Lighting for 300 gallon tall

G

gstrommen

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Oct 19, 2009
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I have a 300 gallon tall acrylic tank. Dimensions are 96" x 24" x 30". The lighting I currently have for the tank is just not sufficient. I am currently using two of the following light fixtures:
Coralife Lunar Aqualight Deluxe Series-48" (4X65W) with 4- 3/4W Blue-Moon-Glow LED Lamps

I currently have a freshwater setup. I have about 50 fish in the tank consisting of about 5 different plecos, about 7 different eels, 6 varietes of catfish (on the smaller size), and majority of the rest are sharks (red tails, rainbows, a school of roseline, a school of balas, etc).

I am using black beauty substrate and I have a lot of dark wood in the tank, both of which also absorb a lot of the light.

I am considering purchasing new lighting for the tank but I have several considerations. First, since this will be a very expensive investment, I would like to also be able to use this for saltwater if I ever make the switch. Second, I do not want to over light the tank. I am considering purchasing:
Coralife 72 Inch Aqualight Pro, 3x250W HQI Lamp + 4x96W CF Lamps Sq. Pin + 4x1W LED


This product is getting very good reviews but it looks as if it is mostly for saltwater coral reefs. Would it be bad for freshwater fish? Second, if this product would work, would I be better off with a 6' light or two 4' lights or would this really matter much. It would cost about an extra $500 to do two 4' lights so I would rather do the 6' if it would work.

I am afraid to make this kind of purchase and then find out it I make a poor choice. Any input is appreciated.
 
i found a few sites with info, and it comes with four actinic bulbs. However, i recently bought a current usa 4x39watt light fixture for my planted 46 bowfront, and switched the actinic bulbs out for two 6700k bulbs. You could switch out two of them for the 50 50 bulb (rated at 6000k, which is ideal for plants) and two others at 10000k. Granted, at 40 or so a bulb, it wont be cheap. It all depends on whether or not you want this for a planted tank, or just for good lighting. at 1134 watts, that gives you around 3.78 wpg. IF you are not planning on running co2, i would back that down between 2 and 2.5 wpg, or you will be dealing with a substantial amount of algae.

Sorry about the long response, im just trying to cover some of the bases.

Jake
 
WoW! That's PRICY for a set of lights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Yes Stratusfearrr, that is the light I am referring to. I apologize for not including a link to the product specs.

I am not using any live plants nor do I intend to. With as many fish and as large as they will be getting, no plant will survive for long (either will be eaten or damaged) so I use fake plants. I just want good lighting.

I have never heard of a WPG ratio mentioned before. I will be researching this in depth, thank you for the tip. I would assume that the distance of the light from the tank would change the WPG ratio so if the algaeturned out to be a problem, theoretically, I would just have to raise the light higher (as I am planning on suspending it from the ceiling) and then the tank would get less light. I am not using a canopy.

I also plan on purchasing a UV sterilizer in the near future (which will be a new thread). Based on the research I have done, I am probably going to buy two UV sterilizers, one for algae and one for parasites - since you cannot set one UV sterilizer to do both concurrently. I do not have freefloating algae problems but srubbing the algae off the front panel is a pain and if a UV sterilizer will help with that, then it is worth the money.

JimL, yes it is expensive but I will either buy one really good light system or many poor light systems. In the long run, it evens out.
 
Hmm... I was thinking about your WPG and if i went with the less bright model:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idProduct=ES53502&tab=1&child=ES53510
Where the 3 HQI are 150W instead of 250W then the wattage would be 834 bringing my wpg down to 2.78. Does anyone know how intense this light actually is and if this will be enough light for a tank of this size? I failed to menion before that the tank has a permanent built in black background.
 
for a freshwater tank with no plants. around 2 to 2.5wpg is ideal. I know you stated that you might want to use it for saltwater. If i remember correctly (someone correct me if im wrong),but you want between four and eight wpg. If you did want the option of both, id reccommend buying your first choice, and not using all the lights. You can remove two of the flourescents, or turn off one of the metal halides. It says that the halides are all on different plugs, so you could not use one.

If you arent going to be using it for a saltwater application, then i see no need to get that insane of a light for a strictly freshwater aquarium. Also, it saves youa few bucks, which is never a bad thing.

Jake
 
stratusfearrr said:
for a freshwater tank with no plants. around 2 to 2.5wpg is ideal. I know you stated that you might want to use it for saltwater. If i remember correctly (someone correct me if im wrong),but you want between four and eight wpg. If you did want the option of both, id reccommend buying your first choice, and not using all the lights. You can remove two of the flourescents, or turn off one of the metal halides. It says that the halides are all on different plugs, so you could not use one.

If you arent going to be using it for a saltwater application, then i see no need to get that insane of a light for a strictly freshwater aquarium. Also, it saves youa few bucks, which is never a bad thing.

Jake
Click to expand...

I disagree. I dont see any reason for that much light w/o plants. For a fish only tank, you really don't even need a fixture...it's only for you to see the fish.

I've even kept plants as low as .67 wpg
 
i just phrased it that way because gstrommen seems as if he wants to have a fixture he can also use for saltwater. The ones he is looking at cannot go as low as half a watt per gallon. IT isnt necessary to have 2 wpg, but from personal experience, that creates enough light for good viewing of the fish.

Also, since it is a tall tank, i think a definite half a watt per gallon may not penetrate all the way down.

Jake
 
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