lighting a 4' front to back tank (500 gallon)

4

46bfinGA

New member
I am thinking about buying 2- 8 lamp tek lights for my 500. The tank is 4' front to back so I would center up the lights on the tank and lift them a bit to spread out the light. Dimensions on my tank are 8'x4'x2'.

Will this work ok? The tank is going to be full of softies and I really dont want more wattage then this. I actually have 2-8' 6 lamp fixtures that I was going to put side by side. but I like the looks of the Tek lights better then what I have. Are there any T5 lights out there that are around 36" wide that would spread out the light a little better?

Any thoughts?
 
Not too worried about having enough light for the corals. More interested in having enough spread to light up the tank and still look good. The fixture is 48"x20" and the tank is 48" front to back. All my rock will be placed in the middle of the tank in a few islands. I didnt know if anyone has tried this on there larger tanks. I definitely don't want to spend the cash and buy 4 fixtures.
 
each Tek 8 bulb fixture is 20" wide. So with two fixtures you're covering 40" of your 48" area, when you raise them up a bit I'm sure the spread will cover the remaining 4" on each side.

but are you looking at the 72" length? isn't your tank 96"?

they look like nice fixtures btw
 
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Yeah my tank is 8' long so I will install the fixtures in the center of the tank end to end. I cant seem to find any fixtures wider then 20" that have more of a spread to them. I really would like to stick with about 12-16 bulbs max. Maybe I should just DIY a fixture made out of aluminum angle,but that is still pretty expensive once you start buying all the Reflectors,endcaps,standoffs,ballasts,etc..........The Tek fixtures look really nice that the major plus to those.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11449701#post11449701 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FishTruck
These babies have a 48 by 48 inch spread. Not T5s, but an option. (Not a cheap option either).

http://www.aquariumobsessed.com/

Infinity XR6- Twin 2 x 400 Pendant
Click to expand...

Yeah you buy them for me for Christmas! :)

No way I would ever spend $6000 on 2 lights. Im trying to spend as less as possible on this. The Tunze setup,Dart NW skimmer,etc....has allready cost me an arm and a leg.
 
ahh, end to end, then you are trying to cover 48" with a 20" wide fixture, that may be difficult.

but, if you are planning to place your rock/corals in the middle under the lights, no problem! would also look nice as your eyes would be drawn to that area
 
Before I bought two I would probably just install a couple light movers and have them slide front to back a couple feet. But I think these lights will do fine on this tank if I mount them in the middle. Hell Im running a 36" 4 lamp T5 light on a 6' 125 right now.I like the way it looks.
 
46bfinGA,

I definitely don't want to spend the cash and buy 4 fixtures.
Click to expand...
And a 500 gallon reef don't go together very well..

The Tunze setup,Dart NW skimmer,etc....has already cost me an arm and a leg.
Click to expand...

Before your finished all your appendages and wallet will be missing. heheheh..

You can low budget it, but the maintenance cost will still blow your hair back...

I'm not trying to be negative, heck it's almost Christmas.. And I still don't have your new chiller picked out...

Happy Reefing
 
I think you will need more than 8 bulbs fixture.... I plan to have the same dimension tank with 3x400w and 4x4bulbs fixture along the side...
 
I'm looking into light movers for my next tank, makes a lot of sense to me, appears to be a way to light a larger area more economically.
 
I dont want to use a ton of electricity to run this tank. Thats why I sold my beckett skimmer and got the DartNW,same reason I scrapped the closed loop that I bought and got the Tunze. Maybe I would be better off building my own fixture and running the bulbs from front to back.Spread 12-16 lamps evenly across the tank? Problem with that is I just sold all my Retrofit stuff to buy some nicer fixtures. Oh well Im going to try the fixtures and just have to live with me decision. Wouldnt be the first time Ive bought something that didnt quite turn out right.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11453469#post11453469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Elliott
I'm looking into light movers for my next tank, makes a lot of sense to me, appears to be a way to light a larger area more economically.
Click to expand...

I found some relatively inexpensive ones online in some of the propogation/hydroponic websites. Im thinking this would be the way to go instead of dumping a ton of money into lights on big tanks. I may order a couple and see how they do.
 
I have found chain driven light movers that are around $100 and then the self propeled trolley ones that are around $200 each. Im not sure which ones are better or more dependable.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11453562#post11453562 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 46bfinGA
Wouldnt be the first time Ive bought something that didnt quite turn out right.
Click to expand...

We have all been there!!!
 
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