Lighting for a 240, HELP

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PhinPhan

PhinPhan

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Dec 7, 2010
59
2
38
Albany, NY
I am in the process of purchasing this 240 gallon tank, however it comes with no tops or lighting. I'm getting glass tops cut for it, but I'm having a difficult time tracking down lighting. I'm going freshwater, so I don't need any crazy metal halide or anything of that nature. I was just hoping for some t5's 10,000K or better. I can't seem to find anything that will work for the 84" lengh. As far as I can tell, there are no 42"s out there. Its going in my living room and I'd like an aesthetically pleasing option. Any suggestions?

240.jpg
 
what are the full dementions of the tank?
 
Its 84 1/2" x 24 x 31..yes its a 265.

The oddysseas are only 36" leaving a foot of unlighted tank space.

I want something that runs the entire length of the tank, ideally, and looks decent.
 
what i did for my 220 was cut a piece of plywood to 6" less width than the tank and build "legs" on it for each side. Then take 4' t5 fixtures and screwed them to it offset from eachother. then i got fancy and added 2 switches so i dont have to turn them all on but thats an option.

If thats not an option measure the gap on your cross members and you might be able to get 2' t5s in those spots across the back
 
PhinPhan;4750339; said:
Its 84 1/2" x 24 x 31..yes its a 265.

The oddysseas are only 36" leaving a foot of unlighted tank space.

I want something that runs the entire length of the tank, ideally, and looks decent.
Click to expand...

Problem your going to encounter is that bulbs don't come in 84" lengths, your looking at 34" or 46" for T5.
You don't need the light coverage to extend to the ends of your tank because unless you like lighting the sides of your tank, it really wouldn't add much to the overall light coverage.

The only way I can see that you could get coverage for your entire length of your tank is to get a canopy and put LED bulbs in there that will span the length.
I would advise against this because your going to get into lighting that will end up costing more than your tank.
My suggestion above will give you good coverage in regards to lighting and look aesthetically pleasing on a budget.
 
Hi,

I have a 240 litre and recently changed from T5 s to T8 s. The problem I had with the T5 s was Algea, not just on the sides but all over the place. I contacted Juwel and then my local fish shop who thought that T5s can be a problem. Not for everybody but for those who like not to clean Algea then T8s are the way. Now I have T8 s I have little Algea ;)

Hope this helps.
 
Lighting depends on what you plan on doing with the tank, if you are building a nice dim non planted front tank I would say 2x 36in T5 units (not HO but low light) would do just dandy. If you want planted or are planning on going salt/coral I would suggest some clamp on or pendant style 14k MH units would look amazing while giving good growth to plant life.
 
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