Lookin For Little Advise

[goin_all_out]

ok here is the thing, i wanted to upgrade my lighting from 1.5 wpg to 2. the "stand" i have is basically like in the picture, its an old sterio stand the i just took the shelves out of. the light i use are only 15" which is 14w each.now what i was going to step up to is a fixture taht has two 24" bulbs in it at 20W each giving me the "ideal" 2wpg. but as in the picture the distence between the top of the tank and where the lights would potentially sit is 8" from the top of the tank. this leave me room to open the top with an inch or two to spare, and enough space to put an internal filter (using fluval 104 currently but want more filtering). now i do have an all glass top, so the light can completely get in. am i looking at issues having the light that far up from the actual tank?

stand setup is here

 

[onemisterchristian]

This may be more appropriately posted in planted tanks or maybe hardware.

Anyways, the 8 inches may make it not "the ideal" 2wpg. But, you could always increase that with a reflector. I don't think you'll notice the 8 inch gap except with smaller carpeting plants. Another way to make sure all the light gets to your plants would be to make sure your hood is as tight as possible with no light leaks.

 

[goin_all_out]

i did post it in the planted sectin but no one answered me there.

there is a hood i was going to buy that has twin tubes, so maybe adding aluminum foil would brighten it up a little more? the only other option i have is to cut the sides off, but i dont have saws and stuff to do taht with, nor the space considering i live in an apartment. also with my tank only being 20 inches wide it would looki a little funny with 24 inches of light hanging over the sides a little.

 

[onemisterchristian]

People sell reflectors pre-made that work great. I've never used aluminum foil before so I can't advise you on that. Good luck