lighting question?

gcirkel · 02/14/2012, 03:09 AM

I have a 30 gallon bow front tank that came with an led light fixture that sat on the hood. After only five months half of the led's are no longer working. i would like to remove the top but then i would be in need of a fixture that could either clip onto the tank or hang. Being farely new to this i thought i would reach out and see what others with more experience might suggest. the tank is 26"l x 14"w x 28"h. any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks...

Ron Reefman · 02/14/2012, 04:41 AM

Well, lighting can vary depending on what you want to keep in the tank. First, I'm not surprised about the led fixture. For all the hoopla about how great they are, they haven't been doing as well as many/most people thought they would. I thing a t5 fixture with 4 bulbs would serve you well. Your issue is the fact that it is a bow front tank and many lights with legs won't sit on a bowfront.

jdm01 · 02/14/2012, 04:55 AM

I have a 90G with metal halide and a 65G with a 4 bulb T5. I think the T5 will let me keep most of what I want to keep. I have the AquaticLife T5 and I really like it. It has the timer built into it for the daylights, actinic, and night LED. It runs off of one plug and is programmable from the front. My metal halide runs off of 4 plugs and you have to have a timer to plug all of it into in order to get the light cycle set correctly. The T5 even adjusts for DST. You may have to hang it though because I am not sure how well the legs will work with a bow front.

gcirkel · 02/14/2012, 05:43 AM

the bow front has been my big problem. it has to be a smaller fixture with good output. it's probably going to need the ability to be hung. i thought maybe a clip on of some sort might be a though, but i have a filter, skimmer and quarantine box hanging on the back so there isn't much room. i would like to put some coral in it eventually...

02/14/2012, 03:09 AM	#1
gcirkel Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 13	lighting question? I have a 30 gallon bow front tank that came with an led light fixture that sat on the hood. After only five months half of the led's are no longer working. i would like to remove the top but then i would be in need of a fixture that could either clip onto the tank or hang. Being farely new to this i thought i would reach out and see what others with more experience might suggest. the tank is 26"l x 14"w x 28"h. any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks...

02/14/2012, 04:41 AM	#2
Ron Reefman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Coral, FL Posts: 10,431	Well, lighting can vary depending on what you want to keep in the tank. First, I'm not surprised about the led fixture. For all the hoopla about how great they are, they haven't been doing as well as many/most people thought they would. I thing a t5 fixture with 4 bulbs would serve you well. Your issue is the fact that it is a bow front tank and many lights with legs won't sit on a bowfront. __________________ The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. (Neil deGrasse Tyson) Visit my build thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593017

02/14/2012, 04:55 AM	#3
jdm01 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Greenfield Posts: 904	I have a 90G with metal halide and a 65G with a 4 bulb T5. I think the T5 will let me keep most of what I want to keep. I have the AquaticLife T5 and I really like it. It has the timer built into it for the daylights, actinic, and night LED. It runs off of one plug and is programmable from the front. My metal halide runs off of 4 plugs and you have to have a timer to plug all of it into in order to get the light cycle set correctly. The T5 even adjusts for DST. You may have to hang it though because I am not sure how well the legs will work with a bow front. __________________ John Martin Current Tank Info: 29 Gallon BioCube

02/14/2012, 05:43 AM	#4
gcirkel Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 13	the bow front has been my big problem. it has to be a smaller fixture with good output. it's probably going to need the ability to be hung. i thought maybe a clip on of some sort might be a though, but i have a filter, skimmer and quarantine box hanging on the back so there isn't much room. i would like to put some coral in it eventually...