46 gallon bow, mixed reef owners...

[DLANDINO]

What combination HQI/T5 lighting fixtures are you using? Product names, links to products or pics of your set up would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

I have a 175 with 3 250 Hamilton Reefstars and 4 65w pc for actinics--that means you could do 1 reefstar and 1-2 24" pc if you wanted.

 

[darkdruid]

I have a 46 bowfront running an Odyssea 250 watt HQI and two 96 watt actinic pc's and 8 moonlight led's. The fixture is great, an exact knockoff of the Coralife. The ballast that comes with it sucks though. I switched to a Galaxy electronic and couldn't be happier. $199 for the fixture and $149 for the ballast.

 

[DLANDINO]

darkdruid, is your center brace black and if if is, how do you get past it blocking your light? Also, do you have any pics showing the setup?

Also, thanks Stanley!

 

[darkdruid]

My camera is dead at the moment, but I cut out the center brace and replaced it with a piece of clear acrylic, no more dark stripe down the middle of the tank. There is a thread somewhere on here that shows how to do it. It wasn't hard at all.

 

[DLANDINO]

Did you cut it while full of water?

 

[darkdruid]

I cut it full and running. I took a piece of 1/4" clear acrylic the same width as the brace and cut it the full length as the brace. Most people cut the center brace, leaving an inch or two on each end to attach the acrylic to. Then they place the acrylic piece on top of the tabs on each end and glue or screw it in place.

Since my tank was full I didn't want to chance cutting the factory brace, so I took the acrylic piece and placed it on top of the old brace and drilled two holes on each end for the plastic screws and nuts I bought at Lowes. Then I put a drop of gorilla glue on it and put it under the old brace and put the screws though the holes I already drilled and tightened them down. I let it set up over night, then cut the old brace off an inch or so past the screws, leaving the clear brace underneath.

 

[driftin]

I used to have a 46 bow. I had two 175W Iwasaki's running over it with two 3' CFL tubes for actinic supplementation. I avoided most of the shadows that way and was happy with the coloration.

 

[darkdruid]

I fixed the camera, crappy pictures but at least you get some idea. You still get a shadow on the back wall from the tab of the old brace, but it's just on the wall, not across the whole tank.

 

[DLANDINO]

darkdruid, thank you so much for the detailed response! I'll look into this prospect.

 

[TavisB]

Tek 4 bulb T5

 

[jhoff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15325393#post15325393 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by darkdruid

I fixed the camera, crappy pictures but at least you get some idea. You still get a shadow on the back wall from the tab of the old brace, but it's just on the wall, not across the whole tank.

Look out for the tang police.

 

[returnofsid]

I like how you solved the center brace issue!! I have a 46 that I'll be breaking down soon. I'm lighting it with 2X96 PCs in a Coralife fixture. If I were to keep it, I'd switch to a 4XT5Ho fixture. It's been running for almost 4 years and is healthy as heck!!

 

[Bmgrocks]

guess its you since you obviously called him out.

 

[darkdruid]

Tang police???? But officer, he was the size of a quarter when I rescued him from a friends 2 gallon pico reef! And when he gets bigger, there is a 220 gallon in storage, ready to set up.

 

[BeanMachine]

DarkDruid- Tell it to the judge!!:lol: Awesome layout, very nice tank!