# lighting a 96x48x24



## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

Just wondering if 2 6ft t5-ho, 1 4ft t5-ho, and 3 or 4 250w metal halide pendants. All from fishneedit.com. I've got a feeling this gonna be way to much light for the tank im thinking of. 1840 watts seems like to alot. thanks for the help.


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## bacod253 (Feb 1, 2008)

As long as it's all spaced evenly, it's certainly not too much light. Directly under the MH might be a little much, depending on how high you hang it, but I don't have much experience with MH.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

I'll draw up some plans and post them up a little later. Thanks for the help


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Is that a 480 gallon tank? And, is the depth 48 or 24 inches? If it is 48 inches deep the watts per gallon "rule" is worthless. The substrate will be so far from the light it will take a lot of light to get a good intensity at the substrate level.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

Yes and no. The depth would be 24 inches and 48 inches wide. Most of the plants would be down the center of the tank. My idea is to be able to view the tank from 3 sides. I'm out of town at the moment, but when i get back i'll try to post up some of my plans. Also, with the depth only being 24 inches would i be able to slide by with only t-5's. My foreground will be sand so getting high intensity all the way down to the substrate is not really a big deal unless im confused which is a huge possibility


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

In my opinion you don't need the MH bulbs, the T5's will be plenty, possibly too much. This is off subject, but how will you reach the middle of the tank to do maintenance and planting? It should be a spectacular aquarium in any case.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Wow, that's a wide tank!! I can't wait to see pics. Since it's only 24" deep, I suppose you can use the WPG rule. But high light in a large tank requires less WPG than a small tank. Seems to me that 2.5 - 3 WPG would be high light in this case? (That question mark is there for a reason...definitely get a second opinion on that!)  And, too, t-5's are so much more efficient than other CF bulbs, probably less WPG than that would be good.

And, as hoppy mentioned, you don't need the Metal Halides. It'll depend somewhat in the look you're going for (from the aesthetics point-of-view). Pendants vs linear lights.

-Dave


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## ingg (Apr 8, 2007)

You could easily do all T5's, and that is WAY too much light listed above, sorry, but I disagree on it not being too much.

I can grow almost anything in a 180g, 24" tall, 24" deep, 6' wide, with 8x39w T5's. With 12x39w, it is silly high light, I can't control the algae.

So you'd be using 54w instead of 39w, side by side 4' fixtures....

24*54w (2 6 bulb fixtures per "side", 4 total) is 1296 watts, and it'd grow anything in my opinion - and all the light probably isn't even needed unless you plan on a tank full of extremely light demanding species.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

That's one of those things I'm still looking into. Really long arms are going to help out a lot with this tank though. Its gonna be awhile before all the parts start to come together. I figured that t-5's would be fine. Which would be a better choice, 4 of the 48 inch 216 watt or 6 of the 48 inch light fixtures? The layout will be mostly lower light plants and moss with a few high light plants. All the goodies like co2 and ferts are also planned for the set-up. With this much light algae shouldn't be to much of a problem. I plan on having a UV sterilizer and I pretty much have a unlimited supply of nerite snails because I know a location where I can catch them


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

ingg said:


> You could easily do all T5's, and that is WAY too much light listed above, sorry, but I disagree on it not being too much.
> 
> I can grow almost anything in a 180g, 24" tall, 24" deep, 6' wide, with 8x39w T5's. With 12x39w, it is silly high light, I can't control the algae.
> 
> ...


+1 for ingg's suggestion. I think you could easily only use four 4 x 54 watt fixtures for a total of 16 x 54 watt 48" T5HO bulbs.

Like this.....

______________________ ________________________
______________________ ________________________
______________________ ________________________
______________________ ________________________
______________________ ________________________
______________________ ________________________
______________________ ________________________
______________________ ________________________


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I agree with AaronT. Given the plants you plan to use, there is no reason to go for extra high light. It will even be best if you make sure you can control the light fixtures independently, so you can reduce the light if necessary. The more light you have, and the longer the photoperiod with the lights, the harder it will be to avoid algae problems.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

The lights that Im looking at actually have 3 power cords and 3 switches so everything with be on timers. I like the idea of having a afternoon burst of light for 4 or 5 hours to recreate a more natural environment for the plants. Here is what i had in mind. The led lights would be for night viewing. I know the led's serve no really purpose for the plants, but i kinda like the way it looks on my aquarium now. So you guys think 16 54watt bulbs will be enough for this size tank?

