Lighting question

[almarktool]

Hi,
Hope someone can help me with this I have a 72 Gal Oceanic Bow front that is a FOWLR it has a standard twin flouresent light with 2 40 watt bulbs , If i upgrade to a 2 x 55 watt Power compact am i going to see a big difference ? Really wanted to do more but Oceanic tells me that if i put any more than that on top og the glass top it might crack as well as the heat might melt the black ABS Canopy on it.
Thanks
Mark

 

[hondo]

In a fish only tank the additional lighting will help bring out the color of your fish (as long as it's heavy on the actinic). I would not put the compact flour directly on the tank glass because of heat. You will need to get a canopy first or hang some pendant lights. any chance of adding coral to the tank if not then I wouldn't bother upgrading the lights.

 

[fshhub]

i like pc's for a fowlr, it will definitely bring out the colors in your fish, and will also help with your coraline growth on hte rock, we have 2x55watt pc's at 10000kelvin, and love tehm, we are getting (probably)vho's for our actinic lighting, pc's just don't quite have the blues perfect(IMO, so i've heard), but if you aren't getting corals, you really don't need the actinics, and our light fixture came with a hood, which we place on top of the aquarium frame not the glass top which we have, but none of the weight is on the glass, the only thing is heat, one seems fine,(temp is always 79 to 80, but can't get it lower), so 2 may pose a problem with more heat(MAY), but there is a HUGE difference between them and the flo's we used ot have on your 40 gallon fish only

 

[wrigley11]

Sorry Hondo, I completely disagree with you about the additional lighting having no effect on the tank.
About adding the light, if I was you I would keep the 2 40 watt lights and add additional lighting to the system. I see that you have live rock in the tank and I would bet that it probably has more green and red colors to it then purple. As you increase the lighting you will start to get different coraline algee to grow. Most of the lighter colored purples wont grow with under 2 watts per gallon. Also with only those two bulbs, I'm sure your tank is on the dark side.
About the heat... I've seen the exact 72 you are talking about with 4 vho lights under it. There was no problem with the glass or the canopy. So I would either add two more 40 watt bulbs or two of the 55 watt power compacts. However, you will need to wire them into the canopy and may need to add a fan.
If you need web address for this stuff drop me an email at wrigley11@go.com