Marine Lighting Conundrum !

All,

I have been going through the lighting conundrum for marine tanks. I am
putting in another new 420 litre tank and I am having problems working out
the best lighting scenario.

At present I am looking into an Arcadia Overtank Luminaire which has 4 new
T5 fluorescent tubes, each of 54 Watts - what do you think?

Kind Regards,
David

"David Burton" wrote in message
. uk...
All,

I have been going through the lighting conundrum for marine tanks. I am
putting in another new 420 litre tank and I am having problems working out
the best lighting scenario.

At present I am looking into an Arcadia Overtank Luminaire which has 4 new
T5 fluorescent tubes, each of 54 Watts - what do you think?



I am using T-5 bulbs and have been very happy with them- I have 8x54w on a
90 gallon 24" deep tank.
Could you maybe fit more bulbs in there?

They are kind of a new technology here in the States, and many folks have no
experience with them and tend to simply not know how effective they can be.
The key with this type of bulb is getting the correct reflectors, but once
you do that you can grow most anything under them.
If the tank is very deep (that is 110 gallons?) you will have to keep your
light loving SPS in the upper half.


--
Toni
http://www.cearbhaill.com/reef.htm.

Toni,

Thanks for the response, the actual piece of kit I am going to get is on the
following website:

http://www.arcadia-uk.com

Under marine products you can see the overtank luminaire. As you can see it
will only take 4 bulbs, I dont want to have a pendant hanging from the
ceiling and I think this piece of kit would be good for a marine tank, mine
is 110 gallons but only 50cm deep.

What do you think?

David


"Toni" wrote in message
.. .

"David Burton" wrote in message
. uk...
All,

I have been going through the lighting conundrum for marine tanks. I am
putting in another new 420 litre tank and I am having problems working
out
the best lighting scenario.

At present I am looking into an Arcadia Overtank Luminaire which has 4
new
T5 fluorescent tubes, each of 54 Watts - what do you think?



I am using T-5 bulbs and have been very happy with them- I have 8x54w on a
90 gallon 24" deep tank.
Could you maybe fit more bulbs in there?

They are kind of a new technology here in the States, and many folks have
no
experience with them and tend to simply not know how effective they can
be.
The key with this type of bulb is getting the correct reflectors, but once
you do that you can grow most anything under them.
If the tank is very deep (that is 110 gallons?) you will have to keep your
light loving SPS in the upper half.


--
Toni
http://www.cearbhaill.com/reef.htm.

"David Burton" wrote in message
. uk...
Toni,

Thanks for the response, the actual piece of kit I am going to get is on
the
following website:

http://www.arcadia-uk.com

Under marine products you can see the overtank luminaire. As you can see
it
will only take 4 bulbs, I dont want to have a pendant hanging from the
ceiling and I think this piece of kit would be good for a marine tank,
mine
is 110 gallons but only 50cm deep.

What do you think?



I am by no means any sort of expert.
Wait for the big guys to weigh in before making any decisions.
And browse around http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/index.php?s= to find
many, many opinions on the topic.

All I can attest to is that I am running 8x54w over a 24" deep tank, and I
have to keep my light lovers high up in order for them to keep their color.
It depends entirely on what you are hoping to keep.


--
Toni
http://www.cearbhaill.com/reef.htm