Lighting up the whole thing

[fish_4_all]

I have a stand i built that is 5 fee tlong and 2 feet deep. I want to light up the whole thing so i can place a larger tank anywhere and light it. The idea is to set this up to light three 10 gallon tanks right now. Sooner or later, it will either have two 20 gallon longs under there or a 55.

So what would work best as far as functionality and workability without regards to cost using NO fluorescents.

t8's set up fornt to back; side to side, half way across in two banks? Any ideas are welcome as this is very early in the planning stage.

 

[jsoong]

I'd use 4 foot T8's, staggered across the 5' - ie one will start on one end, the next on the other end, & so on.

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[fish_4_all]

Good idea but I need even light so I can place a tank or tanks anywhere I want to underneath this bank of lights. Also need high light for up 100 gallons. I think I am looking for about 300 watts of total light. Set up in banks of course so if I only have 10 gallon tanks i can light as many or as few as I want. Is hard to picture because I haven't drawn it up yet but I will tonight so I can give a better picture and get a better one msyelf.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

How about a 36" and an 18" or 24" bulb in each row, and alternate sides for the shorter bulb. Just a thought.

 

[fish_4_all]

I am thinking about 2 rows of 24" or 3 rows of 18". The three rows allows for more tank size options but has more ballasts and increases cost by 30%. I also gain some wattage with 3 rows. I thought about 48 inch lights then at the end turning 20 inch bulbs for a 10 gallon. I also thought about either 18 or 24 inch bulbs front to back, as many as would fit in the 60". Ballast them in groups of 4 in all setups with a group or 2 ballasted 2 bulbs. No overdriving, all NO.

With this setup, I know I need to have a really open top, how much light is lost using eggcrate? I also know that height is a factor but at the possibility of 270-360 watts, I don't think it would be hard to grow just about anything in a couple 20 gallons or a 55. I couldn't even imagine the possible wattage from PC. That wattage is assuming only 6-8 bulbs in each row. I guess with the measurements it is possible to put up to 4 bulbs for every 6 inches so a lot can fit in 24 inches deep.

Reflectors will be cut glass unless I can find an easier way to go. Standard glass plate is really inexpensive and can be cut to whatever sizes I want. Reflector for every 2 bulbs, maybe 4 if I think it gives enough eficiency. Will make M reflectors for efficiency, and should still be easy making it out of wood.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Another option for the reflector is the mirrored paper that you can buy at hobby stores. It's not as reflective as mylar, but works pretty well. And it's fairly cheap, and can cut each piece to size and either glue or silicone into place.

Edit:
It's also pretty thick as well, and doesn't wrinkle like aluminum foil.

 

[BillD]

The only practical way is to use 48" T8 fixture as the tubes are by far the least expensive. For the amount of light you want, you would need 4 x 2 tube fixtures. You could arrange them in any manner of ways to get full coverage.