Lighting over 36"x18" tank

[Pszemol]

Hi, I plan to put "Outer Orbit" fixture over my 50 gallon tank:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12779

All-Glass Tank dimensions are as follows: surface 36"x18", hight 18".
It will be DSB setup, so the water column will be only 14" high.

I wonder if one 150 W double ended HQI + 2 x 96W pc actinics
would be adequate lighting for all demanding LPS/SPS corals
and tridacna clams or I would better go with more HQI light...

[Wayne Sallee]

That will give you 6.8 wpg, that's good, but one down
side, I assume your 50 gallon has a suport in the center.
and that is where your mh light will be. two of the 150w
mh bulbs would be a better choice, and you could suplement
that with a full lenth vho bulb if you wanted too, such as
an actinic. That's up to you, but 2 150w bulbs would give
you 6 wats per gallon.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Pszemol wrote on 1/5/2006 8:17 AM:
> Hi, I plan to put "Outer Orbit" fixture over my 50 gallon tank:
> http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12779
>
> All-Glass Tank dimensions are as follows: surface 36"x18", hight 18".
> It will be DSB setup, so the water column will be only 14" high.
>
> I wonder if one 150 W double ended HQI + 2 x 96W pc actinics
> would be adequate lighting for all demanding LPS/SPS corals
> and tridacna clams or I would better go with more HQI light...

[Wayne Sallee]

oops, that's 65 gallon that has the support in the middle,
yours is only 36" long. If I would just read the subject
line :-) hehe

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Wayne Sallee wrote on 1/5/2006 10:40 AM:
> That will give you 6.8 wpg, that's good, but one down side, I assume
> your 50 gallon has a suport in the center. and that is where your mh
> light will be. two of the 150w mh bulbs would be a better choice, and
> you could suplement that with a full lenth vho bulb if you wanted too,
> such as an actinic. That's up to you, but 2 150w bulbs would give you 6
> wats per gallon.
>
> Wayne Sallee
> Wayne's Pets
>
>
>
> Pszemol wrote on 1/5/2006 8:17 AM:
>
>> Hi, I plan to put "Outer Orbit" fixture over my 50 gallon tank:
>> http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12779
>>
>> All-Glass Tank dimensions are as follows: surface 36"x18", hight 18".
>> It will be DSB setup, so the water column will be only 14" high.
>>
>> I wonder if one 150 W double ended HQI + 2 x 96W pc actinics
>> would be adequate lighting for all demanding LPS/SPS corals
>> and tridacna clams or I would better go with more HQI light...

[Pszemol]

"Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message ...
> oops, that's 65 gallon that has the support in the middle,
> yours is only 36" long. If I would just read the subject
> line :-) hehe

Yes, it will be 50 gallon All-glass with black finish.
I do not think they have support in the middle...
I do not have the tank yet... so I was not sure about the support.

I will try to find one with the overflow built in for sump.

I got the 40 gallon breeder now, but I am not happy with it.
I have already arranged return in the LFS I got it from...
It is too shallow for a DSB. I would like these 2 extra inches
50 gallon tank gives me to move from 16" in breeder to 18" height.

65 gallon tank, 36" x 18" and 24" tall would look little weird...
But maybe I should get the tall one... I have some thinking to do ;)

[Wayne Sallee]

All-Glass does not make the 50 gallon with a built in
overflow. 55 g is the smallest that they make with an
overflow. And they also make a 65 with a built in overflow.

Also I just checked with all-glass, and the 50 *does* have
a suport going across the middle.

If you want to do it right with a built in overflow, and
everything, why not go with the 75? that will give you
good front to back space, and you can fit a tank underneath.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Pszemol wrote on 1/5/2006 10:54 AM:
> "Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> oops, that's 65 gallon that has the support in the middle, yours is
>> only 36" long. If I would just read the subject line :-) hehe
>
>
> Yes, it will be 50 gallon All-glass with black finish.
> I do not think they have support in the middle...
> I do not have the tank yet... so I was not sure about the support.
>
> I will try to find one with the overflow built in for sump.
>
> I got the 40 gallon breeder now, but I am not happy with it.
> I have already arranged return in the LFS I got it from...
> It is too shallow for a DSB. I would like these 2 extra inches
> 50 gallon tank gives me to move from 16" in breeder to 18" height.
>
> 65 gallon tank, 36" x 18" and 24" tall would look little weird...
> But maybe I should get the tall one... I have some thinking to do ;)

[Wayne Sallee]

or actualy the 50 and 65 give the same front to back space
as the 75g. :-) To quick to hit send :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Wayne Sallee wrote on 1/5/2006 11:06 AM:
> All-Glass does not make the 50 gallon with a built in overflow. 55 g is
> the smallest that they make with an overflow. And they also make a 65
> with a built in overflow.
>
> Also I just checked with all-glass, and the 50 *does* have a suport
> going across the middle.
>
> If you want to do it right with a built in overflow, and everything, why
> not go with the 75? that will give you good front to back space, and you
> can fit a tank underneath.
>
> Wayne Sallee
> Wayne's Pets
>
>
>
> Pszemol wrote on 1/5/2006 10:54 AM:
>
>> "Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> oops, that's 65 gallon that has the support in the middle, yours is
>>> only 36" long. If I would just read the subject line :-) hehe
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes, it will be 50 gallon All-glass with black finish.
>> I do not think they have support in the middle...
>> I do not have the tank yet... so I was not sure about the support.
>>
>> I will try to find one with the overflow built in for sump.
>>
>> I got the 40 gallon breeder now, but I am not happy with it.
>> I have already arranged return in the LFS I got it from...
>> It is too shallow for a DSB. I would like these 2 extra inches
>> 50 gallon tank gives me to move from 16" in breeder to 18" height.
>>
>> 65 gallon tank, 36" x 18" and 24" tall would look little weird...
>> But maybe I should get the tall one... I have some thinking to do ;)

