lighting a 6ft tank

[lewk]

I'm in the planning stages for a 135 and am curious to see how other people have their lighting set up. I have 3 250 MH lights that I was planning on running and there is a large Euro brace in the center of the tank. Should I worry about placing a light over this? Thanks in advance.

Luke

[Kristy]

We have a 7' long tank with a big fat center brace. I did not want to put halides over the center brace, as they really increase the heat potential. We ended up using two 250w MHs (one on each end) with 48" of T5s in the center and it really lights things up perfectly in my opinion. You could probably do the same with a 36" T5 fixture if you end up having issues with the third halide.

[Europhyllia]

I have all T5s (no metal halide) and the light doesn't seem to have a problem penetrating the glass brace at all.
Since you have MH Kristy's idea sounds like it would be the perfect solution for you.

[alton]

Have you purchased the 135 yet? If not buy a 180 72 x 24 x 24. The three 250's will be perfect for it and you will enjoy the extra 6".

[roscozman]

...there is a large Euro brace in the center of the tank.
Luke

I might be mistaken on this, but I thought "Euro" brace means the brace extends the whole length of the tank. A "Center" brace is in the middle.

With a "euro brace" you will not have anything in the way and more options on lighting.

[lewk]

alton: Yes I have the tank already and I would probably prefer a 180. I'm going to stick with it because I got a great deal on it.

roscozman: Yes, center brace in the middle that is glass. I may have the wording wrong, but that's what I'm dealing with.

[sharkboy]

I had a 215 gallon tank and have a 6 ft light with 3 x 400 watt metal halides with two actinics (vho) for sale...i too had a center brace but i still kept a light over it...just have to keep glass clean and not place fixture too close to it...worked great on my tank...depending on depth of your tank 400 watt might be too much but was great for mine

[ACE]

I have a 6' tank at home. I light it with 3 MH. 3 250W MH will light your aquarium perfectly

[lewk]

Ok cool, thanks for the responses. I know they guy I got the tank from was running 5 250s at one time plus some VHOs. Yikes. It's one of those Oceanic's where the canopy isn't that high off the water, so I may build that up a bit before I get this going. I'll shoot for 3 lights.

[kkiel02]

Im also just running 2 250watt mh and am very happy with the results.