Got myself a BD present
 

I was in my favorite local fish store today and they had a 26 gallon bow front, had a tiny crack in it right under the top lip, I got it for $35.... I've always wanted a bow front, NOW I'm looking at how I can fit two 175MHs under there, maybe I'll just stick with one for now, got the Optimum reflector from J&L the other day for it.

Doug

I assume you would mount that reflector in some sort of a top. :question: I am looking at something similar. I have the Coralife pendant, but the vertical position of the bulb makes the light flat. :sad: There is none of the ripple effect. I will probably get the reflector and make a pendant so i can mount the bulb horzontally. :eek:

Would 1 MH not be enough?

Certainly should be. I was playing with my new Lux meter today, and measured 15000 Lux at the bottom of my 15, which was 24" from the 175W MH. John Tullock in his book states that 10000 Lux is adequate for most organisms. It should be noted that was with an old bulb. :eek:

it is to bad he just through that statment out I am surprised he stated it like that. it would be true if he added "of the right type of light" the problem with lux is that it is a light/area value and you can reach a high LUX with 25 watt incadesent bulbs as long as you have enuf. and it doesent deal with the intensity or wave lenght of the light which in my opinion is more important, but then again I don't have a book :mrgreen:

Steve

The reflector http://www.jlaquatics.com/cgi-bin/sh...ogno=pfo-prf12 will be mounted in a home made canopy, I'm sure one bulb (175 MH) will be enough, I was kinda joking about adding two although I know some folks on here would do it.

Bob for that ripple effect I'd just raise the bulb away from the surface of the water a bit, I had the 175s about 10 inches off the water in my 90 and I had tons of ripples. My 400 watt is 15 inches and it's mind boggling how much rippling I get. I think the further away (with in reason) the more the light is refracted by the surface movement. (my theory).

Doug

I usually put a powerhead at the top just to give me the ripple effect.

I'd try and maximize intensity by keeping the bulb closer to the water while using a powerhead on the surface for ripples.

Just an idea.

A 175 10k is gonna look awesome on a 26 bow. :cool:

My statement was based on the chapter on lighting in the book "The Natural Reef Aquarium" by John R. Tullock. You might just want to read it all before making statements contradicting the author. I was answering the post regarding quantity, and quantity only. :eek:

I have tried mounting the pendant well above the tank, and right now it is a full 10 inches away, and no ripple at all. The water surface moves quite a bit, so I think a different pendant with a better reflector rather than the flat white in the Coralife is in order. :eek:
BTW what are the dimensions of the bowfront. :question: . I have never seen one here. :sad:

sorry looked like you made a quote from the book, so I am guessing there is more to it in the book than what you posted so I will leave what I wrote as a reminder to people that LUX on its own is not that important of a measurment, but can be used in combanation with other lighting specifications. Oh it can be used to track the life of your bulb by testing every month also.

Steve

Bow front is 24 inches wide, 20 tall, and about 15 inches front to back from the middle, 11 inches front to back on the sides, it's a nice little tank.

Doug

Well I was at J&Ls today taking advantage of their boxing day sale and I bought a 400watt Ushio 10,000k. I'll put that with the reflector over the 26 bow and use it as a SPS tank. I'll build a hood next week etc and try to take some pics.... should I use actinic suplimentation or will the 10,000k be okay on it's own?

Doug

10k will look great on it's own. That's gonna throw out the heat though.

For sure, I think it will throw off enough heat to cause serious problems. You might consider building a pendant instead. That is what I plan to do with my 15Gallon nano. I have ordered a relector, and intend to build a pendant to replace the Coralife pendant. :eek:

Bob, that's a good point, a pendant would be easier to build as well than a canopy for a bow front. I've got two computer cooling fans and a 12 vdc transformer so I'll run the two fans drawing air out of the canopy area and that should be good.

I'm excited about this project, I've wanted a bow front for years.

Doug

It does sound like an interesting tank. Could you give us some more info :question: ie is it glass or acrylic :question: Who is the manufacturer :question: . I am not too crazy about the 20" depth though. I would like a similar tank that was 14 to 16 inches tall.. I think that would be easier to light and decorate. :biggrin: :eek:

Bob it's an All Glass tank, here's a link to a pic of a 7 gallon tank that they make, if you're into Nano's it's a popular tank. http://www.all-glass.com/products/aquariums/index.html

Mine is 26 gallon, there is a pic of it if you follow the links on the upper left side for bow fronts.

Doug