frag lighting

[dantimdad]

If you were to light a 36"x240"x8" frag trough what would you use? And yes, that's 20 feet long.

Rule out anything ecotech or AI. Way too expensive for this. I at first considered 10 a160we but decided against due to cost.

My thought is this would be so low powered it could be a DIY project but, I am already having to build everything else.

I would need to be able to grow all types of coral. No need for ramping, lightning, etc.

@Dana Riddle thoughts?

 

[Dana Riddle]

If you were to light a 36"x240"x8" frag trough what would you use? And yes, that's 20 feet long.

Rule out anything ecotech or AI. Way too expensive for this. I at first considered 10 a160we but decided against due to cost.

My thought is this would be so low powered it could be a DIY project but, I am already having to build everything else.

I would need to be able to grow all types of coral. No need for ramping, lightning, etc.

@Dana Riddle thoughts?

Have you considered a light rail? You could probably get by with two or three light rails, each with a luminaire of your choice (LED, metal halide, etc.)

 

[miyags]

motorized light track. look that up on YouTube

 

[dantimdad]

Have you considered a light rail? You could probably get by with two or three light rails, each with a luminaire of your choice (LED, metal halide, etc.)

That'll do it. Why didn't I recall whole thread about it? DOH!

Thanks!

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

What about a few of these for daytime viewing: https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/4...MM7F67xSC95iJb3DVZIJrB9tPRMLqqzRoCx6AQAvD_BwE

And a few of these for growth:

 

[Dana Riddle]

That'll do it. Why didn't I recall whole thread about it? DOH!

Thanks!

The width of the tank might be an issue. Perhaps metal halides in a luminaire that has a wide light spread.

 

[dantimdad]

so if i extended the rail to say 18 feet would I run it 24-7?

 

[dantimdad]

The width of the tank might be an issue. Perhaps metal halides in a luminaire that has a wide light spread.

I am thinking of going down to 24" for just that reason.

 

[NanoDJS]

8" deep , whoa! This is certainly an interesting proposal, I would say mad highbay T5 is the only way, like blanket coverage , hope your power service is up to snuff you're gonna want to wire em 220/240v or its gonna be stupid $$$ in electric

 

[Dana Riddle]

so if i extended the rail to say 18 feet would I run it 24-7?

I've never tried a 24-hour photoperiod, but there was a paper published years ago that found that interrupted the reduction cycle of zooxanthellae, at least initially. Personally, I would stick to a 12-hour photoperiod. That's what we used at Aquatic Wildlife back in the 90's. I'm going through one of my log books from '98 & '99 and compiling PAR values seen over photosynthetic marine invertebrates in reef tanks across the country. Also listing the light source used in many cases, although during that time Iwasaki 6500K metal halides were most common.

 

[Malifry97]

If you were to light a 36"x240"x8" frag trough what would you use? And yes, that's 20 feet long.

Rule out anything ecotech or AI. Way too expensive for this. I at first considered 10 a160we but decided against due to cost.

My thought is this would be so low powered it could be a DIY project but, I am already having to build everything else.

I would need to be able to grow all types of coral. No need for ramping, lightning, etc.

@Dana Riddle thoughts?

I'd go with either t5's or black box LED. 8 of those would be around 800$ amd you could grow everything with them

 

[Eagle_Steve]

My frag tank is not as big as yours, but my macro grow out tank is. Although a little deeper.

for the frag tank, (24x36x8) I have a 250w mh fixture at about 21” above it and, I think lol, a 12k bulb. It covers the entire tank with almost no spillage. Par in the center on the rack (2” tall rack) is about 350 with outer edges at about 80. Measured with an apogee 510 a few months ago when I put the new bulb in.

the macro tank is 36”x240”x16” and is a feed trough lol, so no reflection from the glass. I have a 400w halide with a 10k bulb about every 3-4’ at 24”. 5 fixtures total. They cover it well, but had to add a row of t5s for good growth on the outer edges. lights are good for about 170-200 par across the whole thing with the t5s added. I did not test without t5a when I had the par meter. I also did not test at the bottom or top. Only about 8” in the water. Also little to no light reflection from the sides as it is a dull black plastic.

both run 12 hours on and 12 off. I tried 24 hours, 20 hours, and 18 hours on both and actually had stuff bleach with that. Went to 12 on and 12 off and things grow great.

Not sure this helps ya much in terms of your size for corals, but at least yoI can gauge a scale of what is needed for a frag tank by using mine as a section of yours, so to speak. The macro tank just gives some numbers for par and spread with that type of setup.

 

[dantimdad]

Thanks @Eagle_Steve