Big Tank. Big Lights. Need Advice.

Thanks for the advice guys... Geofied, you may just get a PM a few months down the road when we are ready to kick this thing into high gear. :)

After a couple lengthy discussions with other volunteers, I really don't think we are going to be able to use Metal Halide. I would LOVE to but, I'm extremely concerned about the heat issue and the fact that to run enough fans to keep it cool is going to sound like an airplane hanger. In our studio, we run about 2500 watts of metal halide for our softbox lighting. Our studio easily reaches 90 degrees after 45 minutes. The electric guy says we are going to be pulling a lot of power and he is concerned. He wants to run florescent lighting of some sort.

If we are willing to give up certain species of plants, can we get away with CF units? How would 12 X 96 watt units sound? That gives us a total of 1152 watts of light.

I'm thinking 6 of these with homemade reflectors:

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=201

I've made up a little diagram in photoshop, please take a look at it. The wall this is enclosed in is 10' 3" tall!

big-planted-project-1.jpg
 
Wouldn't you loose some intensity?

Why not high intensity pendant lights?
 
You don't want or need that amount of light.

And making homemade reflectors would be a total waste of time IMHO when you get some of the best possible reflectors from AH Supply.

At most you would want 2 wpg on the tank. You could have a short period with more light but trying to run 3 wpg on that tank all the time will give you a nice hairy green backdrop in your studio.
 
Rex, are you saying we could keep a successful planted aquarium measuring 84" long, 34" deep and 32" tall by using two of AH Supplies 4X96 watt Bright kits totaling 768 watts of light? That would be wonderful.
 
Yeah, I'd aim for around 2wpg. Or like what I am going to be doing when I setup my 240... two banks of 1.5wpg each. One bank will come on first, then midday the other comes on and it will be close to 3wpg while both are on, then at some point later the first bank goes off and with just the second going its back down to 1.5wpg again. I'll have to play around with the overlap to get the right amount of light. I'm going to be using T5HO. MH might work well for you on a larger tank, I'd use a really good pendant, perhaps 4x 250W, that should give you good coverage. For a good pendant I might suggest http://www.diyreef.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=55_63_93&products_id=540 and for a good bulb perhaps the Iwasaki 6500K. I've never used either, just did some research when I was contemplating MH. Its certainly less bulbs to be changing but the bulbs cost several times more and dont last as long so it evens out.
 
I do believe we have come to a decision! We are indeed going to go with Metal Halide. 3 X 250 Watt fixtures.

We have a LFS here that has about a 300 gallon tank lit by MH, granted it's a reef tank, but I can get the picture. The shimmering effect is beautiful. I think it will look amazing on video tape.

Without a doubt, MH is going to give a better picture on TV than fluorescent. I've already experimented with this on my 55 gallon using fluorescent and our MH tv lights to light the tank.

I can't imagine that 3 MH fixtures are going to create that much more heat than a cabinet full of fluorescent. The room that houses the building's hot water heater and other plumbing is right below this tank. We are going to run air ducts with fans in the room downstairs that vent outside.

MH ends up cheaper in up-front cost.

Plus the depth penetration IS a concern. We really want this tank be green (we think kids would like it :)).

I think chapter 1 in this adventure is closed and I want to thank all those who participated! Believe me when I say there will be many more posts concerning this tank in the upcoming months!

I've attached a new picture.

big-planted-project-2.jpg
 
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