Lighting A Hi Tech Rio 400

[Dave Spencer]

I am currently dreaming of a Juwel Rio 400 with under gravel heating, substrate fertiliser and pressurised CO2 injection for maximum plant growth. The lighting that comes with the tank will need supplementing, so my question is: would an Arcadia 48in I-Bar with reflectors used alongside the Juwel tubes with reflectors provide me with sufficient light? I am curious as to how much the light intensity is increased using T5 tubes, and also how much it is increased using reflectors.
This is my return to the hobby after 15 years involuntary absence. Can`t wait for my nano tank arrive from my PFK subscription.

Cheers, Dave.

 

[-=Joel=-]

I have got halides over mine, or will have. Bought them but havent got them in place.

It has 3 x 150W halides + 2 T5s I picked mine up for £300 brand new. It has fans in it so it shouldnt get too hot either.

Due to this amount of light however I think I will need to add a little cover in the way of either tall plants of floating plants to break down the light a little.

Joel

 

[Waterloo Kid]

I've got the standard light unit with 2 54W T5 bulbs strapped to the existing lights. It's like using 3 standard light units, a big difference! T5 lamps are the way to go on a tank of this size (unless you go all exotic and get MH like Joel!).
By the way, you'll need the 60" i-bar not the 48" unit. Also remeber that the i-bar is meant to be a replacement for the standard unit, not an addition. I do believe that you can get a modified set of lid flaps so you can run two light units but that's more money again.

WK

 

[Dave Spencer]

Thanks for the reply Waterloo Kid. What if I used an Arcadia twin controller with two 54W tubes. Would it be possible to screw two reflectors under the centre section the I-bar would have replaced, and still have sufficient clearance above the water surface? Unfortunately, I don`t have a tank available to look at.