Lighting

[unspoken930]

How on earth do i light a tank like this... i aquired it from my school. Its a 5.3 gallon flat hex. the diagram at the top of this link with all of the tanks has a pic of what this looks like link

Okay, so its stats are:
Back length: 16
Front Length: 8.5
Width:8.5
Side:5
Water Depth: 10

I would like the tank to have atleast 3wpg becuase i want it pretty heavily planted as it will only contain shrimps and plants. now, i dont know what these are called, and i kinda feel stupid for it but i dont want a full hood on the tank, i want it to be pretty open with just the lights above it in one of those case things that just hook on to the sides of the tank. soooo my questions are as follows:

What do you call this type of lighting

How do i find one thats only 16 inches long

Can i DIY one? (im 15 so its gotta be simple...)

What would be the best type of lights for this tank?


Sorry for the pretty noobish post... im used to having everything ready made if you know what im saying so im totaly confused and frustrated when it comes to this lol so sorry for the confusing post.

Thanks in advance

 

[carrera]

would something like this be any good?

 

[Chri$]

would something like this be any good?

Can you get those in the US??

 

[unspoken930]

I did a google search and every website that came up was UK one soi dont think that would work, but something like it would. I was also wondering if this
http/www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/F3...1/Itemdy00.aspx

would work just sitting ontop of the tank. Maybe i can get my dad to screw in something on either end to hold it 3 or so inches off of the top of the tank, or is it some sort of electrical hazard...
This tank is not glass, just plastic and the lid that comes with it practically sits ontop of the water and its plastic as well so to utilize all the space possible in this tank, i dont want to put that lid on simply becuase i dont want a problem with surface area and oxygen and such because i intend on adding co2. I hope i can get this to work, i love little shrimpies

 

[Chri$]

That wouldn't be enough to give you 3 wpg.

 

[unspoken930]

I know that, i was just talking about the hood itself, i can probably get better bulbs and stuff for it and if i cant thennn ill get low light plants i guess

 

[Chri$]

Maybe you could have 2 so it would be like a double light canopy?

 

[unspoken930]

I was thinking that but im not sure. Ill have to look around becuase remember i only have 8.5 inches of width. Also if you look at the link i put in the first post of the shape. you have the back pannel and the two sides connected to it. Those sides that are connected are only 5 inches long so im somewhat limited there becuase the hood itself can only be 5 inches or less if i want it to look good but ill look into hoods with two light fixtures in them.

Thanks for your quick replies

 

[Chri$]

No problem
Have a look at these Compact Lighting don't no whether you can get them in the US tho.

 

[unspoken930]

link wont work for me...?

 

[Chri$]

Link

This should work........

 

[unspoken930]

Thanks. I cant find how long they are, or wide but if i could find something over here it looks like a very good idea. I just contacted http/www.ahsupply.com/index.html with my tank size and such to see if they could come up with some lighting for it. Hopefully, theyve got something. Thanks again for all of your help