Selecting the right lighting
- Thread starter conte
- Start date
slick
Active Member
It depends on if you ever plan on upgrading to a reef or even getting a few shrooms down the road. You can just use regular tank lights (like on a fw tank) or you can use something like PC's or VHO's. My personal opinion is if you know your never going to try corals then just go with the cheap lighting. But if you think you may want to try them down the road, then get the better stuff.
krux
Member
unless you are trying to go inexpensive, you will get all the light and color you will need for a fish only with dual 175 watt halides and a single vho actinic.
with the depth of your tank, 175 watts will not be too bright down toward the bottom, so fish that kile darker conditions can lurk under ledges and in caves and what not, and still feel comfortable coming out for food, and the water column swimmers will enjoy the open well lit space.
this setup will also give you really good coloration for your fish.
if you are on a budget get a 4 4-foot vho setup and run those. that will also provide great light for all your fish and for good viewing, and if you run 2 10,000k bulbs and 2 actinic 03 bulbs you will get great color out of your animals.
as someone stated above, you could use normal fresh water lights, or a shop light even, but all the money you spend on rock and livestock will kind of be lost due to less than ideal light spectrums.
halides are always a good option, you don't need a reef to run em
with the depth of your tank, 175 watts will not be too bright down toward the bottom, so fish that kile darker conditions can lurk under ledges and in caves and what not, and still feel comfortable coming out for food, and the water column swimmers will enjoy the open well lit space.
this setup will also give you really good coloration for your fish.
if you are on a budget get a 4 4-foot vho setup and run those. that will also provide great light for all your fish and for good viewing, and if you run 2 10,000k bulbs and 2 actinic 03 bulbs you will get great color out of your animals.
as someone stated above, you could use normal fresh water lights, or a shop light even, but all the money you spend on rock and livestock will kind of be lost due to less than ideal light spectrums.
halides are always a good option, you don't need a reef to run em
krux
Member
well, i have seen at least half a dozen, maybe we should network, so that you can know my people and i can know yours
with the depth of his tank he is going to have some serious shadows at the bottom of the tank if he goes with NO bulbs. i ran 4 NO bulbs on my last tank for about a year (it was FOWLR) and just before i moved i babysat a halide pendant for a friend for about a month, and i'll tell you, it looked like an entirely different tank. some of it had to do with spectrum i am sure, but the entire tank was well lit and "eye pleasing".
note i also recommend that if he wasnt trying to stay on a lower bidget, that is, if the setup and maintenance costs were not an issue.
as someone who has used shop lights, i can say confidently, they are good for shops... but i would never use them again over a tank unless i was in a real pinch.
i wish i had a decent camera and i could have taken some photos of the difference in color between the fish at my lfs tanks. in his halide tanks the brighter fish like the tangs and the anthias screamed at you with their colors, while fish from the same lot in the lower light non-reef holding tanks rarely sold... they just looked drab compared to their brothers in the tanks above them. it would have been an excellent thing in a magazine or something for folks who are interested in how a light can change the look of a fish.
i guess it is a you had to see it to believe it difference kind of thing.
perhapse steve weast will happen upon this thread and describe better the difference... he visits the same store i believe.
with the depth of his tank he is going to have some serious shadows at the bottom of the tank if he goes with NO bulbs. i ran 4 NO bulbs on my last tank for about a year (it was FOWLR) and just before i moved i babysat a halide pendant for a friend for about a month, and i'll tell you, it looked like an entirely different tank. some of it had to do with spectrum i am sure, but the entire tank was well lit and "eye pleasing".
note i also recommend that if he wasnt trying to stay on a lower bidget, that is, if the setup and maintenance costs were not an issue.
as someone who has used shop lights, i can say confidently, they are good for shops... but i would never use them again over a tank unless i was in a real pinch.
i wish i had a decent camera and i could have taken some photos of the difference in color between the fish at my lfs tanks. in his halide tanks the brighter fish like the tangs and the anthias screamed at you with their colors, while fish from the same lot in the lower light non-reef holding tanks rarely sold... they just looked drab compared to their brothers in the tanks above them. it would have been an excellent thing in a magazine or something for folks who are interested in how a light can change the look of a fish.
i guess it is a you had to see it to believe it difference kind of thing.
perhapse steve weast will happen upon this thread and describe better the difference... he visits the same store i believe.
conte
New Member
Thanks for all the responses. This BB is awesome.
Ok, so I can do 3 110w VHO's, or dual 175 watt halides w/ 1 VHO actinic, or 4 4foot VHO's, or 2 10K bulbs w/ 2 actinic 03 bulbs? Wow, lots of options here... Let me tell you a little more about the area in which this set-up will go...I'm in a studio, 50ft long, 20ft wide & 15ft ceilings. My window wall is just that, two huge bay windows going to the ceiling. The tank will be about 20 ft from this window wall. I was thinking of leaving the top of the tank open and hanging lights above the tank, no hood. Does this limit what I can do? If not, then I think I want to price my options.. Can someone recommend where I could look on the web for the proper lighting?
Kind Regards,
Conte
Ok, so I can do 3 110w VHO's, or dual 175 watt halides w/ 1 VHO actinic, or 4 4foot VHO's, or 2 10K bulbs w/ 2 actinic 03 bulbs? Wow, lots of options here... Let me tell you a little more about the area in which this set-up will go...I'm in a studio, 50ft long, 20ft wide & 15ft ceilings. My window wall is just that, two huge bay windows going to the ceiling. The tank will be about 20 ft from this window wall. I was thinking of leaving the top of the tank open and hanging lights above the tank, no hood. Does this limit what I can do? If not, then I think I want to price my options.. Can someone recommend where I could look on the web for the proper lighting?
Kind Regards,
Conte
krux
Member
yep pendant sounds like what you want. there are a lot of manufacturers that make them. everything from a can on a wire that hangs down, to a rectangular box with a couple halides and some vho or pc in them. just do a search on google or something for aquarium pendant, halide pendant, light pendant, etc and see what pops up. most of the online companies can sell you a variety of light configurations for whatever you decide to go with.
one i was looking at to give you something to start out with was a "prizm pendant" do a search for that maybe and go from there.
one i was looking at to give you something to start out with was a "prizm pendant" do a search for that maybe and go from there.