::EDIT:: JUST WANNA KNOW BOUT WATTAGE NOW

Ive just finished making a Hood with two lights at each ends and was wondering whether to paint the underside of it (where the lights are)

Its made out of tin, so the reflection may be too much? Shoud i leave it silver, or paint it another colour so there isnt as much reflection?

I thought reflection was the effect that was generally gone for in a light hood?

Can't have too much reflection 8)

Many line their light hoods with aluminium foil to reflect the light downwards as much as possible.

Okay then thats all good, just thought it might be a bit bright for all the fishies 8)

Just out of curiosity...

- How deep is your tank?

- What wattage are the lights?

- What wattage was on the tank before you upgraded to the new hood?

- What kind of fish are you keeping?

- Do you have lots of plants, driftwood, places for the fish to get away from the light?

I'm thinking that if you have fish who either prefer somewhere dim to hide, or are just used to living in a dimly lit tank, that you might like to increase the light gradually rather than just upgrading all at once, and make sure they have somewhere to go to get out of the light.

Also I assume that you're doing this lighting upgrade because you have a planted tank - so you might already have plenty of broad-leaf plants for your fish to hide in.

If its too bright, then yeah, plants will solve that problem.

If you cut the light output with something less reflective in the hood then you are just wasting power lighting up a dark surface, would be better off with less or lower wattage globes in there.

The tank has not been set up yet which is why i was asking.

The tank is 1220mm Long X 460mm High X 460mm Deep. I have quite a few plants to put in there from my growout tank. And in the tank are two large angels, two large severums, one suranimensis, 2 plecs, 2 BNs, algae eater, moonlight and snakeskin gourami, (and yes i know most people wouldnt recomend the mixture but....)one electric yellow.

And my next question is, i have two places for light bulbs, will 20W each light be enough or two much?

40W of light for a ~250L tank is well below the recommended amount so you definitely don't have to worry about it being too much. If anything, too little.

What would the recomended amount be for a 250L?

It'll be dim, but that doesn't matter because you don't have any plants.

I dont have water in there either :roll: But once the water is in there, its gonna have lots of plants lol...

I dont know what the max WATTs is for the enerrgy saver light bulbs.

How much watts should i have through my tank when i have plants?

About 150 would be a good goal place to start.

Go to bunnings or Mitre 10 mega and they should have some high wattage ones, somewhere around the 100 watt mark.

Oh and looking at your fish list. No, you won't have plants.

Cool thanks.

Why do you say that about the plants? They have been alright with plants, with the exception of the suranimensis uprooting all the smaller plants and someone eating all the ambulias.

I havent seen the high wattage ones at bunnings, and the guy at mitre10 mega warned me not to run the 105 watt ones horizontally since they had some where the cap came off them from the weight.

At $25 for the 105 watt one, and if you need 2 it makes getting some 6500k tubes and a fitting off the cheap guy on trademe a much more viable option. I have some 105 watt lights in my work area, they are great for lighting the place up but noway near as bright as 500 watts of incandescent like they lead you to believe.

I just use 23W 6500k energy saver light bulbs in my Tank.

Noway near as bright as 500 watts of incandescent like they lead you to believe.

A lower kelvin, good quality one should be in the similar range. The higher the kelvin the dimmer they are and the lower quality ones both aren't as bright to begin withand fade quicker.

I haven't seen any known brands selling CFLs in wattages that high, and based on my experiences with philips tornado lamps, I would rate them worse then the no brand crap for longevity if anything.

And no way will I be putting in a lower K one then 6500 for my workspace - thats the only reason I put up with fluorescent lighting is so I dont have the fatigue inducing orangeness

I personally find the lower kelvin bulbs, around 5200 or whatever it is more pleasant than the harsher fatigue inducing 6400k ones :lol: