We are happy to recommend Arcadia Series 4 Metal Halide Pendants and Overtank Luminaires due to their high quality British manufacture, and the superb After Sales Service provided by both ourselves and Arcadia.

In the unlikely event of any problems with these items, you can rest assured that you won't be left on your own, and that the problem will be dealt with immediately

Subject to order being placed prior to midday, and stock availability. Next Working Day applies to UK mainland only. Highlands & Islands of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isles of Scilly, Isle of Man etc may take an extra day. Our normal Terms & Conditions apply

A completely new way to mount fluorescent tubes over an aquarium.

The Overtank luminaire is a stylish unit, available in a range of sizes, manufactured from corrosion resistant, silver powder-coated, aluminium, and of a profile similar to the already popular Series 3 metal halide pendant.

Unlike a conventional aquarium hood, the overtank luminaire is raised from the tank on sturdy supports, which attach securely onto each end of the aquarium, and are adjustable to allow for slight differences in tank length.

When access to the aquarium, or to the tubes is required, the luminaire tilts backwards, and rests on its hinge until being lowered back into place.

So, apart form being an elegant and original design, what are the benefits of the luminaire?
Many conventional hoods, although being of a smart design, do not allow us to accomodate more than one fluorescent tube - some will allow two.
In many cases a single tube is not enough - marine reef aquariums need sufficient light to keep photosynthetic invertebrates healthy. Two tubes would be the absolute minimum that could be considered for this, with more being preferred.

Also many freshwater plant species, have high light demands, and they would be very difficult to keep alive in a system lit by a single fluorescent tube.

Every model of the Overtank Luminaire comes with at least two tubes - some take three of the T8 standard output lamps, and some take four of the new T5 high output fluorescent tubes, meaning that you can provide a lot more light energy to your aquarium than you can with a conventional hood.

The models using three or four lamps, have two switches meaning that all the lamps do not have to be switched on at the same time, and so giving a more gradual increase in light levels to the tank.

In a freshwater aquarium, the open top to a tank allows for the creation of an unusual display in which the plant life is growing beyond the usual confines of the aquarium.
In nature, many plants grow beyond the water surface, and when they do so often produce leaves of a completely different shape to those produced underwater - often looking like completely different species.
When using a conventional hood, we only ever see the submerged form of a plant, but the use of an overtank luminaire allows the possibility of witnessing this interesting phenomenon in our own home.