need advice on lights

[hangner]

so im a bit confused right now,
I will have a 48" deep saltwater tank and probably fish only setup
i was thinking about using normal 40w fluorescent lights(48" long)
but then it crossed my mind that the light would maybe not be able to light up all the way to the bottom of tank
should i get VHO or metal halide???
dont have a huge budjet so i will be making it myself
any advice would be appreciated

hangner

 

[Mr Cracker2u]

Any lights are fine on a fish only they come down to personal preferance. You only have to worry about intensity with reef or live plants. A FOWLR tank could use a little boost in lights to grow coraline and colerpura maybe even some zoo's or mushroom polyps. HO or VHO should handle that.
48" is deep but to the human eye you won't notice much of a diffrence.

 

[hangner]

Alright thanks for the help
i was scared i would have to buy very expensive lights

 

[Mystix212]

At night, (If you have a tank 4ft or longer) try and shine the same bulb you are using for your tank sideways horizontally through the tank. You should notice that it gets weaker as it travels through the water. This is what is going to happen with your tank. You may want a single Metal Halide in the center.

 

[hangner]

i want the blue look
but the tank is 8x4x4ft a single metal halide aint gonna be enough (i think)
oh and im wondering if there is any difference between the metal halides they sell as normal lights and the ones for aquarium

 

[Mystix212]

A metal halide has a huge light advantage over a standard flouresent bulb that you buy at the LFS. The standard bulb is 12 watts per foot. Metal Halides can be no bigger then 6"x6"x6" and produce 200 watts. If you have an open tank (No hood) you can buy cheap metal halide's designed for construction use to simply fix in place on top of the tank or suspend them.

 

[WyldFya]

Any lights are fine on a fish only they come down to personal preferance. You only have to worry about intensity with reef or live plants. A FOWLR tank could use a little boost in lights to grow coraline and colerpura maybe even some zoo's or mushroom polyps. HO or VHO should handle that.
48" is deep but to the human eye you won't notice much of a diffrence.

Water affects light. The deeper the tank, the more light that is lost. At 4' he wouldn't have hardly any light.

 

[WyldFya]

A metal halide has a huge light advantage over a standard flouresent bulb that you buy at the LFS. The standard bulb is 12 watts per foot. Metal Halides can be no bigger then 6"x6"x6" and produce 200 watts. If you have an open tank (No hood) you can buy cheap metal halide's designed for construction use to simply fix in place on top of the tank or suspend them.

Not necessarily a good idea, if the fixture isn't properly sealed.

 

[WyldFya]

i want the blue look
but the tank is 8x4x4ft a single metal halide aint gonna be enough (i think)
oh and im wondering if there is any difference between the metal halides they sell as normal lights and the ones for aquarium

There is a big difference, the color. Standard construction/street light MH are 3300K-4500K, standard aquarium MH are 10,000K. Aquarium lights are whiter, the cheap ones are yellowish.

 

[Absolute Aquariums]

what about bringing up the bottom. More substrate and add to the live rock base. Through in a big eye and you're set.