Re: [RML] Lights

Michael F. Adams Jr. (mfadam1 at pop.uky.edu)
Sun, 18 Jan 1998 11:56:58 -0500

Jim...you've brought me out from under my rock. Here are my two cents worth
on the lighting issue. One of my tanks is a 200G Oceanic (7x2x2) which when
I first set it up had four MH bulbs hanging over it. It's quite heavily
planted and the primary inhabitants are rainbows. After a few months with
the MH bulbs I was never quite happy with the color of the fish unless they
were in the shade provided by one of the tall plants or under driftwood. I
have other "dimmer" tanks where the color was much better. I made the
switch to fluorescent bulbs a couple of months ago and couldn't be happier
with the color on the fish. The plants are still doing just fine. I used
shoplights with a variety of bulbs including actinics, FS, and just the
plain cheapos that come with the twin-tube fixtures. Total there are twelve
bulbs over the tank with one foot overhanging the right side under which
there are some house plants. One thing I would like to pass along to anyone
considering the shop light route is to not buy the cheapos. Mine are giving
me fits -- one wont come on and another has to be "started" by me.

Just my two cents

Mike

At 12:50 AM 1/16/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Hey There...
>
>I just purchased a new Oceanic 125, a tank I will be setting up when I
>have all the components (which will be about 6 months the way my money
>is going). The thing I have thought the most about, is how to light
>this tank which will be live planted and CO2 injected.
>
>A 6' tank presents problems when using flourescent, I think, because you
>can hardly get 2 watts/gallon even if you cover the thing with 36"
>tubes...and besides, if you do, you will have spent a fortune doing it.
>I figure $320.00 just for 4 dual-tube fixtures (unless someone knows
>where to get 36" shop light fixtures), and at least another $100 -
>150.00 for bulbs (if you use something like the ultra tri-lux bulb).
>
>Well hell, If I'm going to spend that much on lighting, maybe I should
>consider metal halide or VHO. I can put 350 watts of metal halide for
>the same money and have it hanging from the ceiling, to boot, giving me
>excellent access to the tank (a luxury I don't presently have due to the
>fact that I have flourescent strips all over my other tanks).
>
>Anyway, I have never seen metal halide or VHO lighting in action, nor do
>I know anybody who has. Can anybody shed any light on this matter?
>This will be my first go with serious CO2 injection, so I know I need to
>get my watts up. How will my rainbows look with this much light on them?
>I'm not sure if I want to drown out the beauty of my fish; but, on the
>other hand, I am really getting into this plant thing. Where does The
>List draw the line here?
>
>I am open to any suggestion or sharing of personal experience with
>lighting this size tank. I'm not sure exactly what fish I will be
>keeping in this tank but it will be community. I will probably put a
>rather large tribe of Pappin Cr. Tris in there and maybe a splendida
>variety or two.
>
>Thanks
>Jim
>
>
------------------------------
Michael F. Adams Jr.
Graduate Studies in Transportation/Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering--Traffic Lab
C216 CE/Trans Building
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
606/257-4349