Extremely disappointed with my lighting

[Carefree_Dude]

I recently purchased a 210 gallon aquarium. I purchased it blindly; i didn't get to see the hood, stand, or aquarium until after it arrived. Overall, i'm happy with everything except for the lighting.

My aquarium is 6 feet long. The lid was a glass lid, with two 3 foot light fixtures to go on top of it. This would be fine, but the light fixtures only can use 2 foot bulbs. So, I have 4 foot of lightbulb for 6 foot of aquarium. it does a very poor job of lighting.

First off, is this normal for big tanks to have such poor lighting? also, what would be better to get?

 

[ecoli73]

Better question is how much are you willing to spend?

 

[Angler]

Some big tanks have poor lighting, some have lots of lighting. It comes down to your preference. Your fixtures might be fine for your tank; you just might need to get some new bulbs, which could make a big difference. If you decide you want to buy new fixtures, I suggest Current Nova Extreme t-5s. I have them on my 260, and they work great.

 

[Jc1119]

Mostly depends on what you want to keep and wether you want plants. I'll be using a dual 48" t5 on a 96 inch tank, but it because there will be no plants, and I need certain parts if the tank to be in the shadows.

 

[jcardona1]

As mentioned above:

- What are you trying to achieve? Stadium lighting where every square inch of the tank is blasted with light, or a more natural, low light tank?
- How much are you willing to spend?

 

[ar0wan]

.. but the light fixtures only can use 2 foot bulbs...

please elaborate

 

[Deep Blue Sea]

Better question is how much are you willing to spend?

if you really want it to look spectacular go with metal-halides but they cost quite a pretty penny at that size, theyll light up your whole house but can cost around 1k

 

[karl wagner]

I too have a 210 gallon, 6 foot by 2 foot by 29" or 31" or whatever it is. I had two lights (PC 65 w double bulbs). One broke and so I picked up a 3 foot section of LED bulbs (from Marineland) and it lights half my tank excellently.

When the other side goes I will replace it similarly with these LEDs. I think they light my tank adequately. I don't plan on using more than one per section. I think two would be TOO much light for my liking.

 

[jalepeno]

I'm cheap and don't have plants.

So I bought a 4 foot dual T-12 fixture. I put two cheap shop lights in it, and it seemed too bright for my tastes, lit up my whole living room. So I took one out. Now I have a 40 watt lighting system on my 180 that works just fine for me.

 

[Calihawk]

Too bad you're not close to me, I'll buy them from u