AH Supply Light Distribution

M

mssymrvn

New Fish
#1
May 5, 2005
3
0
0
51
Somerville, MA
#1
This is I think my first post here and regards the first tank I'm setting up in eight years. I just got a 40 Breeder tank and I'm planning on using a 96W PC light setup from AH Supply. My question regards the distribution of light over the entire tank. This is going to be a heavily planted tank and I want to make sure that the 18" depth of the tank (front-to-back, that is) isn't going to wreck the coverage of the light, in which case I'll get a 2x55 kit and play around with the angling of the reflectors corner to corner to get decent light distribution.

So, what say you folks? Is the 96W kit going to cover the entire aquarium or should I just get the 2x55W kit?
 

L

Left C

Small Fish
#3
Jul 21, 2005
28
0
0
#3
I've read about people complaining about a single CF light over a 18" wide tank (40gBR, 50g, 65g). It doesn't light up that wide of an area. I'd go with the 50g because it's a little taller and add another 96w AHS kit. You could have two ballasts so that you could run both bulbs with different timers. For example, let's say you run one bulb for 12 hours and the other for 10 hours. If you go to a 2 X 55/65w bulb, you may still have a problem. These bulbs are about 22" long and your tank is 36" long. How are you going to light the sides then? I guess that you could offset (stagger) them somwhat like you see on some 2 X 65w 30" fixtures. Heck, I really like the 50g for a planted tank and a 2 X 96w AHS kit. If you get the 40gBR, you could add a regular fluorescent strip light (single, twin or triple bulb unit) or a shop light to get some more added coverage for the 96w unit. A 2 X96w unit over a 40gBR might be too much.
 

L

Left C

Small Fish
#4
Jul 21, 2005
28
0
0
#4
I just thought of something. AHS has a 4" wide and a 7" wide reflector for the 96w unit. Maybe you could go with the 7" wide reflector but with a single 96w bulb and get a little more coverage that way. I don't know but you could ask them. I'm sure you are not the only one that has ran across this problem.
 

M

mssymrvn

New Fish
#6
May 5, 2005
3
0
0
51
Somerville, MA
#6
Deep breath and suck it up is the concensus? If using the 2x55W setup I was going to angle and stagger

|----|
| / / |
|----|


like so (if you don't understand what I'm saying, just slap me 'upside the head). In this manner I figured I could get better coverage. I've got no qualms about the 2x96W setup other than the initial price which would go away once the initial bitter pill was swallowed.

If I went the strip light route then I'd probably use my own homemade T5 setup buying parts from 1000bulbs.com. However, I can't seem to find 3' T5s and I'm not sure I want to have a 4' hood over a 3' tank. This is for my office as a taste of how much I want to deal with fishkeeping again. If all goes well I'll install a 90 or 120 in my living room in a few years once I do some renovations. But having an awkward setup in my office isn't really in the cards as I really don't have the space for it.

So the 2x96W setup it is then.
 

L

Left C

Small Fish
#8
Jul 21, 2005
28
0
0
#8
I'm glad that you're getting a 2 X 96w for your 40gBR. One of the LFS around here has one for sale and I stare at it every time that I come in. I really like the 36" X 18" 'foot print'. Coralife just came out with a new 50/50 CF bulb. It's a Colormax/6700K bulb. They have one in the 96w square pin that you need and they also have a 65w square pin and a 65w straight pin. If you want to view these, go to www.esuweb.com and go to CF bulbs. They are carried by www.bigalsonline.com. Some people have already used them and they say that the color of them makes things really stand out but they don't grow plants quite as well as the regular 6700K bulb. I'm going to try them on a tank that I'm working on.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.