# Hood Help



## PlantNewb (Apr 3, 2005)

Hello,
I currently live in Mexico, and this is my first time trying to get a fully planted tank going.
I managed to get a Coralife Compact Fluorescent Retrofit Kit that holds two 65W 6700K compact bulbs. Thats a total of 4 wpg on my standard 29g (30*12*18 ) aquarium.
I also managed to build a hood based on Roger Miller's designs (http://www.thekrib.com/Lights/RgrMill/) and then added PVC tubes to be able to easily remove the hood while still being able to see the aquarium itself. Inspired by (http://www.rcarchive.com/fish/hood/) The hood is 3 inches above the water and there is nothing between the lights and the water. I am afraid some water might evaporate, condense and then get into the electrical system. The Coralife kit did say "moisture resistant endcaps", but is that enough? Should I add a glass cover right ontop of the aquarium?
Here's some pictures with the hood in a normal position and an open position.
I know the hood doesn't look too great, but it gets the job done... 
Thanks a lot. Sorry about my crappy English.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

PlantNewB,

Welcome to APC and please don't hesitate to ask any questions.

There will be no problem with condensation. Especially if you have moisture resistant end caps. The black box looks really great. I personally don't like the looks of the tubes that allow the hood to be moved back, but to be able to do that is pretty cool actually.

If too much water evaporates every day and you get sick of replacing it put the glass covers on the tank. That will also prevent fish from jumping out of the tank.

The power filter that you have may waste a lot of CO2, be aware of that. Also, with so much light over the tank make sure you add CO2 and plant densely from the very beginning, don't wait to add this and that because algae will probably eat you alive.

--Nikolay


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## PlantNewb (Apr 3, 2005)

Thanks for answering my question.
I really didn't think about the power filter wasting a lot of CO2... Does it waste CO2 because of the way the filter works, or because of the surface turbulence produced by it? The filter is already set on the lowest setting, but would "slowing" down the water (using sponge) comming out of the filter help?
By the way, 2 2L bottles with yeast will be used for CO2 production.
Thanks again.


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## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

Welcome to the forum! Niko has some really good suggestions. I like your hood setup with being able to adjust angle of deflection and move it where you like.
Your 2 2 liter bottle is perfect for that size tank. I use 2 for my 28 gallon. Here's a cheap and easy Co2 setup that I use with excellent success. Pick up a decent powerhead, I use a marineland 550, but any with about 100 gph should work just fine. Take your Co2 line and have it so the end of the tube is on the aquarium glass with a suction cup about an inch or so below the powerhead intake (use the screen that comes with the powerhead on the intake to prevent fish from getting sucked in). Next, and optional, is to take about a 1" x 1" square of pantyhose and shove it into the Co2 line, all the way and trim with scissors at the end to make it flush with the tube. This acts as an airstone but much better under low pressure. It'll create small bubbles that will get sucked into the powerhead and then they will become very small once run through the unit, getting whacked by the impeller. They'll come flying out and will be about .010" in diameter. The smaller you can make the bubbles and the longer you keep them churning around in the water the better the absorbtion of Co2 into the water will be. I'm getting about 30-35 ppm of Co2 in the water this way, which is ideal.


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