Lighting a 200G Aquarium?

[Legacy]

Hi,

I just picked up this 200G(84x24x24). I decided that I don't want to build a canopy and would rather setup a hanging flourescent light fixture from the ceiling.

I had been thinking about going to home depot and getting some fixtures, but it seems that they only carry 24" and 48". Maybe a 48" would be sufficient enough to light the entire tank? Maybe I'd need 1 48 and 1 24?

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? This tank will be upgrading my mangrove swamp for my archers and live red mangroves.

thanks,
David

[TCTFish]

I'm not a lighting expert but I would say with the space you have, perhaps two 48" set centered both front and back of the fixture and then up to four 24" spread out to fill in the empty spots...like two up front side to side right behind the 48" spread out to cover the entire length of the tank and the same with in back side to side in front of the other 48". This can allow for ways to have actinic bulbs on separate switches to allow a dusk and dawn period for the fish. You would put the actinics on about half an hour prior to putting on the regular lights and then half an hour after the regular lights go off for the night. You could even fit a little tiny 1/2 watt LED light in the center of it all to create a moon light for night time.

You seem to have a nice and different natural aquatic eco system. Being able to replicate natural lighting as any aquatic system may experience naturally allows you to observe some unique natural behaviors from your fish...and may even breed because of it.

[Brenden]

stagger two 48" so they overlap in the center

[Rupret]

David:

Are you thinking about growing plants? If so you will need a lot more light, in the neighborhood of 3 to 5 watts per gallon. So, for a 200 gallon tank, you will be looking at 600 to 1000 watts of light and would benefit from a metal halide lighting system. Good luck.