Lighting in Oceanic Canopy

[tgee]

Hi Folks,

I’m an Oldie but a Newbie who decided to finally take the plunge into the wild world of reef keeping. I have some prior freshwater experience (many years ago), but that hardly seems relevant. I’ve done quite a bit of reading here, elsewhere, and even in some books (gasp!). I have lots of questions about lots of things, but for now I’d like to ask about lighting.

Even with all the reading I’ve done, the subject of Lighting is still confusing to me. It seems there are many solutions to the same problem, each with its own set of pluses and minuses.

I have a shiny new Oceanic reef ready Ultimate 90 sitting in my living room, along with the Oceanic oak stand and canopy. There’s not a lot of room in the canopy for lights, so this will limit my options. I’m curious to hear about others who have (or had) the same canopy, and how it was handled. My current thinking is that I’ll go with a 6x54W T-5 VHO retro kit with a couple of fans.

I don’t really know specifically what livestock will be in the tank, but I don’t want to be too limited by being under-lit. Is 6x54W VHO overkill? Would HO be adequate?

It seems the lights would be just a couple of inches off the surface of the water, which is a little scary to me. Is it common/safe for lights to be that close to the water?

Are there any fixtures that would actually fit under the canopy that I could consider instead of going retro?

Should I consider modding the canopy to raise it up a few inches? Any examples?

That’s it for now. This is a great forum you’ve got going here! Thanks in advance for your advice.

Tom

[fishox]

I have the same stand except mine is for a 120. I have 8 VHO bulbs. The only thing missing is the shimmer.