"Daniel C. Smith" wrote in message m...
I'm sure there is some low cost, low impact way to upgrade the
lighting in an Eclipse hood, though I've not yet found any details
about it. For myself, in the future I'm planning to stick with plants
that have more modest lighting requirements.

Thanks for the help. I saw this kit at
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...6&pCatId=3811,
it might be what you are looking for, I was wondering about it myself. I
think I'm going to try the CO2 kit first to see how much it helps, and if I
still need more light I'll try this. By the way, how much of a difference
did you notice when you added the CO2?

Daniel

I've recently put just such a retrofit kit in my Eclipse System3 hood
over a 29 Gal tank. Using the CustomSeaLife SmartLite bulb, the
amount of apparent light has increased, although to my eye the
Flourite looks a bit washed out due to the actinic side of the bulb.
Some plants, like the Hygrophillia, Radican Sword, Java Fern and Micro
chain sword have taken off since the lighting change. Others are
doing decent, but no spectacular growth. I'm not doing any CO2
supplimentation at this point, but am using Flourish Excel with
supplies an organic carbon source. I also had a burst of green hair
algie until my Otos found it I will add that the total spectrum of
the SmartLite makes my Neons, Cardinals and Blue Rams fweaking glow!
Which looks very nice against the green of the plants and the black
background of the tank

Conclusion: While this is a pricey upgrade for the hood, I've no
regrets on this. I was aware of the limitaiton of the Eclipse System
of hoods when I set this tank up, and the trade off for light upgrade
is balenced by having the filter system readily accessible. My only
complaint is that the pond snails I keep seem to delight in getting up
into the BioWheel and grinding their shells on the wheel in the middle
of the night.