Lighting and filtering a 135 FW

[MidSSouth]

I just got a new GlassCages 135gallon (72"x18"x24") and am looking into filtration option and lighting. I only plan to have fish and maybe shrimp if a LFS starts to carry them but mainly just fish.

Where can I find a 72" florescent strip light? Would I be better with two 36" lights? How many watts should I get? Does the bulb determin the wattage or the ballast? It seems like most hardware store lights arounn aronud 40 watts but fish store lights in the 80's What other options do I have for lighting?

I have an Aquaclear 110 on my 40gallon tank and like it so for filtration I was looking at two AquaClear 110's (total 1000gph), one on either end of the tank. I have been told that a canister filter would be better though. Now, I have always gone with the theory that you want at least 5x your tank size in gph on a filter. However, it seems that canister filters, take the Eheim 2028 for example, don't flow nearly as well as power filters. The 2028 flows 277gph but says it's good enough for 158 gallon tanks. Do they run off of a different standard than everyone else or are canister filters just better because of the closed design?

What would you recommend on my tank for lighting and filtering? This tank is going in a bedroom so noise is a serious concern.

Oh, I plan to stock it with Bala Sharks, Clown Loaches, a pair of Angelfish, and something small that schools (tetra's?).

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

Dude what is a C I A Fish? Have you come here to spy on us?

 

[Orion]

LOL@ Delta

Canister filters have a lower flow rate than HOB's because they are more effecent. So they don't have to move as much water though to get the water as filtered. A canister is the lest I would do on a tank this size, although your not going to stock it heavy, so you could get away with a little less than what I would think of as ideal.

Have you looked into using a sump as part of your filtration for this tank? Using a sump is great, but probably will not be nessicary with what your wanting to stock it with. I would mabey shoot for two good canisters. But I've always been a tad over kill on filtration on my own tanks.

Seeing as how your not planing on having any live plants, why not look at the 4' shop lights? Less than $10 each, so you could even put two on if ones not bright enough and still not break the bank. If you used two, I would set them up so each went all the way to each side of the tank, and overlap some in the middle. If you need me to elaborate more, just let me know. After reading what I just typed I'm even a bit confused.


Yes, you can buy a 72 in. fixture, but it will cost.

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

Sorry if I blew your cover MidSSouth. BTW, can you get me a job? I speak a few languages, and I'd be more than willing to kill somebody(s) if I had to.

 

[MidSSouth]

Well, I took some measurements and a 72" light isn't going to work anyway. The inside length of the canopy is only about 71" and there is also a center brace that would prevent installing that long of a strip. I am going to get two of these instead:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=23835;category_id=1853;pcid1=1843;pcid2=

NoDelta, just watch out for the black helicopters and you'll be fine

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

NoDelta, just watch out for the black helicopters and you'll be fine

Well, I won't be buying the Catcher in the Rye, so the black helicopters should have a hard time finding me...

 

[MidSSouth]

I think I am going to get a pair of Rena Filstar XP3's. Do you think that will be enough water movement or should I look into a powerhead also?

 

[wayne]

How much water flow you need depends on what fish you want to keep..... generally flow is not an issue unless you want to keep hillstream loaches, some fancy plecs, a few other things.

Depending on your diy skills you can buy a hood, or just make a wooden hood and retrofit normal fluorescents into it. For fish 2 parallel tubes for the whole lengh will be fine, but if you want plants you might want to go up.
The strengh of a bulbs output depends to an extent on both bulb and ballast. If you have a magnetic ballast (most are), then the ballast must match the bulb i.e. 40 watt bulb, 40 watt ballast. If you go up a price notch you can get an electronic ballast, and put 40 watts of power through, for example 20 watt bulbs, which thus burn brighter. Try this with a mag ballast and it won't work. The bulbs get used up a bit more quickly though.

The next step is to use a high output (HO) or very HO (VHO) bulb ballast combo.