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Light coverage for an 18"-wide tank

794 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  askindc, 
A
Based on your first-hand experiences, will the light emitted by a 24"-long, single-bulb, Hagen GLO fixture (containing a 24 W T5 HO bulb) placed on top of, or mounted 4" above the top of, a 33 g tank ca. 24"-long and 18"-wide (front to back) adequately cover the tank's width?

My current understanding is that the fixture will be suitable for (i) a "medium-light tank" if it's placed on top of the above-mentioned tank, and (ii) a "low-light tank" if it's mounted ca. 4" above the tank's top. However, I'm not sure whether the light reflected by that fixture's reflector will adequately cover the tank's width. At the present time, I'm not interested in using the GLO double-bulb fixture because I don't think I'll be able to raise it high enough to make it suitable for the low- to medium-light tank I want.

Thanks very much for your assistance... and best wishes for an excellent 2011!
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C
For a tank that is 18" front to back you would be better off with two of the single tube GLO fixtures spread apart. If you want to use only one bulb/one fixture you would have to raise the light up to get enough spread but then you won't have the light intensity you are looking for.

The bulbs are really close together in the GlO two-bulb fixtures and the fixture itself is very narrow. Despite the extra intensity from the second bulb I think you would still have to raise the two-bulb fixture to get enough spread.

If you do not want to use CO2 and can't suspend your fixture look into a multi-bulb T8 fixture or a CF fixture. Personally I do not think T5HO is a good choice for tanks without CO2 unless the fixture is suspended.
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captain_bu said:
For a tank that is 18" front to back you would be better off with two of the single tube GLO fixtures spread apart. If you want to use only one bulb/one fixture you would have to raise the light up to get enough spread but then you won't have the light intensity you are looking for.

The bulbs are really close together in the GlO two-bulb fixtures and the fixture itself is very narrow. Despite the extra intensity from the second bulb I think you would still have to raise the two-bulb fixture to get enough spread.

If you do not want to use CO2 and can't suspend your fixture look into a multi-bulb T8 fixture or a CF fixture. Personally I do not think T5HO is a good choice for tanks without CO2 unless the fixture is suspended.
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Thanks very much for your rapid and helpful reply!
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