[Pszemol]

"Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message ...
> or actualy the 50 and 65 give the same front to back space
> as the 75g. :-) To quick to hit send :-)

The whole thing is I do not have room for the 4 - foot long tank.
Also, I want to reuse my 3-foot long stand... :-)

[Mark Henry]

Pszemol wrote:
>
> 65 gallon tank, 36" x 18" and 24" tall would look little weird...
> But maybe I should get the tall one... I have some thinking to do ;)

I have this 65g tank (in fact, it's in its second week of cycling now)
and doesn't look "weird" to me. I've got 80# of substrate (40# live
rock, 40# aragonite) which gave me a bed between 2 and 4" deep and 90#
of live rock which fills about 1/2 the height in the tank the way I have
it stacked.

I also have the lighting assembly you're looking at buying from DrF&S
and that works well. But as Wayne mentioned the center brace covers part
of the MH. If you go with this light forget using the feet that come
with it and just use the hanging system that's included. Otherwise
you'll have to lift that damn heavy a$$ thing off the tank just to feed
your fish.

mark h

[Wayne Sallee]

Pszemol wrote on 1/5/2006 10:54 AM:

>
> I got the 40 gallon breeder now, but I am not happy with it.
> I have already arranged return in the LFS I got it from...
> It is too shallow for a DSB. I would like these 2 extra inches
> 50 gallon tank gives me to move from 16" in breeder to 18" height.
>

Yea the breeder tanks are for breeding fresh water fish,
not for show tanks :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets

[Wayne Sallee]

Mark Henry wrote on 1/5/2006 11:39 AM:
> I have this 65g tank (in fact, it's in its second week of cycling now)
> and doesn't look "weird" to me. I've got 80# of substrate (40# live
> rock, 40# aragonite) which gave me a bed between 2 and 4" deep and 90#
> of live rock which fills about 1/2 the height in the tank the way I have
> it stacked.
>

Did you put base rock on the glass, and put the live rock
on top of that? If you built your house on the sand, it
will fall, as critters start digging under it.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets

[Mark Henry]

Wayne Sallee wrote:
>
> Did you put base rock on the glass, and put the live rock on top of
> that? If you built your house on the sand, it will fall, as critters
> start digging under it.
>

Wayne,

I bought plastic egg crate from Lowe's, cut that up and stacked it. Then
the rock went on top and the sand all around.

mark h

[Pszemol]

"Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message ...
> Pszemol wrote on 1/5/2006 10:54 AM:
>> I got the 40 gallon breeder now, but I am not happy with it.
>> I have already arranged return in the LFS I got it from...
>> It is too shallow for a DSB. I would like these 2 extra inches
>> 50 gallon tank gives me to move from 16" in breeder to 18" height.
>
> Yea the breeder tanks are for breeding fresh water fish,
> not for show tanks :-)

I know what they are for :)
I just wanted shallow reef tank with a lot of bottom surface.
Not that shallow though... 16" tall tank with DSB at 4" would
have only 12" water column... too shallow. 18" would be better.
But I need to see it to better imagine how would it look in my room :-)

[Wayne Sallee]

Yea that will work.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Mark Henry wrote on 1/5/2006 11:58 AM:
> Wayne Sallee wrote:
>
>>
>> Did you put base rock on the glass, and put the live rock on top of
>> that? If you built your house on the sand, it will fall, as critters
>> start digging under it.
>>
>
> Wayne,
>
> I bought plastic egg crate from Lowe's, cut that up and stacked it. Then
> the rock went on top and the sand all around.
>
> mark h

[mikesb]

I have a 58 gallon (36x18x21) by Oceanic with no center brace. This company
makes their glass walls thicker so there's no need for one. Most other
manufactors make their 36" tanks with a brace. You can also get this tank
with or without a built-in overflow. >By the way, I bought the very same
lighting fixture that you have and love it! I have it hanging from the
ceiling 8" from the water surface and it gives off very intense lighting.
If you mount it from the ceiling be sure you anchor it securely because the
fixture weighs about 22 pounds with the internal ballast. Good Luck!


"Pszemol" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, I plan to put "Outer Orbit" fixture over my 50 gallon tank:
> http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12779
>
> All-Glass Tank dimensions are as follows: surface 36"x18", hight 18".
> It will be DSB setup, so the water column will be only 14" high.
>
> I wonder if one 150 W double ended HQI + 2 x 96W pc actinics
> would be adequate lighting for all demanding LPS/SPS corals
> and tridacna clams or I would better go with more HQI light...