Umpa Lumpa
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
This lighting thing just blows me away, I can build a computer blindfolded and deal with cisco routers all day long but I cringe and my brain becomes mush when it comes down to lighting my tank, go figure. :?
I want to get an anemone for my clown later down the road, and possible get into some corals after I finish adding the rest of my livestock. The main reason I'm wanting to get new lighting now is because I want that deep purple coraline algae back instead of the light purple I have right now.
This is the one and only time I'm gonna buy lighting for my tank so I want enough lighting to grow anything I might run across in the future. My tank is 30 in long 12 in wide 18 in tall. So my questions are:
1. When I buy the ballast what wattage does it need to be? How do you figure it out?
2. How many MH bulbs will 1 ballast power?
3. How many bulbs do I need?
I'm leaning towards the DIY kits mainly because I'm going to build a nice wooden hood for my tank, which of course leads to more questions:
My tank runs hot (80-83 daily temp)as it is due to the AC having problems cooling my side of the house.
1. So how high do the bulbs need to be above the water line to minimize heat transfer.
2. Will it melt the molding on the tank and HOB equipment I currently have in the tank?
3. How many fans do I need to install in the hood.
4. How do I power the fans? From the MH ballast or separately?
Sorry for so many questions. I've learned a tremendous amount from this site, which I do thank yall for, and my fish do too as I'm sure they would have died along time ago without this site.
On another note I have noticed ALOT of lighting related questions here lately. Perhaps the MODS could create a forum spacifically for lighting questions with a few sticky posts up top answering most lighting questions.
I want to get an anemone for my clown later down the road, and possible get into some corals after I finish adding the rest of my livestock. The main reason I'm wanting to get new lighting now is because I want that deep purple coraline algae back instead of the light purple I have right now.
This is the one and only time I'm gonna buy lighting for my tank so I want enough lighting to grow anything I might run across in the future. My tank is 30 in long 12 in wide 18 in tall. So my questions are:
1. When I buy the ballast what wattage does it need to be? How do you figure it out?
2. How many MH bulbs will 1 ballast power?
3. How many bulbs do I need?
I'm leaning towards the DIY kits mainly because I'm going to build a nice wooden hood for my tank, which of course leads to more questions:
My tank runs hot (80-83 daily temp)as it is due to the AC having problems cooling my side of the house.
1. So how high do the bulbs need to be above the water line to minimize heat transfer.
2. Will it melt the molding on the tank and HOB equipment I currently have in the tank?
3. How many fans do I need to install in the hood.
4. How do I power the fans? From the MH ballast or separately?
Sorry for so many questions. I've learned a tremendous amount from this site, which I do thank yall for, and my fish do too as I'm sure they would have died along time ago without this site.
On another note I have noticed ALOT of lighting related questions here lately. Perhaps the MODS could create a forum spacifically for lighting questions with a few sticky posts up top answering most lighting questions.