Aqueon LED hood sizing

[mkat]

Hello,

I was looking at the Aqueon® LED Aquarium Light at the pet store and was wondering if anyone had any experience with those? Right now on my 50 gallon I have 2 of the 24" Aqueon® Hinged Aquarium Glass Top's on that aquarium. So I would need 2 of the 20 inch LED lights since the actual outside dimension is 23.75".

OR... since the actual aquarium is actually 48.5 inches long, Does it make any sense to get the 48" LED and have it in one piece even though the actual dimension is 52.75" wide and it would overhang each side by 2 3/8" ? Does anyone do this or would that look ugly or be a bad idea for some reason I haven't thought about? They do have sliding mounting legs...

My other question is it says "Included with each fixture is one Day White LED lamp! Two expansion slots are available for additional Day White LED lamps or Colormax LED lamps." ... since I will not have any live plants other than maybe hornwort, Should I be ok with just the one included day white LED Lamp if I end up getting these?

Thanks.

[Angela1108]

If you don't have plants the one light will be fine. I have a 55g with this and once you add the trim on top of the tank the light is pretty much the correct length. I would go with the 48". (I have a bunch of plants and I have that with 2 additional colormax bulbs)


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[Narkul]

I was looking at those too, but didn't see any specs on lumens, color temp, etc. I just came to the conclusion that if the manufacturer didn't make the specs public then the specs probably were not good.
Petco has Fluval Aqualife and Plant led fixtures on sale at half price, but that's still probably higher than the aqueons, although by the time you upgrade the aqueons with the additional light strips the fluvals may end up cheaper.

[mkat]

Originally Posted by Angela1108

If you don't have plants the one light will be fine. I have a 55g with this and once you add the trim on top of the tank the light is pretty much the correct length. I would go with the 48". (I have a bunch of plants and I have that with 2 additional colormax bulbs)


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Hi Angela, since you have one of those, Can you please tell me what the actual width is? The specs on the site say 5.63" wide but I'm just wondering if there is something on it that sticks out more of if that's the width all the way accross. the reason I ask is measuring the space between the hinge and the HOB filter where the light would sit it is allowing me a maximum distance of 5 3/16" for the front of the glass to be able to be opened. Otherwise I would have to move the light each time I wanted to get in there.

thanks.

[Angela1108]

thats how far the clip overhangs for me- but I do that to keep it as low as possible to my glass. As you can see the actual legnth of the light matches with the tank exactly. I have to dig for a measuring tape- but give me a bit and I can measure it for you


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[Angela1108]

I just measured and mine is exactly 5 1/4 inch it just fits for us.



We really like ours and move the difference in the quality of the light compared to the regular t8 that came with ours It looked much clearer


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[Angela1108]

It is a tiny bit wider at the very ends for the leg clips to fit so 5 1/8 inch where the clips aren't.


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[Angela1108]

Best pic I can get of how the ends stick out a little more than the middle.


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[mkat]

Wow thanks Angela1108 ! Those are good pictures and you did a lot of work to help me out! I really appreciate it!

So basically if it is 5 1/8" wide without the leg clips I should be able to have it sitting down right on top without the clips just like yours and have 1/32" on either side lol, or possible cut the clips to fit if it's not on an outside track.

So it looks like this will work! Thanks again Angela!

[Angela1108]

Yeah I think it should work. No problem!! Like I said we really like it and loves the difference from the t8 that came with it

Hahah and my husband laughed at me as to why I was measuring but once I told him he was like oh! That makes sense. Tell them we really like it


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[mkat]

Thanks!

The only floating plant that the petstore here has is the hornwort so I will try it and see how it goes.

[mkat]

Opps I got that post confused with the other thread where we we talking about hornwort and it won't let me edit...

Anyways, I ordered the LED light and if for some reason it doesn't fit in between I decided I will just remove the glass from the hinge in my top, cut the front ones down by and inch and get new pieces for the back that are an inch wider.