Tide pools woahs!?

[Giga]

I got an Idea but I don't know if I can do it. I am fiddling with a design that will look like a tide pool with corals I love tide pools since I was a kid and am looking to create one. The tank would be around 52"x18"x12" with LR rock in the center and the sps coral very close to the surface of the water. I was wondering about what light I can use and put it really far from the water but not blind myself when I sit on my couch? I was thinking of a 48" t5 unit but don't know how far I can put it from the water? I want to have most of the viewing from the the top of the tank but i'm stuck on how to do this. I Thought about MH but I don't want to run my electric bill up and they seam to be a fire hazard that i'm scared of having a fire in my apartment? Can anyone tell help with this, also about how much MH will cost me a month at like 6 hours a day? Also I wan this to be very very artsy thats why I want simple is better approach.

[Amphiprion]

While I love T5s (and metal halides as well), this is not an application that is well suited for them. First, maybe consider making the tank wider for a better representation of a "tidepool." A cubelike tank would look best in this situation, IMHO. Then you could use a single metal halide lamp (400w if it is substantially high) in something like a lumenarc reflector to spread it well. Also, a lower kelving tube (no more than 10000k) would look best in recreating the shallow look.

[herostar]

Sounds like a pretty cool idea. I'd suggest a 400w mh setup if you want to keep it ~20" over the water.


Check out these aquariums.

[Giga]

lol those are what got me on this idea I can't afford their prices or else I would get one. I'm having one custom made that will just be a tide pool I only want one area for corals so I was thinking a 150W MH in the middle and have it about 12" away from the water and have the coral close to the surface of the water and then maybe just get some simple spot light for viewing pleasure. Then a couple moon light for night time fun. Still going to be tweaking this so please suggest away!

[mile sq. reefer]

Cool concept. For lighting I would use 10k MH and would not use anything greater than 250w since the height is only 12". It would have to be mounted at least 10-12" off the top of the tank. It will give you the realistic shimmer of the shallows. T5 would not be the right light for this application.

[surfnvb7]

so are you talking about a shallow area of a reef vs. a deep area of a reef? kinda like a lagoon? and have live rock exposed above the surface so crabs and what not can crawl up and back under the sun?

the Georgia Aquarium has a very similar set up to what i described, but in order to see the lagoon/tide pool, you have to go on the behind the scenes tour b/c you can only see it from the top-down obviously since its a shallow area.

[Giga]

Yeah since I was a kid I have loved tide pools and am finally going to take the diveIt going to be a shallow tank with mainly sps corals with a couple fish and inverts but the main focus is corals. I'm having trouble with finding a slim sleek MH with an electronic ballast. I'm also stuck as to where to store the ballast? As i've said I've never had MH before so this is very new to me but want to do it right. Has anyone ever had problems with MH(fires) I was thinking about having rock stick out of the water but don't want smells to emit from the tank and it can smell if rock is half in half out of the water. I'll have to play with it. I went to the aquarium in Virginia Beach and the Baltimore Aquarium and can't get enough of there displays(gives me ideas). I will try and post my idea later today so you guys can c what i'm saying.

[surfnvb7]

maybe you should use some artificial rock for the exposed part then.....

here is the lagoon area above the reef exhibit at the georgia aquarium....obviously it has allot of growing to do still. the reef cliff drops off to the right.

[Giga]

thats cool this is kinda what i'm going for, just only 1 light fixture as to prevent glare and no equipment will be showing,also there will be more rock and not as many corals but you get the idea.

[Flint&Eric]

fwiw, there is no glare from multiple spots like the rainbow lagoon tank...the beam angle is very narrow and focused.

[Giga]

lol there is still a glare

[Flint&Eric]

glare yes. escaped light, no. there is glare because the water will reflect some light as it does any light source....

[Giga]

yeah thats what I was talking about with one light it will only have one glare Though I might have a way to eliminate the glare