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Mr. Aqua 17.4 lighting

1K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  rschreibman 
#1 ·
I've slowly been collecting scraps, parts and pieces for a new project.
Canister filter, inline heater, various hardscape materials, blah blah blah...
Anyways I am stuck on lighting for the tank. Tank will be a bottom drilled 17.4 gallon Mr. Aqua rimless. My flora list will consist of dense plantings of anubias nana, and var. petite. Several groupings of fern, most likely java. Various crypts and a relatively slow growing lowlight stem plant yet to be determined... I want this tank to remain low maintenance and undemanding. I don't want to supplement any co2 or additive yet still have strong enough light to actually grow these lowlight plants, not just keep them alive. I'd also prefer the fixture to have moonlights, and the ability to be hung instead of touch the tank in any way.
 
#2 ·
What about a 24" fugeray? It may be more medium light than low but it's not quite in the high range. I've been considering this very tank and I'm torn between going lower tech with a fugeray or high tech with a ray 2.

If it's too much light it could be dimmed with some window screen or a strip of neutral density filter.
 
#3 ·
That is an option. Especially Since I can get the 20 inch option and hang it slightly higher. The tank will have an "island" scape that will leave the outside
3-4" Completely barren minus some bare sand. The only two hesitations I have are how I would hang it, (appears to be designed to sit on tank) and are the moonlights on there on individual cord or just a seperate switch. I'd prefer the ability to have seperate cords to run timers.
 
#4 ·
I hung mine be replacing the four screws that hold the endcaps on with eye hooks, then attaching chain. The legs are removable so they don't pose a problem. They just slide on and off in grooves on the underside of the fixture. There is only one plug for both the white and blue leds. I have the timer set to come on in the afternoon and go off in the morning, and then just flip the switches to change to moonlight in the evening.
 
#6 ·
We have a lot of them over several different tanks, some sitting on the tanks, others hanging. The longest I've had one set up was a 30" fugeray over a 12 gallon long (36" long). I had it hanging roughly 8-10" from the top of the tank and the spread was fine. Lit the whole tank to a low light level. I had moss, riccia, floaters, and anubias all growing well. No CO2. Another one we've had running for awhile is a 16" Ray 2 hanging about 6" above the the top of an 18" cube. We always have floaters so this decreases the light intensity and made it perfect low light. Without floaters I'm guessing it would be medium. No CO2 on that one either. Also have two 2.5g tanks with 10" fugerays sitting directly on the glass top. I need to dose excel and keep snails in them or my glass and driftwood gets GDA. I could keep going, but you get the idea. There is a lot you can do with these lights. If you want to hang it fairly high I would say go with the Ray 2. If it's going to be close to the tank, just not on it, go with the Fugeray.

ETA: Here's a link to the PAR data for the various models: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189944
 
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