Lighting Ideas...Be Creative!

[Soggy Pockets]

OK, here is the challenge:

Setting up a 240 gal. fish tank that is 8'x3'x16" for saltwater fish. The tank is in my basement which has a drop ceiling with typical type tiles. The top of the tank is about 3' - 4' from the top of the ceilng.

My wife does NOT want me to use anything hanging from the ceiling. I had hoped to use 2 to 3 pendant ligts with 150w metal hallide....but was voted down due to having to hang.

There is a canlight above the tank, almost in the middle of the tank, my wife would like to add two more canlights to light the tank...the trouble is finding lights that are not in a spectrum that will be an algae producing machine...

There is room between the drop ceiling and the floor above-about 10"-12" or so...I really do not want to build boxes to put the light in as I am NOT that handy and would end up paying someone to do

I can replace/add the can lights with lights that are insulated to be able to use higher watt lighting...

So, please throw out ideas on:

-if I use canlights, what wattage/what kind of bulbs/where to get...

-alternative to canlights?

Please, any ideas/suggests are welcome.

Thank you.
bill.

 

[bob965]

I'm not sure that would work very well. Any type of ceiling light you use is going to tend to spread the light into the room, and only a small percentage of it will penetrate the water and illuminate the tank. I think the bright fixtures in the ceilings, and the reflected light from the wall will be distracting when trying to view the tank. You should use something that lights the tank more directly, and gives you the option of dimming the room lights and viewing the tank as the focal point. Why not just use a canopy?

 

[12 Volt Man]

without hanging metal halides, probably your best option is T5 lighting, eg. from coralife.

two 4 foot fixtures would work, perhaps with some 10,000K and actinic bulbs, but this would be expensive..