Cube tank lighting

[L8 2 RISE]

Im thinking of setting up a 36*36*21 tall tank and wanted to know what you guys thought in terms of lighting? I wouldnt mind T5 or halides at this point, however I like that T5s run cooler. I was thinking like a 36 in long T5 fixture... Say, tek light, with 6 or 8 if they have it, lights, but would that be wide enough? Otherwise, I thought about just a single geismann metal halide pendant, but again, would this be enough?

 

This will be a rimless, hokdless tank, BTW.

[Leishman]

T5: 10 bulb ATI Powermodule

MH: 400w Radium 20k with VHO and LED suplements

 

These are the 2 options I'm looking at for my new 36x36x24 rimless (all tanks have rims, but you know what I'm getting at)

Edited April 15, 2009 by Leishman

[jamesbuf]

Do you plan on having it open top or a canopy? If you're building a canopy, make the canopy really tall and you could go with a single MH over the top. Buy a Lumenbright reflector and those allow you to raise the MH 16" or more over the water, and doesn't significantly decrease the PAR that reaches the tank because of how it focuses the light downward. It also decreases the amount of heat transfer since the MH is farther away from the tank. One of the online magazines had a great thread explaining these findings. Do a google search and I'm sure you can find it. Alot of people were complaining about the Lumenbright reflectors not giving a good "spread". I was actually one of them. If you only place it 5-8" off the water like regular reflectors, they don't cover a whole lot of tank with the spread. I tried a single Large Lumenbright over my 92gal (36" from corner to corner) and there was hardly any light that got to the corners. The testing showed that you can raise the Lumenbright reflectors way higher off the water and maintain the par levels of other high end reflectors.

 

Nothing against T5 only. I had T5 only over my old 180gal. It was definitely bright as H-E-double hockey sticks. I had the Aquactinics 14 bulb 72" fixture. But there is that "fake" look with a T5 only tank. No shimmer really stinks. They're great for actinic supplementation, but I've yet to see a T5 only tank with the same color "pop" like from a great MH bulb (like Radiums).

[Larry Grenier]

Of course, it really depends on what you're putting in there. I'd personally go DIY hood with DIY 8-10 bulb T5s.

 

Maybe 4 or 5 of these with a mix of bulbs & timers

Edited April 15, 2009 by Larry Grenier

[L8 2 RISE]

T5: 10 bulb ATI Powermodule

MH: 400w Radium 20k with VHO and LED suplements

 

These are the 2 options I'm looking at for my new 36x36x24 rimless (all tanks have rims, but you know what I'm getting at)

 

Thanks, Ill look into them. Where are you getting your tank from? Just curious.... I havent decided where to get mine.

 

Do you plan on having it open top or a canopy? If you're building a canopy, make the canopy really tall and you could go with a single MH over the top. Buy a Lumenbright reflector and those allow you to raise the MH 16" or more over the water, and doesn't significantly decrease the PAR that reaches the tank because of how it focuses the light downward. It also decreases the amount of heat transfer since the MH is farther away from the tank. One of the online magazines had a great thread explaining these findings. Do a google search and I'm sure you can find it. Alot of people were complaining about the Lumenbright reflectors not giving a good "spread". I was actually one of them. If you only place it 5-8" off the water like regular reflectors, they don't cover a whole lot of tank with the spread. I tried a single Large Lumenbright over my 92gal (36" from corner to corner) and there was hardly any light that got to the corners. The testing showed that you can raise the Lumenbright reflectors way higher off the water and maintain the par levels of other high end reflectors.

 

Nothing against T5 only. I had T5 only over my old 180gal. It was definitely bright as H-E-double hockey sticks. I had the Aquactinics 14 bulb 72" fixture. But there is that "fake" look with a T5 only tank. No shimmer really stinks. They're great for actinic supplementation, but I've yet to see a T5 only tank with the same color "pop" like from a great MH bulb (like Radiums).

 

Thanks! Ill definetly look into it, but I am going for hoodless....

[zygote2k]

Go for the gusto and outshine us all with a 1000w MH.

[steveoutlaw]

If you're looking at going with T5s and don't want a canopy, I would go with 2 of the 36" Aquactinics TX5 fixtures.

[TROLL]

400 DE MH 14k will do well for that tank. Get lumenarc elite with galaxy ballast and 14k phoenix bulb, you will be all set.