Removed tank hood, new lights, now what?

[Scuba Diver Gal]

Hi everyone,

This is actually my son's tank, but I seem to be helping him quite a bit with it. We are both very beginner… He does the work and I do the worrying and research...

My son's starter tank is a biocube 29.

He wanted to upgrade his lights so he purchased an AquaticLife 4 bulb T5HO with moon lights. It was within his budget, he likes the look of T5, and had a controller. To do this we had to remove his hood of the tank. Seems like a lot of light for this tank…but what do I know...

Currently in the tank are 2 small tank bred clown fish and one purple fire fish. A clean up crew (emerald crab, nassarius snails, hermit crabs, and a few other snails that i don't know what they are (mostly spend their time on the glass).

We had just started getting the temperature steady in his tank and now this changes everything. Here are my questions:

1. These moonlights seem super bright. Will this be bad for the fish and corals?
2. Will we run into problems not having a hood or top on the tank? I don't want one of these snails or fish to crawl or jump out. And will we have troubles stabilizing the temperature without the hood on the tank?

Anything else we need to consider?

Thanks and sorry if these questions seem obvious, remember we are beginners.

[intarsiabox]

1. These moonlights seem super bright. Will this be bad for the fish and corals?
2. Will we run into problems not having a hood or top on the tank? I don't want one of these snails or fish to crawl or jump out. And will we have troubles stabilizing the temperature without the hood on the tank?


Moon lights shouldn't pose any problems. Plenty of tanks don't have hoods as it aids in gas exchange and there's not another piece of glass or plastic to get dirty and obstruct the light. Snails are usually smart enough to stay in the water, fish not so much. People have cut out egg crate or used a plastic mesh on top of the tank to prevent fish from jumping. There will be more evaporation without the hood so an auto top off unit may be required or at least daily top offs with fresh water. If the heater is correctly sized for the tank it should have no trouble keeping the temperature stable, that being said further down the line a controller is much more accurate than the built in thermostats of heaters. Good luck!

[tang daddy]

Above poster has good points. I'd like to elaborate if I can....

The T5 you run are going to be better than the stock Bc29 cpl lights.

That being said if the moonlights are too bright then you don't really have to run them, 4 t5 over an 16" or 18" cube is plenty light so the next time you decide to change the bulbs make sure to invest in some KZ or ATI bulbs as these are by far the chosen brand for most reefers. Also the spectrum can be played with, if it was me I would run 2 blue 1 14k and 1 purple. If your fixture comes with separate switches so you can turn on 2 bulbs at a time, you can run the 2 blues for 8-12 hrs and the white purple for 4-6 hrs.

Addressing the open top, when the lights come on you could have a fan blow across the tank to keep the bulbs and your cube cooler. This will prolong the light fixture and bulbs aswell. You can build a screen top by getting a few simple things. Lowes or Home Depot sells aluminum window kits that are safe to use over the tank. I pair this up with plastic chicken wire from Canadian tire.
If you are unsure about building one go to you tube and check out the videos on building screen tops for reef tank.

You may have to double up the mesh to make it smaller as fire fish can fit through standard 1/4" mesh.

For heaters I would suggest a titanium heater with external control, they aren't very expensive about $30 but gives you piece of mind because they won't break like glass, fully submersible and won't catch on fire.

Hope this has been helpfull.

[Scuba Diver Gal]

Thanks! I did turn the moon lights off last night at 11. The light has a timer and it first turns on the blues, then later in the day the whites. Then at the end of of the day it turns off the whites, then the blues. Then the moonlights come on and he set them to now turn off at 11. The fish kept mooching for food with them on, rather than hiding. So they seem bright to me.

I'll look into the screen top for my son to make. Last night the tank wouldn't get warmer than 76'ish. With the biocube hood and lights it was always consistent between low 79 and high 80's. It would get hotter so we would run it with the back opening of the hood open. Now last night our heater just couldn't keep up (it's cold in Calgary and my son keeps his room cold). I'll look into changing our heater and getting a better way to test the actual temp in the tank.

Thanks so much!

[Magickiwi]

Thanks! I did turn the moon lights off last night at 11. The light has a timer and it first turns on the blues, then later in the day the whites. Then at the end of of the day it turns off the whites, then the blues. Then the moonlights come on and he set them to now turn off at 11. The fish kept mooching for food with them on, rather than hiding. So they seem bright to me.

I'll look into the screen top for my son to make. Last night the tank wouldn't get warmer than 76'ish. With the biocube hood and lights it was always consistent between low 79 and high 80's. It would get hotter so we would run it with the back opening of the hood open. Now last night our heater just couldn't keep up (it's cold in Calgary and my son keeps his room cold). I'll look into changing our heater and getting a better way to test the actual temp in the tank.

Thanks so much!

What size and make of heater are you using? A properly sized heater shouldn't have a problem keeping your aquarium up to temp. Assuming you didn't do something like keep it near an open window or anything.

[Scuba Diver Gal]

Our heater is a 100 watt marine land submersible heater. When we were starting we went to Big Al's and some guy gave us everything we would need for the Biocube. Since then I am realizing that maybe some of it wasn't the best quality. it's only been a few months but there sure is a steep learning curve to this hobby. And some bad decisions/purchases along the way...

[Magickiwi]

And some bad decisions/purchases along the way...

Baaaahahahahahahahaha...... Welcome to aquarium keeping :)

75% of the junk for sale out there is just that; junk... There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why it's for sale. Take Coralife timers... Complete crap but they sell like mad to people who have never had one. I bought four at once and just tossed 3/4 into the trash last night.

Bad purchases are something that is just going to happen because we trust manufacturers to produce a USABLE product for sale vs. a paper weight. And anything that is "included for free" is generally not worth the plastic it took to make it.

Get yourself a good quality titanium heater with a controller like a JBJ etc. For a 29g I'd use a 200w if you're having troubles keeping the temp up in that room.

Which biocube is it? Coralife? You may want to consider a media basket for the back. Basically it forces the water to flow THROUGH the media like carbon or GFO instead of around it like it does without one. http://www.mediabaskets.com I use one for both my nano-cubes and they do a great job.