Lighting and hood for a 518

[canucksfan1]

I have a 518 gallon tank, the is 7 feet long and 3 foot 3 wide, i am wondering what type of lighting i would need for something this big, i would like to grow some live plants if i could but not if it is going to cost a fortune, any ideas???

[Mgamer20o0]

you could do part of the tank planted. in my 120 i used a array T8 shop lights. also check out ahsupply.com for one of their set ups. it really depends on what kind of plants and do you want the whole tank planted.

[WeeNe858]

you can do a massive t8 or t5 fixture or a retro with MH .. like gamer said.. specify what you really want in the tank and we can help you better

[Gotcha38]

I would only plant one section of the tank, maybe 1/3rd of the way down, and have some sandy swimming room, with some rock formations at either end.

[loaches r cool]

Well, after doing the math I'm calculating your tank is 36" tall, is that correct?
If your tank is that deep youll probably want something with a good reflector to really get the light to the bottom. Even still I'd probably suggest some lower light plants, not only due to the fact that getting high levels of light in that tank will be costly, but most low light plants will need less fertilizers, less co2, and less critical of the substrate - all things that will add up to a huge chunk of change. Things like java fern, anubias, crypts, maybe bolbitis? Perhaps try to keep the plants in certain areas, like for example across the back of the tank, were you could illuminate the back with closely placed 4x96W AHSupply lights. Then you could use whatever lighting you need to light the rest of the tank for your viewing preferences.

Something like:

-------------------------------------------------------
|..********96W********..********96W********..|
|..********96W********..********96W********..|
|................................................. .........................|
|................................................. .........................|
|................................................. .........................|
-------------------------------------------------------

Well the format on the board changes my ascii drawing so I've modified it to as close as I can get it. And if your screen res is small it might mess it up.

Two lengths of the 96 watters will be about 15" shorter than your 7' tank. Equally spaced out that a 5" gap at both ends and in the middle, no big deal at all. And 96W worth of light in a 8" wide array should be good enough to get a moderate level of light to the bottom, not sure what the spread will be after 36" down, you might have to play around with its spacing and position to get the light focused over the plants. That would run you $230 for the kits and $34 for each bulb (from their site).

Thats just one suggestion, obviously MH would also work, as well as a good HOT5 setup like a Tek light or Tek retrofit.

[canucksfan1]

Awsome looks good, i don't really know if i am gunna go for plants anymore because the fish i want will probably end up killing them but i am gunna give it a shot, if i put the plants in first then the fish when they are small maybe i will have some luck

[JustLooking]

Its a good idea & would look great but,
with the fish you are planning,dont waste your time,money or the plants.
Monsterfish & plants = filters blocked up with plants.
Thats my experiance anyway.
hope it all works out for you.

[loaches r cool]

The planned fish for the tank probably should have been mentioned in the OP. But yeah, your facing a lot of issues with plants in such a tank, probably better off skipping the plants.