# Lighting Ideas for a 36x18x21 tank



## kkau1 (Jun 22, 2006)

Hi,

I had a custom 36"Lx18"wx21"h rimless tank made for me. Now I need to start gathering all the equipment. I was hoping that I could get some advice on lighting. I want a high light aquarium, and have had a lot of success running 6-8 wpg on smaller tanks.

Originally I thought of getting a corralife 2x96w CF fixture and possibly adding another single 96w strip in adition to it. My tank is roughly 55 gallons ish. With this setup i would get 5wpg.

However now i've been looking at t5 Tek lights which would also give me roughly the same amount of light, for a higher price.

I've also begun seriously considering MH's. Those sunpod 2x150w MH's seem like they'd be great. However, i've never had MH's before. How hot do MH's get and how much heat do they put into the water?


Which kind of lighting do you think will be my best option? Budget wise i'd like to save if I can, but it seems like the Tek lights and MH's are fairly close. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Kkau1


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## erik Loza (Feb 6, 2006)

2 X 150w HQI pendants.


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## TWood (Dec 9, 2004)

If you haven't already, you should lurk for a while over at Reef Central Online Community

The reef folks stay on the front edge of the technology, and the consensus there seems to be that T5 will replace PC. There's already a lot more lamp choices in T5, and manufacturers are already mostly going that way.

If you can afford it, HQI with T5 supplements is a great way to go. Run the HQI for a few hours, and when the plants have had enough, switch them off and run a low amount of T5 for extended viewing.


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## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

No matter which route of lighting you decide to go, I think you should definitely go with a hanging fixture/pendant. Especially since you're opting for a custom rimless. I think the over all look is much higher.


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

The Tek lights are awesome. Having AHsupply PC experience, I can tell you that the Tek's seem to put out a noticable amount more light.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Gomer said:


> The Tek lights are awesome. Having AHsupply PC experience, I can tell you that the Tek's seem to put out a noticable amount more light.


Looking forward to the Tek lights. =) Muhahahahah.


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