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mmittlesteadt
03/10/2015, 03:27 PM
I plan on aquascaping my 40G breeder so there are more open spaces (it's just a look I like) and plan on having two "islands" if you will...one taller one on the right and a shorter one on the left with room in the middle and not going out to the ends of the tank.

Since the tank is only 36" long, would 24" wide lighting (centered) suffice? I'm thinking I would not need 36" wide light strips (whether I went LED or T5).

Thoughts?

mcgyvr
03/10/2015, 04:02 PM
yes.. 24" should easily cover it.. assuming whatever light you pick allows the light to extend out past 24".. or you don't plan to put anything that requires extensive light on the outer 6" of each side of the tank..

I have 2 x 16"W lights (10" over water) on a 72" wide 120G tank with no problems..2 x Ocean Revive S026

mmittlesteadt
03/10/2015, 10:00 PM
I'm starting to seriously think about how to aquascape my tank, even though I haven't even set it up yet.

Tomorrow the new carpet goes in the living room. Then I can move my new tank in. Once it's in place I can take my time putting it all together.

In the meantime, I'm visualizing the reef shaping up as two islands of rock, the right being larger and taller than the left one. The right will slope up from the front right until about midway to the back and then slope back down gradually to the left (tapering off behind the left one).

The left one will do the opposite, but much shorter and will end about midway (in the front of the right one) to create a disappearing hallway between the two.

Using a 24" wide light fixture, I will place it more to the right. This will give the right side stronger lighting for soft corals that like more light and the left side for those that prefer less light. Plenty of open spaces, tunnels and channels, creating a visually stimulating centerpiece that is off center and lit stronger.

I think I will much prefer this to a light fixture across the entire width of the tank.