jtirone
Member
I just did an upgrade to my lighting. This was much easier than I thought it would be.
I have a 54 gallon corner tank. If you have never seen this tank, it kinda looks like a triangle, with one side bowed. This is a great tank, but a pain to add higher lighting. I wanted to upgrade my lighting for months, but could not find a hood that fit.
I worked with my lfs, and finally upgraded to a VHO system. I bought an icecap 430 and 2 24" bulbs. No endcaps.
I took my existing 30" perfecto hood, removed all of the old ballasts and starters. I left the original endcaps on. I wired with 430 to the endcaps and screwed it back together. It only took about an hour and I went from 55 watts (2 24" 20 watt and 1 18" 15 watt) to 165 watts ( 2 24" 75 watt and 1 18" 15 watt). The lfs has about 15-20 of their hoods done this way. They have not had any heating problems with the bulbs. As soon as I find another 30" hood, I will put 2 more bulbs on the tank.
No need to build a custom hood.
I have a 54 gallon corner tank. If you have never seen this tank, it kinda looks like a triangle, with one side bowed. This is a great tank, but a pain to add higher lighting. I wanted to upgrade my lighting for months, but could not find a hood that fit.
I worked with my lfs, and finally upgraded to a VHO system. I bought an icecap 430 and 2 24" bulbs. No endcaps.
I took my existing 30" perfecto hood, removed all of the old ballasts and starters. I left the original endcaps on. I wired with 430 to the endcaps and screwed it back together. It only took about an hour and I went from 55 watts (2 24" 20 watt and 1 18" 15 watt) to 165 watts ( 2 24" 75 watt and 1 18" 15 watt). The lfs has about 15-20 of their hoods done this way. They have not had any heating problems with the bulbs. As soon as I find another 30" hood, I will put 2 more bulbs on the tank.
No need to build a custom hood.