"Vallo Kallaste" wrote in message
...
NOYB wrote:

The next question deals with lighting. Let me give some dimensions so
everyone understands what we are dealing with: The tank, which is glass,
measures 7 feet long, and 2 feet front-to-back. Here's the kicker: it's
32
inches deep! Obviously this will take some serious lighting to reach the
bottom of the tank with any measure of intensity. How should I light it?
I'm open to all thoughts; Compact fluorescents, MHs, VHO, standard
fluorescents, etc. Keeping in mind these factors: long term cost of use,
replacement bulb cost and frequency, heat, and plant health.

Metal halides would be the only option, IMO. Your tank is around 260 gal.
To get decent lighting for that tank, I'd recommend four metal halides of 150W
each. That will give you around 2.25W/gal, which should be just about right.
You could get away with 3 of the metal halides plus two fluoros as well, but
that will make fitting the lights into a fixture more difficult. (You can get a
Giesemann light with 3 x 150W MH plus 2 x 58W fluoros; check
www.giesemann.de for the System 260 Moonlight lamp. But be warned:
these lamps are *very* expensive. (On the Giesemann site, the English
version has a number of broken links, so check out the German version
as well.))

The most cost-effective solution IMO would be to use four 150W metal
halide pendant lamps. These are available from a large number of
manufacturers.

Cheers,

Michi.
--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
Triodia Technologies http://www.triodia.com/staff/michi