interesting lighting problem.

tidioute06

tidioute06

AC Members
Mar 11, 2008
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Glendale, AZ
If you had a tank that measured 96"x36"x36 and you want to grow micro sword, Cambomba, ect (basically these http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/234089/product.web) How much light are you looking at needing to provide...
Would it even be feasible for a reasonable amount of money.
 
Even though most of those plants dont require high light, at that depth and width. I would recommend a few Metal Halide pendants.
 
that is one deep tank and i agree with J double R "That depends on your definition of reasonable"

i think if i was doing something like that i would go with a couple of MH pendents and some really good T5-Ho light with the best reflectors i could find.
 
Playing it a little fast and loose with the word "interesting" in the title, don't you think? :grinno::grinno::grinno:


Anyway, at that depth, like others have said, MH lights would be the only way to go. You'd probably want 4x150w of MH spread out across the tank. You average MH only provides 2'x2' coverage, but they would still be your best bet for penetrating to that depth.

May want to scan through this loooonnngggg thread:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82281&highlight=behemoth

I realize your tank isn't that big, but it'll give you an idea of what you are dealing with. You'll also have to worry about co2. You'll need to be injecting in at least 2, but probably 3 different places in the tank to have good co2 distribution.
 
Oh, and if you DO set up a planted tank that huge, be prepared for full-force jealousy from me. just sayin. ;)
 
If the tank is acrylic BECAREFUL with metal halids the heat has been known to destroy acrylic tanks.
 
zigis said:
If the tank is acrylic BECAREFUL with metal halids the heat has been known to destroy acrylic tanks.
Click to expand...

I've never heard of that. That's pretty strange because a lot, if not most, reefers use acrylic and MHs.

It's also strange that reefers use acrylic since they have sand in the tank. Talk about mortal enemies.
 
Fishneedit has 150w MH pendants for $140 each, so you're talking $560.

Reasonable is definitely the operative word. $560 may seem like a lot for lights, but it's almost a 600g tank...it's gonna be pricey.

I take back my previous comment, this is an interesting question. I started thinking about a tank like that, and what I would do as far as setup:

Filtration: Drill the bottom for bottom filter intakes. Then go with 3 or 4 Eheim 2080's at 450 gph. I'd probably end up with two of the huge Koralia powerheads at either end of the tank too.

Lighting: 4x 150w MH, and I might even throw in some T5HO's too.

Heating: 300w Hydor Inlines on each of the eheims

CO2: Pressurized, obviously, with inline reactors on 2-3 of the eheims

Substrate: Eco complete or black flourite...something you won't have to replace cause that would be a pain.
 
Great advice folks. This will be in my garage/man cave/fish room. I'm thinking about 4 solartubes...but I have no idea what the numbers are for the light. The advantages I see over MH and T5HO is the heat and no electric. Anyone use these and happen to have numbers on the light output from the solartubes.

http://www.solatube.com/ for those that don't know.
 
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