# Distance of light from water



## thingy (Dec 28, 2010)

Maybe some of you planted tank people out there can help me out .I'm into reefs and am not familiar with fresh water planted. I am setting one up for my boss and need to know how far above the water the lighting should be.This is A 275 gal tank the light is a current USA with 3 150 watt hqi's & 4 98 watt pc's ..
Thank you in advance
Thingy


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Planted aquariums require much less light than reef aquariums. The amount of light you are proposing over a 275 gallon aquarium is too much. I would scrap the metal halides and just use the PC bulbs, depending on the height of your aquarium (how tall is the aquarium?).


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## thingy (Dec 28, 2010)

The tank is 30 in deep with about 4 in substrate.


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## deuces (Oct 11, 2010)

This may help, I used it as a rough guideline:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/105774-par-vs-distance-t5-t12-pc.html


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Using Hoppy's guide is a good starter to determine how how you need to raise the lights.

If you are set on using metal halides, you are looking at raising them at least 48"+ away from the substrate to get an aquarium that will not be an absolute nightmare to maintain.


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