How much light is needed?

[ActionJ]

Hi all,

I purchased a used 300 gallon (96 lg x 24 w x 30 h) and am in the middle of puchasing equipment for it to be setup as a FOWLR tank.

My question is how much light and what kind do I need........and how much is too much light?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[jessicasmarine]

FO or FOWLR you could get by with pretty much anyhting you want. I would suggest Power Compacts or T5HO just because I think they look better than Florescent. In a tank that big if you ever wanted to do a reef you would need Metal Halides. So if you plan on ever going to reef I would buy the metal halides now to save the upgrade cost, if not you'll be fine with one of the first two.
Too much light...I dont know if that cn be done reasonably. As far as I know the more the better, but I could be wrong. Unless you line up MH's side beside along the entire length and width of the tank.

 

[thominil]

You should be able to get by with a standard, single tube strip light. It's reef where you will need the lights, not fowlr. Welcome to AA!

 

[ActionJ]

If I do decide to go with a reef tank in the future......how would this light do?

http://cgi.ebay.com/96-Aquarium-Lig...in_0?hash=item3ef1a8e2d8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...?hash=item3ef1a8e2d8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[Speakerman]

yes, that light would work quite well, especially if you were wanting simplicity of installation.

you could get adequate reef lighting for less imo if you DIY, but it would be bigger and bulkier, and not look as nice.

However, that's a lot of money to spend on a great light strip just to be wasted for months or years on a fowlr. You'd get 10000 hours probably out of the bulbs, but soon after you start converting to a reef, you'll likely need to replace the bulbs as they dim and change kelvin rating over time.

 

[thominil]

That fixture looks like an odyssea to me (correct me if I'm wrong). Stay away from those as there aren't many people that have had good experiences with them. With those fixtures, "you get what you pay for".

 

[ActionJ]

If I'm going to stay with the FOWLR tank, can someone please send me a link to some good lights to buy. Remember this thing is 96" long....it seems hard to find fixtures that are that long. I don't want to DIY......

Thanks for all the help!

 

[thominil]

With fowlr, you can use any light you want. Two of the 48" strips like these: Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Perfecto Fluorescent Single Strip Lights will work.

 

[jessicasmarine]

the two 48"s will be easier to find replacement parts for too

 

[ActionJ]

Will (2) of those 48" lights be enough? What is the best bulb for this....just what comes with it? What about adding black lights for night viewing.....what do you recommend for that?

 

[thominil]

The 2 48" strips will be fine. Just use the bulbs it comes with. You can add black lighting, but get a different fixture for that then the 2 48" strips. So, you would have your 2 48" strips and then another fixture for night viewing.

 

[ActionJ]

As I'm not to up on lighting......Can I just buy (2) more 48" fixtures and replace the bulbs with black lights? Are there different types of black lights....if so, which is best as to not hurt the fish?

 

[thominil]

You would need to get the correct bulb sizes then (T5, T8, or T12). Why not just get moonlights?

 

[ActionJ]

what's the difference between moonlights and black lights?

 

[thominil]

Not much, only difference is that moonlights are kinda blue and black lights are well....black. Neither can be viewed by fish.

 

[ActionJ]

Thom.....thanks for all the help. Is there one that you would recommend?

 

[thominil]

I'll find one.

There's this one: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12760&pcatid=12760, and this one: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12110&pcatid=12110.

There's also fixtures with them built in like this one: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12772&pcatid=12772, and this one: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12109&pcatid=12109.

The first fixture will allow you to keep some corals like softies and lps.

 

[InfernoST]

Remember there is difference between T5 and T5HO, there also seems to be a larger selection of bulbs in the T5/HO format and not as many for T8, T12, T12HO and T12VHO. Beside T5HO is Da Bomb these days and MH rules.