________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
(led)(led)(led)(led)(led)(led) (led)(led)(led)(led)(led)(led) 
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________

________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
(led)(led)(led)(led)(led)(led) (led)(led)(led)(led)(led)(led) 
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________

Picture will be a ways off. Im going to be planning this baby out for a good long while.
Wouldn't wont to rush into things and end [email protected]$$ing it.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

Forgot to ask this but has anyone had experience with fishneedit.coms lights? They seem a little to good to be true to me.


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## ashappard (Jun 3, 2006)

I havent used the fishneedit T5s, but the 150w MH pendants are working great so far after 3 or 4 months in continuous operation. I agree that they do seem too good to be true. And the bulb prices on the HQIs are so cheap. but seem to work fine. I'm running one of their 8K bulbs and one of the 10K bulbs now.

for the cost they are actually pretty nice. I have some 250W MHs that cost me an arm and a leg years ago and they aren't really much better than fishneedit pendants construction wise.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

Thats good to hear. I might get on of there 5 foot set-ups to test how they are myself. Been needing to get a new light guess here's my chance.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I would use the Tek T5 fixtures. The fishneedit fixtures don't have individual parabolic reflectors like the Teks do. Trust me, it's worth the extra money for the Teks.


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## Brilliant (Jun 25, 2006)

Since your not [email protected]$$ing it, I would buy retrofit kits and build your own fixture.

I buy retrofit kits from reefgeek.com.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Brilliant said:


> Since your not [email protected]$$ing it, I would buy retrofit kits and build your own fixture.
> 
> I buy retrofit kits from reefgeek.com.


That's another very good option. The retrofit kits with Tek II reflectors would be perfect.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

I'll look into thanks for the help. Now the question is which would be a better choice between the 
high-output or the very hight-output kits. The 48" 8x54W Tek 2 T5 High-Output Retrofit Kit seems like it fit the bill.

One hing i noticed about the fishneedit fixture is that it seems to have some pretty good rreflectors built in it. 
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-55907585196829_2021_0


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

They high-output is all you need. The very-high is too much light and will prematurely burn out your bulbs.

The fishneedit fixture might be okay. You tend to get what you pay for though.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

Thats what i figured. Ok well thnks for the help I really appreciate all the in-put.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

Now that I've figured out what fixture to get the next question is what type of bulb to use. Would a mixture be more appropriate are a single type? This is where it gets confusing:twitch:


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## Brilliant (Jun 25, 2006)

The Giesemann 6000k midday bulbs are very popular. I think they work great alone. The 10000k is brighter/whiter light. Throw a bulb like the AquaMedic planta in the mix and add a bit of color if that suits your fancy. Play it safe and use all middays until you get a better feel for what you want.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I agree. Giesseman Middays all the way.


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

I was going for something like half 6000K and half 10000k to keep everything nice and bright . Along with keeping the plants happy. That sound pretty good?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

No mixing. The Giesemann Midday T5HO does it all - colors you will never see with other bulbs.

Except if you really really have to light up every inch of the tank area make sure you arrange the bulbs in an appropriate way.

--Nikolay


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

niko said:


> No mixing. The Giesemann Midday T5HO does it all - colors you will never see with other bulbs.
> 
> Except if you really really have to light up every inch of the tank area make sure you arrange the bulbs in an appropriate way.
> 
> --Nikolay


Sounds like someone has a favorite bulb  Have you heard anything about the san marcos trip in april?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

April 2009? That is so far away I think I'm getting dizzy trying to think of it... 

--Nikolay


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## harrishawk (Sep 28, 2006)

Think im gonna have to go scout it out before hand just to see what its all about next time go visite my girlfriend in san anton. there will also be a collection adventure around the woodlands. guuided by ME!!! Also im going to try and catch some nerite snails for however attends as a little treat."depending on there availability" Sorry i just get excited about exploring a new river.


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