120 AGA Lighting Suggestions anyone?

[foxstop]

Hi,

I just bought a 120 AGA aquarium with the oak stand and canopy.
I was wondering if anyone here has a similar tank. If so what kind of lighting were you able to install inside the canopy?
If not inside the canopy were you able to keep the oak canopy open and hang some type of lighting over the tank?

I would like to go with a combination of MH & PC, but I'm not sure I have enough space to mount MH bulbs safely above the water or to avoid too much heat transfer. (about 7 inches from the inside of the canopy to the water).

Any thoughts?

Thanks :)

[reef-man_d-man]

7 inches isint very much however with a few good fans you should be ok just watch out that you dont get those bulbs wet or it will be BAD!!!!:eek: . Other than that I cant help much

[Entropy]

I would run two 250w metal halides 10K, and two 110w VHO actinics if cost was not an issue. That will give you 720 watts of light and penetration all the way to the bottom of the tank. You should be able to keep anything with this setup. If your surface is calm (no powerheads shooting upward) and you have no jumpers in the tank, I would say 7 inches is plenty but you will need to do a good job of cooling the canopy (at least two good fans).

[foxstop]

Thanks for the help :)
I was thinking of a full fixture. The dimensions would be perfect for having it sit on top of the hood where the sliding top comes off.
This is the fixture I was interested in Hamilton Tech New products (http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/shop/index.php?shop=1&cart=39886&cat=5&PHPSESSID=ffa8a54375303fdde476cddeddbf0c69)

One of the 48' hoods will fit nicely. Any opinions?

Thanks again for the recommendations.

Sincerely,

Brian

[tyler]

nice, but expensive. i have a hamilton pc fixture, and i think it's top quality, but i bought it used, so i didn't pay through the teeth like that. i hear great things about their customer service though (like replacing ballasts no q's asked for free)

[PacRim]

I also have the AGA 120G tank with oak stand and canopy. I built my own fixture to slide on top of the canopy. It worked out pretty good. I removed the top boards and the removable top portion. It houses 2-250W MHs and 4-110W VHOs(46-1/2"). Everything could fit inside the canopy, but I felt it was too close to the water.
I just had a friend of mine take some readings from inside the tank a month ago. I was getting around 130-150 par at the bottom with a 3-4 inch sandbed, on bulbs that were 6-8 months old.

[PRC]

I'd consider T5's. I have them on my 220 (72x24x30) and they're awesome. Cheaper than MHs in the long run and way cooler too. You can actually touch the bulbs after thay've been on all day. Don't try that with your MHs.

[foxstop]

Thanks PacRim. I was thinking of taking off the removable portion, but I was a bit undecided about prying off the slated portion in the rear.
I confess I don't know much about T5s other than the fact that they seem to be gaining some acceptance here in the U.S. now.
How long have you used them and what livestock are you keeping?

Brian

[PRC]

I've only had my T5s a couple of months now so I'm probably not the best person to answer your questions. There are several good threads out here about them though. Here's the info that finally sold me on them. The translation is a little funky but it gets the point across. One thing I can say is they definitely put a lot of light in your tank per watt from a visual perspective.

T5 versus HQI - Translated
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ratgeberaquarium.de%2Fmerfa_ati.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
T5 versus 250W HQI - Energy Savings - Translated
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ratgeberaquarium.de%2Fmerfa_ati03.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
T5 efficiency compared to T8- Translated
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ratgeberaquarium.de%2Fmerfa_ati02.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools