# 6 foot long 180 gal lighting?



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Would a 4 foot light on a 180 look funny or would it be perfectly fine?

I may have a bunch of money coming soon and just might be able to swing a nice new 180, Rena XP4, but lighting could be a problem if I really need to go with 6 foot lights.

I have one 30 inch tank with a 24 inch light and it is perfectly fine. with a 6 foot tank and 4 foot light im looking at the light being 1 foot short on each end.


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## Tristan (Aug 15, 2011)

What are you putting in the tank? I have 6' halide lights for $300 if your putting a reef together. 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

freshwater


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## Lee_D (Jun 11, 2010)

I tried a 6 foot light on my tank. Wasn't worth the expense. It was one of the big 4 bulb Aquatic life ones with the fans. The ballasts blew within two years and now it is a very expensive boat anchor.

I switched to a pair of 3 footers. Much cheaper and a lot easier to move when you need to access the tank.

Lee


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

Depends on layout. I have a 48" light over a 63" long tank and I think it looks good. I also like the fact that light levels at the ends are more suitable for anubias and other low light plants. I think part of the reason mine works well is because light is suspended allowing light spread. If the light is on the lid of the tank - not sure that it would work as well.

Here's a pic of my tank with the light.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

My only concern with suspending the light about a foot or so over the tank is light leaking. As in when Im sitting in the room my eye level would be lower than the light and depending on the light fixture, I may have the light shining in my eyes. I would need a fixture where the light is blocked from the sides below the bulbs so I can't actually see the bulbs when sitting in the room.

If I can find a fixture that will focus the light down and not let it show on the sides and blinding me, then with it being over a foot above the tank, I am thinking I might need a 4 bulb t5ho system as opposed to 2 bulbs. I also hope to pay under $200 by getting some kind of shop light which would be safe because it is not close to the water.


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

Some shop style lights have pretty big reflectors. Perhaps you could customize a light by bending the reflectors sufficiently to avoid light leakage. Or create some sort of wrap around the bottom lip of the light to prevent light leakage, using metal strips which could be painted to match the light.

I think you would be happy with the look of a 4' light if you don't mind the lower light levels on the end and can come up with a solution to resolve your viewing angle concerns.

Greg


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

One other advantage I can see with using a light that is shorter than the tank is you don't have a light source just inches from the glass at the ends of the tank causing extra algae on the glass close to the lights


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

greg's tank looks great but it is a 5 foot tank and i think it would be better to grab 2, 3 ft lights for a 6 fotter but if you are hanging your fixtures, i dont think there is harm getting two 2 ft fixtures and placing them dead center like having it on a three feet tank on each side if you want gregs style of edges of the tank being low light. i assume the middle of the tank would get over lap and bring it back to highlighting. Just my 2 cents but might not make sense lol


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I get what you mean, but I am tryiing to keep cost down and 4 foot lights are the cheapest


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

pyrrolin said:


> Would a 4 foot light on a 180 look funny or would it be perfectly fine?
> 
> I may have a bunch of money coming soon and just might be able to swing a nice new 180, Rena XP4, but lighting could be a problem if I really need to go with 6 foot lights.
> 
> I have one 30 inch tank with a 24 inch light and it is perfectly fine. with a 6 foot tank and 4 foot light im looking at the light being 1 foot short on each end.


I have 2 30" units on a 220gallon aquarium, they're flush mount (almost) so it doesn't look too odd to me. It's all going to depend on your placement of the light on the tank. Center it as much as possible and just keep repositioning until you think it looks right.

In the end, it's all about if the light being only 4' bothers you and those around you...


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

now a 4 foot light on a 180 which is 6 feet long, if I have it lets say 1 foot above the tank, which sounds about right for even lighting, would 2 bulbs still be high light? Would 4 bulbs be too much?


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## seamusm (Oct 8, 2012)

I tried a 4 foot, 2 bulb T5HO light on my 220 and I did no like it. The sides were too dark for me. I'm now using 9, 10w LED flood lights I bought off ebay. 6x6500k and 3 blue. I dont think this set up is enough for a serious planted tank but it's more than enaough for african cichlids


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

How tall is the 6 feet tank as that plays to you having high med or low light. Like I said before you probably won't be able to grow much on the side of your tank I'm pretty sure there is not enough spread.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

a 180 is 24 inches high.

I guess worst case, when I am able to buy a 180, I can test out using a 4 foot light using the lights I already have to see how it will work.

But it would be nice to have an idea before so I can budget for it.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=184368

Seems like at that distance only the 3-4 bulb fixtures give you highlight


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

that made me dizzy


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Get a shop light from HomeDepot. They have 60" ones for like $50. I believe they hold 6 t8's


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## blunthead (Jan 24, 2011)

I have a 6 foot 8x36"t5ho aquatic life fixture im thinking of selling
also have 2 brand led pendants, let me know if interested


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Im not in the GTA, im way over in Kingston and not yet in the market for lighting a 180 quite yet.


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Pyr... Just get 2 30" units. It's only 12" off then. 3" for each side with a 6" gap in between. This would enable growth on the sides of the tank no issue. That or make yourself a DIY led system. You can get LED pot lights for around $25 each from HD I believe, maybe even cheaper if you actually look around opposed to listening to my guesstimate lol.


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