gollys Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 I have a six foot tank with a hood (A Gary Maher tank). I saw an awesome LED light system at Pet Barn Coomera in their Altum Angel tank that simulated storms and everything (really cool) - anyway, they said that there are no LED systems suitable for people with hoods on their aquariums. I found this incredible as I thought LED was in fact cooler (generated less heat) than the T5 lights I currently have running? So guess my questions is, are there any LeD systems suitable for freshwater planted tanks that have hoods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Most the bar ones are fine, as are most the low outputs. It is good to get some stand off distance from the lids to give better spread, but otherwise its fine. I think its more that the closer to the water you go, the more hostile the environment as well. That said what do you need in a light? Does it need to grow plants or coral? Or is it just display? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollys Posted August 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Most the bar ones are fine, as are most the low outputs.It is good to get some stand off distance from the lids to give better spread, but otherwise its fine. I think its more that the closer to the water you go, the more hostile the environment as well. That said what do you need in a light? Does it need to grow plants or coral? Or is it just display? My tank is a freshwater fully planted tank. Currently I have a T5 light strip in there so would need to replace it with a LED of similar dimensions as I just get that in under the hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 You would want a high output LED then. Any chance of a picture of the tank so I can get an idea of the plants in there? Or some names is good too. How many T5 tubes are in the current light? The tricky bit is the 6 foot. If you are willing to do say.... dual 3 footers, then that opens more options up. I used double 4 foots on my 8 foot, because there really arent many options in the 5 to 8 foot range. You may find its best even to go say 3 tiles. The other option is to cut the roof out of the hood. On high tanks like 6x2x2 you dont usually see the roof of the hood. This lets fans work on the LED, and prevents them heating up. If LED get too hot they can be damaged, or damage parts of the light. So making sure the fans can keep them cool is important. Good LED are an investment, so it pays to treat them nice so they last for many years. Also if the fans dont have to work hard then they dont get noisy and silence is golden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollys Posted August 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Sure - this is my tank - Now this photo is about a year old but shall upload a new photo tomorrow. I dont think two 3 foot lights would work though as the 6 foot is a tight fit as it is - and I cannot alter the hood as the top is visible as it is not the standard 6x2x2. Plants are anubias, swords, crypts etc. I dont use CO2 so they are all low maintenance plants but I do use Excel Flourish daily. I shall take a photo of inside the hood tomorrow morning in the daylight (all fish are asleep now) Edited August 31, 2013 by gollys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 So basically you need LED lights that will grow swords. You can do that with the medium strength LED, even at 2 foot deep. You may find you need to stagger the lights to fit them if you use multiples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollys Posted August 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 So basically you need LED lights that will grow swords.You can do that with the medium strength LED, even at 2 foot deep. You may find you need to stagger the lights to fit them if you use multiples. There really is no room inside the hood between the glass and hood to allow staggering - the light I have is a T5 and was brought through "Guppies" From memory is running 4 x globes - 2 &10,000k and 2 @8000k (I think - I really would have to check) but they have been great. I just thought LEDs might generate less heat? In the summer I have to leave the hood lid open (as pictured). Shall supply more photos tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th3f0rg0t3n Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 how much for your led lights on your 8ft donny ? 3ft and 4ft prices would be tops lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tharinda Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 There really is no room inside the hood between the glass and hood to allow staggering - the light I have is a T5 and was brought through "Guppies" From memory is running 4 x globes - 2 &10,000k and 2 @8000k (I think - I really would have to check) but they have been great.I just thought LEDs might generate less heat? In the summer I have to leave the hood lid open (as pictured). Shall supply more photos tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to reply. Hey i was just wondering how much the running costs are for the t5 from guppies as i am about to purchase one myself thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollys Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 I did not really notice much difference in the running cost from T8 to T5 to be honest, but I only have the one tank. Cost per use? I have no idea, but I just did not notice any price hike in the power bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollys Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Hey i was just wondering how much the running costs are for the t5 from guppies as i am about to purchase one myself thanks Please see reply above, I forgot to add the quote !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turffarmerrob Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Hey Gollys I got the same hood on my tank and you can definitely fit 2 Three footers end to end but measure your self just in case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tharinda Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 I did not really notice much difference in the running cost from T8 to T5 to be honest, but I only have the one tank. Cost per use? I have no idea, but I just did not notice any price hike in the power bill. Thanks for the reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delapool Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 I've got the same problem on a 4ft with a nice wood hood that I've had to take off. All my box LEDs have fans and I found under the hood they would get fairly hot. Plus there was just limited room. I did look at putting an extractor fan on the hood or just cutting the centre out but in the end just took it off and put it in the spare room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant85 Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 Just out of curiosity [MENTION=3268]gollys[/MENTION] what was the light that you saw, and would it be possible to modify your hood to accommodate the LEDs system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollys Posted June 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 Just out of curiosity [MENTION=3268]gollys[/MENTION] what was the light that you saw, and would it be possible to modify your hood to accommodate the LEDs system? Sorry I cannot remember now - I started this thread off nearly two years ago ! I would not want to modify the hood as it is a beautiful Gary Maher tank - I am just running T5 still and brought a moonlight one separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
