KeepingFish7

I realised after finishing the last page that many of the tips and descriptions I gave can be seen elsewhere on my site under "tropical tanks"or in the photos at "FISHKEEPING EQUIPT"
Having dealt with filters and heater/stats, I thought I would turn our attention to hoods and lighting. I tend to find that there is not enough room under most hoods to work on the tank without removing them. This removes the light you need to see what you are doing, so I like to make my own hoods. These are made from marine ply with opening fronts and a lip round the inside to support a "drip tray" which it really isnt as it is to stop condensation getting to the lamps etc. I make them about six inches deep (High) which gives ample room to get your elbow in for glass cleaning etc. The insides I paint with satin finish white emulsion and the exterior in black. Being ply it is very easy to accomodate any fliter or air lines by simple cutting or drilling.

You can see in the photos that the fronts are hinged and give ample and easy access to the tanks. For lighting I use one of two types. In the tank on the left I have used OMACRON SED8 miniature flourescent fittings made for cabinets etc. The are only half an inch wide by one inch deep and twelve inches long!. They are 8 watts and very light (hic) in weight, due to the fact that they are electronic circuits on a circuit board and not heavy chokes etc. They have an added advantage in that they do not "flicker" on and they start up at a lower than normal light level. This gives less disturbance to the fish. The centre photo shows the one in my fry tank, as can be seen I have had to REDUCE the light output using black tape, considerably, the white painted hood interior doing its job well!. These lamps fit into clips that come with them and can be interconnected with up to 5 lamps with cable supplied with each. There is a socket at each end for this purpose. I do recommend them for ease of fitting, (couple two for a 3 foot tank) and their "lightness". The other system I use is to fit ordinary switched BC (bayonet cap) sockets into the back of the hood and use the now very prolific "energy saver" lamps, which can be got in 4w to 20w (approx 20w to 100w incandescent). These are available for as little as two pounds each locally to me and you can increase or decrease you light levels with the change of a bulb!. My experience is that 4 or 5 watt lamps, two for a 3 foot tank are more than adequate if the inside of the hood is painted white, and in the right hand photo of the 18 inch tank I have had to reduce to one 5 watt partly painted black, to reduce its output. These lamps use vertually nothing in electricity and there is no heavy choke equiptment or multiple cables to hide! More soon.