# lighting fixture for a 210g tank



## cmay194 (Feb 18, 2008)

I am still gathering everything I need for my tank and I have been looking around at lighting options for awhile. I like the way MHs make the water look but I want to use CFs too. I do not have a canopy over the tank so I was looking at buying a fixture so I won't have an DIY eyesore(most of my projects work but do not look very attractive). Would the 72" Outer Orbit HQI/Compact Fluorescent/Lunar Fixture work or is it extremely overkill? Lots of input would be appreciated!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12779&pcatid=12779


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## NoSvOrAx (Nov 11, 2006)

I really like the orbit fixtures. I also really like high light. You'll want to replace th cf bulbs it comes with, but the hqi bubbles should be ok. The tank will be alot of work tho. Lots of triming and dosing. You'll also have to really consistent with your co2 levels. On the upside you can do things with your light cycles to help make it easier to control the tank.


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## cmay194 (Feb 18, 2008)

Hmm... I did not want to go to a high light tank but I liked all the different combos of bulbs in this fixture. Is there another fixture you would recommend so that I would stay below high lighting but still have MH? It seems like every fixture with MH is overkill for my tank.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Your tank's "speed" will depend on how long you keep the MH on during the day. You can turn them on for 4 hours and have all plants grow crazy fast. Or you can turn the MH only an hour a day and slow things down. So don't worry about having too much MH light - as long as you can control the halides with a separate timer.

If you are indeed determined to buy a MH/fluorescent combo light look for one that doesn't have CF, but has T5HO bulbs. They are much more efficient and don't produce as much heat as the CF's. For $20 you can buy an excellent german T5HO bulb that is specifially designed for growing freshwater plants. The color of the light that this bulbs produces is amazing - extremely well balanced for viewing purposes, not only for growing plants. 

Spending $900 for a ready to go light seems like a folly to me but it's your money and if you don't think you can make a nice looking fixture so be it. I wish you lived closer - I'd show you how to make a ultra sleek looking light, only 1-1/2" tall, without visible cords, for $500, complete with the "lunar" gizmos.

--Nikolay


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

niko said:


> Spending $900 for a ready to go light seems like a folly to me but it's your money and if you don't think you can make a nice looking fixture so be it. I wish you lived closer - I'd show you how to make a ultra sleek looking light, only 1-1/2" tall, without visible cords, for $500, complete with the "lunar" gizmos.
> 
> --Nikolay


Hey, show all of us! Please do a thread on the DIY section. Or, you could conduct a seminar! You know, rent a motel meeting room, bring in your shop equipment, invite us all to attend, etc.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

This is a picture from above and it doesn't show the fixture very well but it gives at least some idea:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/DaveS/photo#5172215202425109234

The tank is a standard 75 gals. The fixture is 8 inches above the tank rim. Height of the fixture is 1-1/2 inches. It houses two 48"long T5HO and two 48" long VHOs. The lunar lights are two LEDs which are not enough for a "moonlight effect" but I didn't care adding more.

The fixture is supported by 2 curved metal tubes painted white. They contain all the cords. The ballasts are under the tank. In this picture, in the back of the tank you can see the 2 white tubes a little bit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/DaveS/photo#5172215215310011138

VHOs are on 4 hours a day. T5s are on 11 hours. Tank is 100% Aquasoil. Only fertilizer is a little K during water change (10 gals every other day for 2 months now). Virtually all plants grew from basically "plant trash" - stunned, sickly, dwarfed leftovers left floating in my other tanks for months. The lotus started as a 1/2 inch plant and made leaves the size of a man's palm in one week. The glosso was barely recognisable as glosso - it was in a horrible shape.

My point is - this light is more than adequate for a 75 gal. tank. So for a 210 gals tank we could mulpitly the wattages times 3 - then the T5HO should total 330 watts and the VHOs should be 660 watts. 70" long T5HO tubes will fit better over a 210 gal. tank so we can use 4 x 80 tubes (320 watts total). Here's the price break:

4 x 80 watt Giesemann T5HO (with individual reflectors) - $160
6 x 110 watt 10,000K VHO from AtoTlamps (no reflectors, just the "internal" reflectors) - $105
5 Workhorse 7 ballasts - $175
Pipe, tin profile, metal screws, wire, paint - about $60
Total - $500

LEDs - $whatever
Timers - $25

--Nikolay


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Niko, I'm thinking about replacing my light. I would really like to see how you attached the lights to the tank. Would you please post a px of the white brackets that hold these light? I love how inconspicuous they are.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

TexGal,

It would be hard to show exactly how the tubes are attached because they are behind the tank. But I can make a drawing of everything. It's really a simple idea and not hard to understand:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquarium-pictures/showimage.php?i=5336&original=1&c=15

The tubes support the light hood on both sides. They penetrate the hood so no tube is visible above the hood or under the hood.

