lights - actinic/ flourescents

[Sean Smith]

I have four lights built into the canopy of my new tank. Is this a good mix?

2 x 10,000w flourescents
1 x marine glo, actinic (30w I think)
1 x life glo, 6500w daylight spectrum with a foil reflector

I am not going into serious coral-keeping (at least not for some time). My tank is 50cm deep.

I am not planning to go metal halide. I have now ran out of budget for any further major expense and the wife would not say yes to lighting hung from the ceiling! I am just going to have to live with this 4 light configuration for some time to come. :evil:

[fishfreek]

Are these regular florecents?

If so then how long are they? I suspect they are 40W florecent tubes. If this is the case then I fear your tank will have a very unbalanced look with 2 10K and 1 6500K and 1 actinic bulb.

You dont need to hang anything from the celing to have better lighting. You can easily build a wooden canopy that sits on top of the tank that contains any lightign system you should upgrade to in the future.

[Sean Smith]

thanks... they are 3ft tubes. What do you mean unbalanced? What would you recommend? Unfortunately my wife will not wear any kind of modifications to the hood at the moment because she dislikes the tank and will take some time to warm up to it !

[fishfreek]

Unbalanced I mean by how long is the 80 gal tank? Is yours 3' in lenght? If not then i suspect the lights are more toward the center than toward the edges.

I would say to replace the 6500K bulb with another actinc bulb.

Any way you can post a pic of your tank and light setup? I am wondering if you are using single or double florecent strip lights. If so a DIY canopy will enclose the lights in a nice cabanet looking enclosure. Thus possibly making the tank look more appealing.

Sorry about your wife not liking the tank much. Its really no fun when your spouse cant share in your love for something.

[Sean Smith]

Not quite up-to-speed with camera and scanner yet. But just to give you an idea: the four fluorescents are on purpose-built double gangs that fit properly within the hood. So it all looks very neat and tidy – aesthetically pleasing.

From front to back I have 10k, actinic, daylight, 10k respectively. A blue hue is therefore cast into the middle of the tank and the effect is quite nice. I switch one gang off for the last hour of the evening and it sort of creates a moonlight effect. When all four lights are on the blue gets most “bleached out”.

My priorities were to get 1) sufficient light for what I intend to have in the tank 2) to ensure I have all the optimal wavelengths within the constraints I have already mentioned. But where I have been on a steep learning curve with all my other marine considerations…. lighting is a subject I am only just getting into.


The wife likes what is in the tank... she just doesn't like the size of it and the location within the room.

[DANNY]

hey sean danny here again if you plan to use the flourescent type of lighting thats ok but you need to go to vho lighting. i have a 75 gal with 550 watts of vho 4 actinic and one blue. so far ive been doing real good with that lighting have mostly softies but some sps and lps corals. you can purchase a retro kit that contains a 660 ice cap ballest for 4 vho bulbs. and end caps that are water proof. premium aquatics in indianapolis indiana has a good price on the kit thats where i purchased mine.
danny

[RazerCorals]

Definately return your 6500k bulb and either replace it with a 10k Power Glo or a Marine Glo. I assume you are running flourescent lights. What would be best because your aquarium is fairly deep is Metal Haliade. You don't need to hang it from anything. You can make your own canopy. Check out www.reefcentral.com for some DIY stuff.