquarium.

Now, i'm not sure if that's what it's called, but what it looks like is just basically the strip bulb in a hood, and the hood about the tank on some sort of legs. Technically, the aquarium is not covered, but there is still beneficial light. I know this would aid evaporation, but i wouldn't mind adding water every few days. I've seen it done once, and would like to know now, is it a do it yourself project or something that i can buy somewhere?

Here is a crappy diagram

The red parts are the supposed 'legs' and as you can see there is no canopy, just this light. So, in doing this, would it decrease the light levels actually reaching the plants?

EDIT: NOw how exactly can i get that to show?

 

[pseud]

Yeah, I think you mean a strip-light with legs

http/cgi.ebay.com/48-inch-JEBO-HIGH-COMP...1QQcmdZViewItem

like those?

Basically, you just buy a tank without a hood, and then buy a strip light with legs, like from ebay.

 

[Tolak]

Sounds like a cool idea if you don't mind the evaporation, I would be worried about fish leaving the tank through such a large opening.

Tolak

 

[Fish_Mike]

Yes! thats exactly what i mean, thanks

And no, none of the fish are gonna be jumpy (no hatchets)

 

[Fish_Mike]

omg, i'm drooling over the fact that it's $.99 so far

 

[pseud]

Mike, those things never sell for that little.
It's going to cost at least $100. Depending on what length you buy.
What length are you looking at anyways?

 

[Lateral Line]

That light might work for a marine tank, but the lamps are totally inappropriate for freshwater. The high temperature lamps and Actinics will create major algae problems. If you plan to have live plants, they will be as good as useless.

 

[Fish_Mike]

Well, i'd say 48 inch, but if you check the auctions, currently, it's going for that much, but ya, i guess you're right, it will rise in prise shortly

as for the bulbs, i don't plan on using the ones they supply me with, however the fact that it comes with VHO bulbs shows me that i can buy the correct bulb and it will work in such a hood.

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> shows me that i can buy the correct bulb

Very true.

 

[pseud]

Mike: Check out http/www.aquatraders.com (good prices, heavy shipping cost), or http/www.drsfostersmith.com (reasonable prices, good shipping costs). Truth of the matter is, you rarely get any good deals on ebay.

LL: You said those lights would be useless in a freshwater planted tank? Why is that? I'm looking into getting some lighting myself, and there's so many options it's overwhelming and I'm feeling really kinda lost. I'm aiming for about 2-3 WPG in a 55 gallon (48") tank.

 

[Fish_Mike]

Thanks P!

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> Why is that?

Light is a complicated subject. Watts per gallon is simply a measure of how much energy is being emitted by your lamps, it has no meaning at all on quality of light.

Green plants use light to live, they absorb light, and use it to convert primitive compounds into sugars and proteins. They use a green pigment to acheive this, it is a very complex chemical, but what it does is easy to understand, you have a group of chemicals in light, and nothing happens - you have the same group of chemicals under light + green pigment and the magic happens.

The green pigment is chlorophyl, and if you want good plant growth, you feed chlorophyl. It is a catalyst.

Chlorophyl absorbs light at certain frequencies, mostly in the red and blue parts of the spectrum, (it does not absorb green light - that is why it reflects green, and plants look green).

To "feed" chlorophyll you need to supply it with light at the right frequencies, i.e. in the red, and the blue.

Lamps rated below 4000K supply little that chlorophyll can use. Lamps rated over 6700K similaly cannot supply a good light that can be used by higher plants.

Lamps at 12,000K and Actinic lamps are designed to replicate light in an open sky at certain depths below water, as water preferentially absorbs longer wavelengths, (red end of the spectrum). Thus high temperature lamps and Actinics are used to simulate the conditions of tropical coral reefs which are covered by a substantial amount of water.

The typical tropical plant one finds in a tank evolved in shallow water, typically less then 1m, and in shaded conditions, (rainforrests, marshes with overgrowth etc.). They are evolved to make use of the red end of the spectrum with some absorbption in the blue.

Supplying blue end only will allow primitive plants, (algae), to multiply, and at the same time deny the lower end absorpbtion aquatic true plants require.

 

[pseud]

Complicated, but I understand most of it!
Thanks for taking the time to explain.