HELP Many Questions

[Sharkbait420]

I will like to add coral to my tank. My tank is 4 feet deep and the lights will be suspended 6 feet above the water. I have 2 metal halide flood lights. Will this grow easy soft coral from this height?

Will LEDs be better? Which light has more penetrating power? I was look at acan 800 series.

I was thinking about taking a bunch of diffrent mushrooms and putting it in a blender and spreading them across my rocks. I like the blue, red and hairy ones.Will this work or is it a myth?

I only have rock in the middle of my tank. So I won't need to cover the whole tank.

 

[Adamc1303]

Your lights will be 6 feet above the water level?

 

[Rob&Gab]

6feet above the tank is wayyyyyy tooo high. i would go with a different LED that has more coverage. whats the exact dimm of the tank?: L x W x H??

 

[Adamc1303]

Anything 6 feet above your tank will light up the entire room. I don't use LED's so can't comment at all on them. I can say that they have different lenses for them so you can get a fixture with a lens that is very focused. Why 6 feet high?

 

[Sharkbait420]

Is a circular tank. It's a pool that has a 7ft diameter the water level is set at 3.5ft.

 

[Sharkbait420]

It might be between 3-4 ft above the water level.

 

[Adamc1303]

Is there a canopy blocking out the light spillage? With MH you would need 1000 watters which is crazy and I don't think t5's will work. You gotta find some mega heavy duty LED's. If you go on youtube check out mr saltwater tv.com. He once did a video at an aquarium and I remember seeing big led's high up over a big round reef pool.

 

[Sharkbait420]

I never had coral before and that seems like the popular thing around here so I would like to add some. How about the mushrooms in the blender. Fact or fiction? I want to cover a lot or area and the coral at the store is so small.

 

[Sharkbait420]

Is there a canopy blocking out the light spillage? With MH you would need 1000 watters which is crazy and I don't think t5's will work. You gotta find some mega heavy duty LED's. If you go on youtube check out mr saltwater tv.com. He once did a video at an aquarium and I remember seeing big led's high up over a big round reef pool.

The canopy is to create a dark or in the pool. So the animals can get away from the light if they want. I only need to light the middle not the whole poop.

 

[Adamc1303]

See what they use here


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtPnHqffuKU

 

[Rob&Gab]

your gonna need more then one fixture for that thing bro. its 7Ft di. your gonna need quite a few and its 3,5feet down so MH might be your best bet. But leds are also really good depending on what your trying to grow. its gonna be costly IMO for 7Feet of coverage. i can be wrong tho. But the way its 7' dia x 3.5'High acan lighting wont do anything for your hight and it would cost you a lot of money in lights to get a proper setup going.

 

[masterswimmer]

Minimum 400w MH and if it truly is 6' above the waterline you might consider 1000w MH.

 

[cmantis]

I would do a bunch of 100w led COB chips in a pendant rig and you might consider making a light hanger to raise and lower them.

 

[Adamc1303]

+ 1 on the light hanger for this application

 

[turbotone]

is there anyway you can elevate the rock or add more? if you can get it closer to the surface it can help.. and try lowering the light if possible to surface as well

 

[Buck0land]

What about using 3 or 4 Kessil A360Ns to light only your rocks.

 

[Sharkbait420]

is there anyway you can elevate the rock or add more? if you can get it closer to the surface it can help.. and try lowering the light if possible to surface as well

Thanks. I am going to go to home depot and get PVC pipe to build a stand. Then I will use PVC fence as a platform. I can raise the rocks with out adding more. I don't want to loose water volume or ground space by adding rocks. This will increase my ground space and give another are for my fish to hide in.