Hey All,
I am thinking about upgrading tanks and I have a couple of options. My current tank is a standard AGA 90.
Option 1: Custom made 60x30x20 (decided on 60 instead of 48)
Advantages</em> - I love the size!!! The depth will allow for some incredible aquascaping. I can customize my overflow and I was thinking of going with a coast to coast style Calfo overflow.
Disadvantages</em> - Ill incur a lot more cost b/c I may need new lighting. Currently I am running 6 48" (54w) Icecap T5's on two 660's. Over a five foot tank I think I would need to take a step up and get the 80w T5's. The 660's can only run 3 of the 80w bulbs at a time and with the extra depth I could easily fit another 3 bulbs and still have room for my powerbrites, moonlights, etc which means that I would likely need another 660 and Id be running a total of 720w.
The question here is at this point, is it worth just jumping into Halides - for another 168w I can have two four hundreds and two 80w T5's supplemental and for color and at that point I am only replacing 4 bulbs per year as opposed to 9.
One last question here is this: Could I stick with my current lighting and simply stagger the bulbs? Has anyone tried this, do you get a nice look?
Option 2: Marineland Marine Series 200 (48x36x27)
Advantages:</em> Awesome dimensions again and I can definitely stick with my current light set up since I stay within that 4ft length. Also, its a factory tank so no need to go out and have one made.
Disadvantages:</em> Not a big fan of the 27" height. My current tank is 24" and I think its a bit too tall. The 36" depth, while amazing, those 6 inches make a huge difference of how the tank fits in the room. 36" protrudes almost a bit too far. Also, forced into two corner overflows. Not necessarily a bad thing but then you can see inside the overflow from a side thats exposed and I am not a big fan of that.
Basically, it comes down to what I want to spend I know. But the main question is if you guys think that I can get away with using my current T5 4ft set up over the 5ft tank (btw, I can add two more 4ft bulbs to my icecaps right now for a total of 8 T5's) by staggering the lights, I think my decision becomes much easier because I dont have to worry about lighting so much. If so, Ill probably choose option 1.
Also, are there things I havent thought about?
I am thinking about upgrading tanks and I have a couple of options. My current tank is a standard AGA 90.
Option 1: Custom made 60x30x20 (decided on 60 instead of 48)
Advantages</em> - I love the size!!! The depth will allow for some incredible aquascaping. I can customize my overflow and I was thinking of going with a coast to coast style Calfo overflow.
Disadvantages</em> - Ill incur a lot more cost b/c I may need new lighting. Currently I am running 6 48" (54w) Icecap T5's on two 660's. Over a five foot tank I think I would need to take a step up and get the 80w T5's. The 660's can only run 3 of the 80w bulbs at a time and with the extra depth I could easily fit another 3 bulbs and still have room for my powerbrites, moonlights, etc which means that I would likely need another 660 and Id be running a total of 720w.
The question here is at this point, is it worth just jumping into Halides - for another 168w I can have two four hundreds and two 80w T5's supplemental and for color and at that point I am only replacing 4 bulbs per year as opposed to 9.
One last question here is this: Could I stick with my current lighting and simply stagger the bulbs? Has anyone tried this, do you get a nice look?
Option 2: Marineland Marine Series 200 (48x36x27)
Advantages:</em> Awesome dimensions again and I can definitely stick with my current light set up since I stay within that 4ft length. Also, its a factory tank so no need to go out and have one made.
Disadvantages:</em> Not a big fan of the 27" height. My current tank is 24" and I think its a bit too tall. The 36" depth, while amazing, those 6 inches make a huge difference of how the tank fits in the room. 36" protrudes almost a bit too far. Also, forced into two corner overflows. Not necessarily a bad thing but then you can see inside the overflow from a side thats exposed and I am not a big fan of that.
Basically, it comes down to what I want to spend I know. But the main question is if you guys think that I can get away with using my current T5 4ft set up over the 5ft tank (btw, I can add two more 4ft bulbs to my icecaps right now for a total of 8 T5's) by staggering the lights, I think my decision becomes much easier because I dont have to worry about lighting so much. If so, Ill probably choose option 1.
Also, are there things I havent thought about?
