# Lighting a 3ft tank



## kkau1 (Jun 22, 2006)

Hi,

It's almost time. I've been saving up for all the equipment i need for a new tank and now it's time to get some lights. I have a rimless 36"Lx18"Wx21"H tank which i think is roughly 55-60 gallons. I'm planning on using pressurized CO2 and would like to grow low-mid light plants (mainly mosses and ferns). 

I've been debating about what time of lights to get. I've been really thinking about the following options:

1. 3ft Tek Light with 4-6 bulbs - which would give about 150-240ish watts

2. 1 Metal Halide Pendent - 150w-250w

I want to keep the top of the tank open, so i'm planning on hanging the lights about 6-10" or more above the surface of the water.

Right now i'm kinda leaning towards a Metal Halide pendent. My question with this is will 1 pendend be enough to cover my whole tank? and if so, would 250W be too much?

With the Tek Lights, will the 4 bulb version be enough?

This tank is primarily going to be moss and ferns, but who knows where i'll go with it in the future. 

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated~

Kkau1.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I can say that the Tek 4 bulb option will be more than enough.

I'm not sure about the pendant. You may need two to cover the length of the tank, but if you are only growing mosses and ferns one will be enough.

-John N.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

i say go for more! i started off with low lights and after seeing what a high light tank looked like i quickly rethought my tank and that meant rebuying some things and spending money twice. with the hanging light you could always hang them higher to get less lights into the tank but readily lower them to increase the lighting when you change your mind.


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## kkau1 (Jun 22, 2006)

Thanks for the replies.

Will a Metal halide be able to cover my whole tank? and would 2 150W pendents be too much?


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## AMP (Nov 11, 2006)

The 48" Orbit Is a Nice set up I have it on my 55, you need to specify to swap out the Atinic Bulbs for 65K bulbs, The rig can fit a rimless unit, or you can suspend the Unit from the ceiling.

The Two 65 PC's will give you 2.36WPG and with the Dual 65/10k Lites going in the afternoon hrs you are boosting to 4.72WPG's. The Moon Lights in the evening are soothing to both the Fish and the Aquarius alike.

I read through here for Hrs on end prior to jumping on the bandwagon with High Lighting, I agree with eklikewhoa 110% High Lighting is the way to go, Along with CO2 the possibilities are endless


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## somethinsfishy (Dec 8, 2006)

A tek 4 bulb will be a lot of light. I believe that that some of the new light systems are going to have fans in the unit and the new ones will also have better reflectors. I don’t know when they will be coming out though. The fans blowing across the bulbs have been proven to increase the par by a lot. If you get one of the units without fans you could always add fan if you do not think you are getting enough light. I have a reef tank with 4 t5s and I am very very happy with them. The bulbs last forever and the reflectors really put out the light. I do love the way metal halides make the water shimmer though. But they are pretty expensive and get hotter that crap.


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