Retrofitting an eclipse 29 gallon.

[anjing]

I have an eclipse hood and tank that I purchased from a friend. Tank dimensions are 30x12x18. It currently has 2x18 watt lights in there. I would like to set up some compacts in it to grow a lot of plants. I will be setting up CO2 at the same time. I currently have a 55 gal and I want to down grade. Does anyone have any experience with this hood or any links you could send me too? Thanks in advance...

[gnatster]

See this

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gnatster

[anjing]

Thanks! That link is for a ten gallon setup. Any thoughts on what size ballast and bulbs I would use? I'm just looking for suggestions. The number of choices is mind-boggling...

[amanda huggenkiss]

I retrofitted my 29g.

I opened up the existing light fixture as shown in that link and ripped out the original wiring completely. I picked up a Coralife 65w PC ballast kit and a reflector and just popped it in. With that particular kit, there's really only room for one light in the existing cover, and with a reflector it's a snug fit. I'll try to post a pic later.

The lighting is pretty limited to towards the front of the tank, which kinda sucks. Eventually, I'll probably rip out the guts of the hood completely and just use it for aesthetics, and then put in a glass cover and position the light properly... That also means replacing the filter, but I've been getting flack from a few people here to upgrade to a canister anyway. Maybe soon... maybe very soon...