What lighting for a 220gallon

[oorob00]

I have a 220 gallon tank that i am setting up. Right now i just have 2 48" florescent lights in a fixture from Home depot. This gives off ok light but i am looking for a little more. What type of lights should i use and were should i get them thanks. BTW my tank is 72*24*30.

 

[BrianNY]

IMO, unless you're planning a high tech FW planted tank, the lights you have can be positioned to your liking. What are your plans for such an awesome tank?

 

[TankGirl]

Likely a SW setup, no? It will depend on whether you will try to keep corals and whatnot.

AHSupply is a great resource for lighting that is affordable and superior quality for the DIY'er. Hellolights.com is another place to look, but it will depend on your plans, of course.

 

[oorob00]

I am doing a WF setup with this one. I was going to do a SW but that is a major PITA and cost too much. I am going to get a fresh water ray, a silver Arowana and a couple other fish. But i just dont know about the lighting.

 

[TankGirl]

What kind of rim does it have? Is there a center brace? You might like to get two separate fixtures that fit into the lip created by the top rim and the center brace, with glass tops to control evaporation and splashing. Measure the space on each side and look for fixtures that length.

I am really enjoying the Current USA Satellite fixture I recently purchased, as it has integral moon lights that are so cool in the dark, and the PC lighting is great. This fixture has half actinic, which shows off the colors of fish so much better than the typical PC lighting I have for plants. This is not a planted tank so I could experiment a little. They are similar to Coralife but WAY cheaper. This is where I got mine http://marineandreef.com/shoppro/power_satellite.html

 

[oorob00]

What do u meen by rim? It is a perfecto tank with a oak finish to it. It has 3 sections to it each are 24x24 and have glass tops on each. I also have a conapy which has the light fixture on it right now. I has two mounting points to mount the fixture. Here are a couple of pics.

 

[czcz]

(newbie) A proper reflector would help greatly. AHSupply has well reviewed reflectors -- Travis Simonson said great things in the planted forum recently, in addition to TankGirl's suggestion above and other member's in the archive. You could keep the 48" fixture where it is, and add two 36" fixtures (side by side with three mounts: left, center, right per TankGirl's suggestion) w/ proper reflectors in front of it, if you'd rather move forward than retrofit. Just a thought.

 

[oorob00]

Also i wasnt planning on keeping that fixture. I just had it in my garage and wanted to put some light in there. So I was thinking about the Dual Satellite 48 inch with the 2 lunar lights on the site that tankgirl suggested. Any comments on that one?

 

[TankGirl]

Okay - those pics are very helpful - since you have a canopy I really suggest you go to AHSupply.com and mount something in your canopy. It is perfect for this application and you won't have to spend a whole lot to achieve the desired results.

When I was talking about the rim I meant the sections where your glass tops fit - if you did not have a canopy you would use one light fixture per glass top. The canopy means you have a lot more options, and it is a great looking setup, BTW.

 

[oorob00]

Ok i just checked out the ahsupply.com and it looks great. I was looking at the 96watt lights and my question is how many do i need? They sell kits for 1,2,3,4 or 6 lights. I was think of either the 3,4 or 6 lamp kit. But i am leaning more toward the 4 light kit because the 6 light kit is $300. Would the 4 lamp kit be enought or too much?

 

[czcz]

So I was thinking about the Dual Satellite 48 inch with the 2 lunar lights on the site that tankgirl suggested.

re: replacing "lunar lights" if you go with AHSupply - I assume FW rays are noctournal?

If you still have room after choosing lighting, perhaps cold cathode would be better than LED "lunar lights" for such a deep tank. Here's a pic of 12" cold cathode over my much smaller tank (12" tall), for an idea (running off a 12v adapter): http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/data/543/7634cold_cathode.jpg

FWIW, I find my noctournal fish are much less spooked with LED lighting than cold cathode lighting. There's a lot of info on diy LED/cold cathode under "moonlight" in the archives, and Malkore's pics and thread may be especially helpfull: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=29498&highlight=led

Here's a pic of my bare bones diy LED setup with a battery source and no reflector: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/data/546/7634Blue_LEDs.jpg As with regular lights, a reflector will help increase the intensity of light, and allow for more of a spotlight effect if wanted.

HTH

 

[TankGirl]

4 kits would bring you to about 1.75wpg. This should be adequate unless you are going to try to grow plants, then I'd try to get to at least 2wpg for most of the easier plants. The PC lighting is going to really give you more bang for your buck, so to speak, as well as the superior reflectors from AHS.

czcz - very informative post about the moonlights! I am totally into them now, even though I am not running a SW setup. I just like the way it looks. I am inspired to perhaps rig up my own.

 

[czcz]

TankGirl. I only keep FW too. Should you need any help with wiring and such, don't hesitate to ask. patryuji gave instuctions on wiring a relay in a moonlight thread in the archives (moon lights go on when main lights go off), if you're interested.