I've been looking at LED light fixtures on the Internet. They all seem to be standing above the aquarium top on legs with no side panels. Why is that?

DLH

Many aquarists don't like the look of a full hood, so they use lights up on legs to hold them above the tank. Others (like me) prefer these same lights but with glass tops to prevent evaporation and jumpers from getting out. It's just more aesthetically pleasing than a bulky plastic hood

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Because no light is made to sit directly on top of a tank. Many run with no kind of top and just the light above it. I little elevated above the tank will more evenly disperse the lighting. I have in the past, but will never set a light directly on top of a tank again. It is wasted light, IMO.

Thanks
I think both you and Gizmo have valid points but the lights and hood I have now came with the aquarium and the lights sit directly on the hood and are not raised. That said, I have to agree about your statement about the dispersal of light. To do so I would have to replace the hood as the windows in the hood I have now are only as wide as the light fixtures which is about 4 inches. If I were to raise the LED lights up 3 or 4 inches not much of the light would make it to the front and back of the tank. I did see some hoods with built-in LED lights on the Internet but I didn’t like their style. If you raised the hood to feed the fish you had to turn off the LEDS first because they would be aimed directly at your face.

DLH

I would do like Gizmo stated above...get glass canopies. Much cleaner look to them and easier to do tank maintenance.

I'm going to go to my lfs tomorrow and take a good look at them.

If you look at the photo you can see my homemade hood that lasted for over 35 years before it started to rot. Notice how far forward I have the light. I did that so the light would reflect off fish, who were towards the front of the tank, out towards the viewer. Also, because of how the light was mounted, the plants at the back of the tank received plenty of light. The first thing I noticed about the new cover was how far back the light sits. The fish near the front of the tank are in silhouette.

BTW The old hood held a 4 ft florescence tube that was exposed to the moisture of the tank. Never had a problem with it in all those years. The ballast was, of course, sitting on a shelf below the tank.

DLH

Lights vary, especially LED which have lenses that can vary from mfg to mfg, config to config. If the lensing effect is more of a spotlight, then some heighth above the water is usually required to allow fuller illumination of the tank.

I use non-aquatic lighting consisting of 3x LED spotlights. I have these suspended about 12 inches above the water for better coverage within the water. FYI, LED lights lensing is much more efficient that most reflector type lights at getting the light where it is wanted. Therefore it has less loss due to spill .

To accomplish this I suspend the bulbs from the wall behind the aquarium. This accomplishes another goal I had - the ability to leave the lights in place and on, while I perform maintenance on tank, fish and plant trimming. This is the first time I have had that luxury by having a fully uncovered tank while leaving the lights on to, for instance, search for the dead fish among the dense plants and actually be able to see and find it.

And in case you are wondering, the three 15 watt LED light bulbs are energizing my plants fantastically at a cost much lower than a fixture subjected to the typical aquarium equipment markup, about $40 each excluding cheap wall mounting.. But admittedly there is some shadowing of plants that dispersed lighting avoids. But isn't that somewhat like the point source of the sun?

if this concept is used, I recommend mounting the lights slightly toward the front of the tank to allow pointing of the beam slightly front to rear to minimize shadowing of shorter plants by taller.

Glass canopies are cheap. I think the one I just bought for my ten gallon was about $15 at an overpriced shop. And I'm pairing it with an LED fixture, as a matter of fact. Can't wait to post reviews of the fixture.

Here's where I bought my LED fixture:
Nano Aquarium LED Light Freshwater Marine Cichlid 9x 1 Watt 11 Clamp On items in topdogsellers store on eBay!

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

I personally like the look of the glass canopies as well.It just looks cleaner in my opinion.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Just got back from my lfs. They were busy so I didn't get a chance to really talk with them but it looks like a glass top for my 55 gal would be about $60.00, not bad. With a couple of the 78 LED fixtures from the site that Gizmo bought his from I should be set. Now all I have to do is convince the wife that the tank needs new lights.

DLH

LOL,good luck with that.Tell her it will beautify the house and when people see it they will think its the most awesome thing theyve ever set eyes upon.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

glass tops the only way to go

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Hoopman
Sunny Orlando FL
55G W/Angel, loaches/cats, tetras, rasboras, Two Bio Wheel 350's (8 cartridges and 4 wheels) Dual T5 ATI bulbs which are blue & blue-plus (white), give a saltwater tank look/moons. - 37G w/Angel, Mystery snails, tetras/cherry barbs. Dual 24 inch T5 with same ATI bulbs/moons. Bio wheel filter (dual cartridges and one wheel) and Aqueon single filter Bio cage cartridge, both designed for larger tanks. n