The tubes curve down and toward the center. Under the tank they don't touch each other but are connected to a piece of wood. The piece of wood is attached to the tank stand.

All wires run inside the tubes through holes in the tubes. The wires come out at the end of the tubes under the tank and connect to the ballasts.

The picture doesn't show the bend of the pipes. They are bent smoothly with a pipe bender, not 90 degree angles.

I think it's pretty straightforward. I may get pictures if my neighbour is home tomorrow, it's his tank.

--Nikolay


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Thanks Niko. I understand. Your light looks great.

I notice there is a lot of light spilling out all around the tank. Since I don't have my lights suspended over the tank but laying on the tank I don't have that. Is this spillage something that is always present with hanging lights?

Also, what about heat? Do the T5's generate a lot of heat. Would you need fans since the balasts would be below the tank?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

TexGal,

There is A LOT of light spilled with the fixture that I made. I didn't allow for the reflectors of the T5s to spin around the bulbs. I just bolted them to the hood. This way you can't direct the light toward the tank. Also the VHOs have no reflectors so there is light spill too.

If I make the same fixture again I'd allow for the reflectors to spin around the bulbs and add reflectors to the VHOs.

Light spill is pretty much a given. Look at this US fixture and the light spill over two big tanks at ADG:
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/gallery/album33
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/gallery/album32

Also look at this all-ADA setup. Although we can see diagrams showing how the light should hit the top rim of the tank and not get beyond it you be the judge:
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/gallery/album34

It seems that the Italian Sfiligoi fixtures that are (MH + T5) have the least light spill:
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/3879/sfiligoi22jv2qe.jpg
Probably in part because of the unique "flaps" on the sides:
http://www.qualitymarineusa.com/dynamic/images/35.jpg

The T5HO runs extremely cool. You can put your hand on the fixture and keep it there forever (like I do every day...). No fans for the bulbs, no fans for the ballasts - nothing gets hot.

I just took a bunch of pictures of the light I made, I will post them in a litle bit.

--Nikolay


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Very interesting series of photos! Thank you Niko! The light fixture you made is also very interesting and it stimulates my creative juices too.

Do MH fixtures have that much spill over of light too? The only ones I have seen in use were in a LFS, where the tank was well away from any wall, so any spill would be less noticeable. In principle I think it can be said that to avoid light spill you need deep reflectors, so very little light leaves the reflector headed any way but towards the tank. This would not be a 1 1/2" thick fixture - maybe twice that for T5 bulbs.

Thanks again for getting me started thinking about lighting again.

EDIT: A reflector setup that had a reflector catching the light from the side of the bulb facing the tank, then a reflector behind the bulb might offer a way to greatly limit spill over.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

So sorry cmay194 - didn't mean to hijack your thread. I just find this very interesting. I'm kinda in your same boat. Wanting to really think things out before I take the plunge.

I've been thinking about getting these fixtures. http://www.specialty-lights.com/teklightaqua.html Not sure how many bulbs. I would need 2 fixtures as I have a 6ft tank. I don't have a DIY person and I don't qualify. I do hate the spill-over. I currently have my fixtures just sitting on the glass. I guess I could do the same with these but I really want the lighting to be as strong in the front, since that's where the short plants are. Sounds like the only alternative is some sort of front and back deflector, or a hood with these mounted in the hood. The thing about these hoods is that the bulbs come with.


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## cmay194 (Feb 18, 2008)

Tex Gal- No problem. I'm new to planted tanks. I need all the info I can get. I have a couple of plant tanks now but they are smaller and pretty easy. For this 210 I want to do it right from the start. I hate having to try and fix major stuff when the tank is already set up. 

The more tanks I see with metal halide the more I like the way the lighting looks in the water. Is there a way to achieve this look with a combo of CF?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Here is a thread describing the light I made:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ent-inexpensive-monster-light.html#post368746

Cmay,

The halides will give you a "shimmer" effect that no other light can achieve. Go to any pet store and look at the reef tanks. You will notice that the fish cast shadows. Also the bottom of the tank looks like the sunrays playing on a shallow water bottom. No other light can do that. But as we discussed above halides have very much only this advantage over T5HO fluorescents.

--Nikolay


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