Ligthing in a 72 Gallon Bow front

D

d233

Guest
Hello,
Since 12/04/02 I have owned a 72 Gallon bow front tank. My only complaint with it so far is the space available for lighting. I was hopeing that some one on this board may have ran across the same issue and could guide me in the right direction. At this time I have the original light housing and butchard cheap fixture from Walmart with an icecap 660 ballaset. I'm running original 40W FO bulbs until I can offord to buy VHO's. If anyone has any comments or idea's please let me know.
72 Gallon Bow Front
amirical sump
seaclone skimmer
1140, 540 power heads
22lbs LR
60lbs LS
1 tomatoe clown
2 Damsels
1 Dragon Wasses
1 Spotted Hawk
6 turbo snails
1 scutter bleny
2 red crabs
2 blue crabs
 
mini-reefer

mini-reefer

Member
Heres a pic of mine. You can only see one side, but you get the idea. Im working on adding an icecap 430 with two VHO's to replace the 55 watt actinic PC's.
Im working on a hanging fixture to go over the canopy so it will be easier to access the tank though. Your right about limitations with the canopy on the tank. HTH
 
jumpfrog

jumpfrog

Active Member
Those bow fronts do cause lighting issues don't they?
I went with a JBJ formosa system. 4x65w, 2 actinic 2 daylight. Comes with separate switches and fans built in. Fits nicely on top of tank and looks very good. I'm happy with the lighting but then again I'm not interested in serious light loving corals. Here's a pic to give you an idea of lighting.
It's an older picture of the tank but you get the idea.
 
m.rogers

m.rogers

Active Member
jumpfrog do you have your light on the glass top or what. I just ordered the same lighting for my 72 bow and was thinking of have that and a 36in. in front of it.
 
mykgillespie

mykgillespie

Member
Does you're tank have an internal overflow? If so you might consider a 48" Custom Sealife Power Compact fixture with 4x96W's. One of my clients has one on his All-Glass 72 black bow-front. It fits perfectly over the rectangular portion of the aquarium, and over the curved portion I had some curved glass pieces cut at a local glass company. Again, it fits perfectly on top so if you need to use any H.O.T. equiptment than this is no good. Anyway, it does look very good, low profile, and with the cooling fan and acrylic lens never have a problem with heat even though it sits right on top of the tank. Best of luck and happy New Year!
Myk.
 
hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
i have the jbj lighting also, but for a 180. 4 x 96. i bought the extra leg stands to raise the lights up about 2 inches. it helps reduce heat and increases reflectivity. i have the glass tops on now and my tank stays at a steady 80 degrees.
 
beefcake

beefcake

Member
Mini Reefer: Is that a plastic hood that those lights are in or is it a custom built hood? Hard to tell in that picture. Could you post another pic ?
 
M

mozart200

Guest
your clients hood is exactly what I need. I have a 72 bow with internal overflow....
can you provide any information as to where I can get the same hood.....
or do you have a model number?
any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
 
nickoz

nickoz

Member
I have a custom built bowfront canopy for my 72, I have the PFO Parallel Reflects (with the sides for additional PC or VHO thorn off, for space reasons) with 2 400w MH, I am looking to mount PC in the inside of the reflector at a later date. I will try to post a few pics of my canopy when I get access to a good digital camera.
-nick
 
mini-reefer

mini-reefer

Member
Hi Beefcake. The canopy is an Oceanic ABS that I bought new with the tank. The metal halide reflectors are mounted to the top of the canopy and the power compacts are mounted to the spider reflectors using PC bulb clips. Sorry I dont have a better pic as of yet to show you.
With them installed this way the bottom of the halide bulb is ~ 7" from the waters surface. I think they may still be too close. With that being said, Ive got a new design in the works that will hang from the ceiling and be adjustable in heigth from the tank so I can play with spacing. Im just waiting for my VHO stuff to all come in and then re-do the whole install. I cant wait to go with 220 watts URI actinic to replace the 110 watt PC actinic after all the good things Ive seen and read about them.
 
beefcake

beefcake

Member
Mini: I have a similar Oceanic hood but for a 92 Gallon corner tank. I must say it's a difficult tank to light properly given it's dimensions. I never even though I could put MH lights in the canopy but after seeing your setup maybe I can. I know these canopys are pretty flimsy plastic. Did you have any problems mounting those halides? Is heat a problem at all ? I thought MH's might melt the plastic. Keep me updated ! :)
 
jumpfrog

jumpfrog

Active Member
M.Rogers; sorry it took so long to reply. Yes, I have the light sitting directly on the glass covers. Never had a head problem. The fans do a good job I think of keeping the heat down.
Good Luck!
 
m.rogers

m.rogers

Active Member
thanks jumpfrog all i have is time to kill i will take your word for it why would a michael lie they are some of the best people out there.
M.Rogers
Michael Rogers
 
mini-reefer

mini-reefer

Member
Beef, Im not familiar with the exact dimensions on your 92 but am sure you could get at least two spider reflectors in there with a little trimming to them maybe. I got the 16" models from an online retailer for a decent price with sockets. With them end to end they would only be 32" long if you wanted to go that route or you could mount them parallel to each other for a combined width of about 22" and length of 16".
As far as heat goes, I bought a 6" office type clip-on fan that clips snugly to the top lip of the canopy and blows across the waters surface and down the reflectors. I run it 24/7 to promote evaporation(more Kalk dosing :D ) and keep the heat down with the lights on during the day. At night my tank sits at about 79.8 and max's out at about 81.8 when the halides go off at the end of the day. There is no noticable heat build-up on the ABS canopy inside or out while the halides are on. HTH
 
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