Stu.H

Evening

Ive got all the stuff nearly ready to fill my new 5ft tank, bar the lighting.

Im going a non planted tank, therefore need pretty low wattage lights, basically just to see the fish.

Im building my own hood, so I'm guessing those light clips will suffice, but do I get a 4ft light as a 5ft will surely be too long?

Also what wattage would people recommend, its 50cm from the top of tank to the bottom where the light will need to reach..

pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

remember......the more u light them up......the more u'll grow Algi.......so keep ur lighting to a few hours a day........

Stu.H

Yeh, will only be on for about 4hrs each night as its always been....

Reckon 40w is enough? or 30w?

I know if you have a planted tank, you need mega lighting and co2 injection etc, but not going this route at the moment..

Cheers for your reply, Pete

pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

dont know fella.....i only have Gold fish.........

Stu.H

ROFL

Thanks

st3v3

may be 2 x 3ft lights of a "moonlight glow"

We have 2 of them in our 190lt Jewel tank make it look very moonlighty strangely enough, mild blue light, make the fish look nice also give a nice glow to our front room.

Stu.H

Will 3ft be long enough on a 5ft tank though? Was thinking on 4's...

Didn't want to use 2xstarters if I could get away with it, that's why I was thinking maybe a 40w win a reflector or something..

boost mad

iTrader: (8)

I take it were are talking tropical and not marine here ?

Over my 4ft tropical tank i had a 46 ( may of been 42" ) T8 tri phospher tube and it lit it fine. if you go for T5 or VHO T5 you may get away with a smaller tube. Use a reflector as they make a big difference.

Marine is a whole different story.

Ive got 3x250W metal halides, 2 T5 60" tubes and a set or 2 of aquarays