Lighting For A 55 Gallon?

[Winterlily]

Okay! The 55 gallon tank is here, as is the stand and some other assorted neccesities. I got a glass top ("canopy") for it instead of the typical plastic hood because we have super hard water and the mineral deposits are impossible to remove sometimes and I understood that the glass top was easier to deal with in that way. The tank is 48" long with a center support across the top. The glass tops are each 24". The light strip they suggested (and that I actually have here now) is a full 48" long (as is the bulb). But I'm thinking that perhaps I'm better off with 2 24" long light strips instead? The guy at the LFS said that he suggested the 48" long light strip because the bulb is 48" long, whereas the bulbs in the 24" strips are only 18" long, so I'd only have 36" of light that way.

Just seems to me that I might be better off being able to open up one side of the tank (remove light strip and glass canopy) to do whatever, and still be able to actually SEE because the light will still be on on the other side.

But, I have no idea. You all have experience with this - what do you suggest? Keep the 48" or exchange it for two 24"?

(BTW, not sure it matters? But it's a single bulb, not twin - that a bad move? I think the twin ones are each 24" instead of the 18" in the single - but not sure how much more expensive that is.)

Thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

Are the 24" lids hinged so you could just position the light strip toward the back of the tank and lift the hinged front part of the lid and work while its lighted?

You are correct that having light while you work is an extremely helpful thing.

What is the wattage of your one long bulb??

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Winterlily]

Yes, the glass canopy is hinged. It's basically 2 sections of glass with a hinge in the middle, and a smaller area of plastic where you cut out the space you need for filters, heater, whatever. If it helps, you can see one like it here. The light strip sits on top of the far glass panel - the near one is obviously meant to be lifted for feeding etc. So yeah, I could just work with the front bit open and the light in place, but if I need more room for something and have to take the glass canopy off, the light strip has to come off first.

The one long bulb is 32w.

I looked it up and found that if I was to get a twin light, the 24" strips have 24" bulbs. It's only in the single that the bulbs are 18".

From a daily use (and weekly maintenance!) standpoint, whaddya think?

 

[mancin]

I actually have both and the same glass tops that you just purchased. One of my 55's has 2 - 24" light fixtures (the bulbs themselves are only 18", as your LFS pointed out) and the other 55 has a 48" light fixture (48" bulb too). IMO, the answer depends on what you are looking to get out of it. You aren't going to find high wattage bulbs for the 2 - 24" fixtures (or if you do, please share where on earth you found it that's NOT strictly for marine tanks ), so that will limit you a bit as far as planting goes, if you are going to have a planted tank. I have the first 55 as a very low light tank. The second one I will have 2 WPG. I found looking for a 48" fixture, I had a much wider selection of fixtures and bulbs alike.

One pro of the 48" fixture is that it has more even lighting than the 2 - 24" fixtures do, since there is a bit of lost light in the middle part of the tank. That being said, it doesn't sit as flat and nice on the glass as the smaller fixtures do, however that can be easily fixed by getting some legs to hold the light up. I haven't run into many scenarios where I have to completely remove the glass top. Usually I can just swing the top part back and that gives me more than enough working room, so that would apply to either fixture, at least in my experience!

Hope this helps!

 

[OldMan47]

If you can fit a 48 inch fixture to the tank, go to your home improvement store and look at what you can get in the form of shop lights. They are a standard 4 ft long and come in all kinds of styles but more importantly they come with options about the tube diameter and electronic ballasts. For a mere $25, you can probably get a twin bulb electronic ballast T-8 fixture which would give you plenty o light for the lower light plants. To go beyond that, you are probably going to be looking at specialty lighting fixtures that are much more expensive.

 

[waterdrop]

Well you're gonna have to do -something- I think. 32w shining into a 55g tank is down around a half watt per US gallon and that's a bit too low even for low-light technique (at least in my opinion... the planted guys would probably decide this was a challange and make it work, lol.)

I assume this was why OM47 was mentioning the retro-fits, so you could get a higher wattage light, with matching ballast and put some more light in there.

The only insight I can offer about the lid question is that I have a similar lid and I've found that I can lift the hinged part and lower my arm down to the substrate and the back wall and get all my work done. I hardly ever remove the whole top and of course I prefer to leave the light on and see what I'm doing as I have no bright ceiling lights up over the tank (boy would that be a dream!) Anyway, I don't want to sugar-coat it, it can be a hassle twisting back to sponge-clean the back tank glass or scrape the odd GSA (green spot algae!) But to some extent you might be over-worrying about it. There's also the possibility that a comparison with me doesn't work as mine's only a 28g, not a 55g and I've got pretty long arms!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Winterlily]

Thanks so much, everyone. I will indeed take this advice and get something better - somehow, somewhere. I'll deal with the light I've got for now - then when I can, money-wise, will get somethign else. by then, I'll have lived with the 48" long one and will know if it's a bother to me, or not.

But to some extent you might be over-worrying about it.

? Me?! Over-worry?? Naaaahhhhh, not me.