dabliggah
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Here goes ... first post .. newb apologies in advance.
I am attempting to put together a 55g planted freshwater aquarium. I am trying to fit a lighting solution within a canopy (the one Petco will sell you with a 55g tank and stand). The canopy is necessary because our cats like to sleep on top of other tanks in the house and have broken the glass tops on my wife's 29g quarantine tank! The inner dimensions of the canopy are 48.25" L x 4" H.
My first urge was for T5 HO and I bought a ZooMed Aquasun 48" fixture. The main problem is the fixture is >48" and the mounting mechanism adds even more length making it impossible to get the canopy on.
My second urge was for relatively inexpensive LED lighting. Of course, being a newb, the Ecoxotic Stunners seemed really shinytastical but after reading several posts on the forums I have concluded that they are a good addition to existing lighting but not good for supporting photosynthetic life alone. All other LED options seem waaay out of a beginners price range.
So ... now the main question: To all of those with T5 HO lighting kits ... could you please measure your fixtures and report the dimensions (including mounting mechanism)? I am particularly interested in the AquaticLife fixture (part # 420145) and the Nova Extreme (part # 1129) as they look like they might fit. Unfortunately the manufacturers don't always list the dimensions as they most critically apply to how the kit is installed ...
Thanks!! --Jon
I am attempting to put together a 55g planted freshwater aquarium. I am trying to fit a lighting solution within a canopy (the one Petco will sell you with a 55g tank and stand). The canopy is necessary because our cats like to sleep on top of other tanks in the house and have broken the glass tops on my wife's 29g quarantine tank! The inner dimensions of the canopy are 48.25" L x 4" H.
My first urge was for T5 HO and I bought a ZooMed Aquasun 48" fixture. The main problem is the fixture is >48" and the mounting mechanism adds even more length making it impossible to get the canopy on.
My second urge was for relatively inexpensive LED lighting. Of course, being a newb, the Ecoxotic Stunners seemed really shinytastical but after reading several posts on the forums I have concluded that they are a good addition to existing lighting but not good for supporting photosynthetic life alone. All other LED options seem waaay out of a beginners price range.
So ... now the main question: To all of those with T5 HO lighting kits ... could you please measure your fixtures and report the dimensions (including mounting mechanism)? I am particularly interested in the AquaticLife fixture (part # 420145) and the Nova Extreme (part # 1129) as they look like they might fit. Unfortunately the manufacturers don't always list the dimensions as they most critically apply to how the kit is installed ...
Thanks!! --Jon