Canopy Questions?

[CaptnIgnit]

Hello all, new here and thanking god I found this site (just reading all the stickies answered about 90% of all my questions). I did have a couple questions I wasn't quite able to find the answer too.

First, I have a 20 gallon high (24 inches wide, for you slow people ) and I need to get some new lighting put in place. I don't really have any desire to do a DIY kit, and I like the canopy I have. Unfortunately most of the strip lights I have found won't fit on my canopy.

Is there any prebuilt canopies you recommend? (In particular, for something like http://www.hellolights.com/241xcofraq1x.html or the 2 bulb variation). I have considered doing an all glass canopy, but I have a fairly large hanging filter and all of the canopies I have seen don't have a cut out for it.

Second, My tank is still in the early-middle of cycling (about a week through it) and I was curious if adding plants in at this point would cause problems or delays with the cycle?

Thanks much!

 

[SkullJug]

It won't cause delays. It will reduce the amount of ammonia in the tank (Plants use Ammonia before other forms of nitrogen) so your levels won't be as high. Depending on how well your plants a going and how fast growing they are you may not even see the tank cycle at all.

I always plant ASAP for this reason.

 

[fish_4_all]

This one , I think would be a good choice.

As for plants and cycling, have heard is a good thing to do. The only thing you have to remember is that you have to fertilize them while in the cycleing phase. No nitrates, just PO4, Potassium, and micros.

65 watts pc over a 20, lots of work. Thats like 88 watts equivelant and 4.4 watts per gallon. I think the other ones I listed may suit your tank better. Someone will have the calculation for T5 lighting as I can't find it right now. Just make sure you get a third bulb, like a 6500K or something to replace the actinic bulb.

 

[Purrbox]

While PC light is more efficient than NO flourescent, you need that extra light on a small tank. With small tanks you need more light to reach each of the lighting level thresholds. For a 20 gallon high, 65 watts of PC should give a nice solid high light tank.

Both Coralife and Current have some very nice fixtures which can be placed on legs above the tank raising it about 2". If you combine this with a glass canopy (which you should be able to cut the back strip to fit your filter) it should be able to accomodate most filters. If the standard glass canopies don't work for you, it possible to make your own by buying the parts separately (handle, hinge, and backstrip along with a couple pieces of glass) and get the exact dimensions you need. You can always buy a backstrip intended for a larger tank (these also tend to be wider) and then cut it down to fit your tank.

 

[malkore]

www.ahsupply.com sells simple canopies. you'd still have to wire up the ballasts and plugs though.

 

[newfound77951]

No nitrates, just PO4, Potassium, and micros.

I would disagree with this....watch your nitrate levels too, 'cause if they get low, you'll have algae faster than you can blink with high light (ask me how I know this!)

Cycling with plants is great....I did it with a high light 55 gal and never saw a spike in anything...no nitrite or ammonia ever. I didn't add nitrate and got algae up the wazoo but once i started dosing and got some algae eating fish I got it under control pretty quickly.

 

[CaptnIgnit]

Thanks for all the replies!

I ended up heading towards the DIY route since I like my canopy so much (fits like a glove!). I went with the 55w kit from ahsupply.com because it fits my current strip light chassis perfectly.

I did come up with another question, I know that PC light is going to be more concetrated (in regards to lumens). I am a little worried that a 55w bulb is going to be too much for my tank. I don't plan to inject CO2 into the water so a 2.75WPG ratio seems a bit high for my needs. What is everyone's opinions on it? Mainly in keeping algae away as I don't mind having the extra light.

I currently bought a 50/50 (actinic and 10000k) to cut down on the WPG but, should I need more wattage, is there a way dim or reduce the light output without raising the light over the tank?

Thanks again all!

 

[newfound77951]

With a 50/50 55watt bulb you only have 27 watts on a 20 gal, which puts you at barely low light. 2.75 wpg won't be too much for your fish or plants and you'll need it to be able to grow anything more than Anubias and Java fern. I have 192 watts over a 55 (2 96 watt PCs, almost 4 wpg, more if you use the PC conversion) and the fish and plants are happy as can be. You will need CO2, though, or you'll forever be battling algae. For a 26g a yeast reactor would do just fine; you can make one yourself or buy one off the shelf. I have the Red Sea turbo system with two bottles attached to 1 diffuser pump on the 55 and it is great. For $20 online I would go for it. it will save you a lot of headaches, and open up your plant possibilities if you want to increase your light later.