Lighting my tank... What would you do???

[acroholic]

Harleyguy;336147 wrote: <span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">How do you like it? Does it give you a good spread with good par? </span></span>

<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">I also opted for the Glass and I'll likely go with the cooling system later on if the tank starts running a little hot....</span></span>

I don't think PAR is as good as with a Lumenbright reflector, but it is a large pendant at about 23" x 23". I bought it because I was looking for a less focused light than Lumenbrights because my tank is 30" x 30". It provides a nice spread, and as chalices don't need a lot of par, it is friendlier to them than a Lumenbright with a 400 watt bulb.

Mine is hung as a pendant, and I painted it black to match my other pendants.
Dave

 

[harleyguy]

Acroholic;336426 wrote: I don't think PAR is as good as with a Lumenbright reflector, but it is a large pendant at about 23" x 23". I bought it because I was looking for a less focused light than Lumenbrights because my tank is 30" x 30". It provides a nice spread, and as chalices don't need a lot of par, it is friendlier to them than a Lumenbright with a 400 watt bulb.

Mine is hung as a pendant, and I painted it black to match my other pendants.
Dave

<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">That's kind of what I wanted to hear... With the unusual dimensions of my tank I figured I needed spread a little more than punch... After all the tank is only 26" deep, minus the 3 inches for sand and the .5-.75" gap at the top and the .5" of glass at the top I figure the reflector will only have to get the light down ~22". I know I'm giving up a little by going with 20K MHs, but hopefully the 15K T5s make up for it.... Wish me luck.</span></span>

 

[grouper therapy]

Harleyguy;336472 wrote: <span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">That's kind of what I wanted to hear... With the unusual dimensions of my tank I figured I needed spread a little more than punch... After all the tank is only 26" deep, minus the 3 inches for sand and the .5-.75" gap at the top and the .5" of glass at the top I figure the reflector will only have to get the light down ~22". I know I'm giving up a little by going with 20K MHs, but hopefully the 15K T5s make up for it.... Wish me luck.</span></span>

You may not be giving up much par with the 20k as you think. Depending on the bulb /ballast combo they may put out as much par as some 14k or even a few 10 k's

 

[harleyguy]

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<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">I guess we will have to wait and see... Hopefully I'll get my tank set up in the next month or two then I can do some testing.... Ummm who has a PAR meter I can use???</span></span>
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