Lighting for a 700gl ~5 feet deep

[MonsterChef]

Just was wondering if anyone had pictures of a planted tank that is 5 feet deep? I'm looking at buying a 700gl but I'm not sure I can light such a beast. Java's, vails, anibus, lotus roots, ground cover, amazon swords etc.

Without bringing the sun in is this a no win situation?

thx

 

[FSM]

What are the dimensions? 1000W metal halides won't be nice to your electric bill.

 

[studd muffin]

What are the dimensions? 1000W metal halides won't be nice to your electric bill.

I agree. Try out T5's.

 

[MonsterChef]

8 5 3.5 - I have T5's on my 120 now but man 5 feet is a lot of water to deal with depth wise. Thanks for the feed.

Chef

 

[JakeH]

I think any flourescent would be a waste as the main light... It would be fine for just fish, but no way its gonna be enough light to grow any real plants. Flourescents just don't penetrate the water well enough in my experience. I think Metal Halide is probably the only logical choice for main/plant lighting in a 5ft deep tank. LED may also work, but it would cost you a few vital organs to get one big enough. Instead of just doing one big 1000w MH, I think I would try to do 3 or 4 smaller MH fixtures evenly spaced. That way you get some cool shadowing to play with... I'd probably end up adding some random flourescents to fill in the dark spots & get the look just right. Your electric bill is going to go up anyway with a 700g, so I'm not sure that matters too much. Either way I'm dying to see that tank!

 

[RedDwarf]

I think you only have three viable solutions to your dilema, the first being metal halides and the second depending on where the tank is situated would be using those solar tubes to bring sunlight down into the tank. The T5's aren't going to be very effective on tanks over 30" tall. The third option would be led lighting with lenses. With the led your going to have the spot lighting effect of the metal halides but just more of them so you could have the indivual leds pointed at certain spots in the tank, sort of like track lighting for the aquarium. I would lean towards the solar tubes with supplimental T5's so you can have some lighting when it's dark or cloudy.

 

[FSM]

I agree. Try out T5's.

T5s wouldn't be any better.

 

[MonsterChef]

Thanks guys! I'm sort of now doubting the depth in my decision to move forward because I do want to plant it, clean it and do it right.

thx

Jake, is that your car on your avatar? Here's mine -

 

[scriving]

Thanks guys! I'm sort of now doubting the depth in my decision to move forward because I do want to plant it, clean it and do it right.

thx

what about underwater lighting

 

[JakeH]

Thanks guys! I'm sort of now doubting the depth in my decision to move forward because I do want to plant it, clean it and do it right.

thx

Jake, is that your car on your avatar? Here's mine -

VERY NICE! No, I wish I could find the budget for a full-on track toy, but for now my "toy" is a Dodge SRT-4 with all the bolt-on goodies & a bigger turbo. It's my weekend warrior/garage queen. My avatar is a German DTM car. My cousin back in Germany is a marketing guy for the Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes DTM team & we run the retirement plan for Salzgitter's USA division, so I'm trying to represent!