Metal halide too good for a monster fish tank ?

[Star-Flog]

Aren't arowanas already used to having light shine right on top of them?? They are surface swimmers i believe. In the wild i'm sure they do swim to the surface and hunt for food while having sunlight shine on them.

I've the same thinking, as Metal halide resemble the sunlight and therefore it should be no problem except the MH light might get a little too hot when too close to the water surface. It might increase the tank temperature somehow to a few degree...

 

[hardb0iled]

1 or 2 150W metal halides are not going to be anywhere near as bright as natural sunlight so unless you have fish that in the wild spend all their time in a cave it shouldnt be 'too bright' for them. 150W MH lights wont be all that intense - they use 1000W MH lights inside for growing plants!

I have a 70W MH lamp on one of my tanks and am planning on using a 70W and a 150W MH on my new 220g tank. The lights I have arent aquarium specific lighting, they are just old shop fitting downlights which I got cheap second hand and will be building them into a hood. Aquarium lighting is insanely overpriced, I got 2 x 70W MH downlights with ballasts for about $50AU(including 4500K globes).

I use them for the exact reason you want to, you can highlight certain parts of the tank and have other areas in shadow. MH lighting looks a lot more like natural sunlight IMHO.

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

do you plan a planted tank, or no plants? That's also something to consider when you choose your lighting.

HarleyK

 

[Star-Flog]

Howdy,

do you plan a planted tank, or no plants? That's also something to consider when you choose your lighting.

HarleyK

Hi, No plants, just fishes..
I read that for MH (150 watts) light hang 1ft above the tank, the intense light will cover 2ft x 2ft of the tank area.
Also, the tank glass cover need to be speciality treated if not, it might crack under the heat generated by MH light..
Just my 2 cents comments.