Lights for 300 gal indoor stock tank

[ReNae]

Any suggestions for floor lamps that provide adequate lighting for growing plants in my indoor 300 gal goldfish tub? I have looked at floor lights from Lowe's and Amazon but I'm not sure of what to buy. Looking for lights I can plug into my timers.

[ChefConfit]

Not sure about floor lamps, but they make pendant style aquarium lights that are meant to hang from the ceiling. If mounting it to the ceiling isn't an option in sure they could be hung from a stand of some sort. 

[jerseychef]

Did you see the video where Cory set up his tubs?  If you go back and look he hung lights above the tubs and was having success with plants.  

 

Aquarium Co-OP Fish Room Tour

[Aquatic Journal]

Now this is not the exact one I would do but this gives you an idea of what I would look for. You are going to need some serious power to get good light penetration into the tubs. I would look for 6000k Flood lights. Something like this - https://www.amazon.com/LED-Flood-Light-200W-Waterproof/dp/B01MT1F1PF.

It should give you the power and light that you need and a color that is good for the fish and the plants!

Good Luck!

[Daniel]

This pendant light can be scheduled without a timer and has very good depth penetration especially with the narrow beam lens.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/a360x-controllable-led-aquarium-light-tuna-sun-kessil.html

I am using these over a 36" deep 500 gallon tank.

[ReNae]

@DanielThanks for the suggestion! I will check these out!

[ReNae]

On 9/14/2020 at 10:42 AM, Aquatic Journal said:

Now this is not the exact one I would do but this gives you an idea of what I would look for. You are going to need some serious power to get good light penetration into the tubs. I would look for 6000k Flood lights. Something like this - https://www.amazon.com/LED-Flood-Light-200W-Waterproof/dp/B01MT1F1PF.

It should give you the power and light that you need and a color that is good for the fish and the plants!

Good Luck!

@Aquatic JournalThanks for the information and explaining the best range for good penetration through the water.

[ReNae]

On 9/13/2020 at 7:14 PM, jerseychef said:

Did you see the video where Cory set up his tubs?  If you go back and look he hung lights above the tubs and was having success with plants.  

 

Aquarium Co-OP Fish Room Tour

@jerseychefI remember watching that video. I looked back through it but I didn't find anything telling the lights he used. I'll keep searching...

[ReNae]

On 9/13/2020 at 6:48 PM, ChefConfit said:

Not sure about floor lamps, but they make pendant style aquarium lights that are meant to hang from the ceiling. If mounting it to the ceiling isn't an option in sure they could be hung from a stand of some sort. 

@ChefConfitThanks for the tip! I am looking for some that can hang from a stand so they will be closer to the pond than the chandelier because the ceiling is so high.

[Jeremy B]

On 9/17/2020 at 4:14 PM, ReNae said:

@ChefConfitThanks for the tip! I am looking for some that can hang from a stand so they will be closer to the pond than the chandelier because the ceiling is so high.

So you could attach a hook to the ceiling and use a chain to set the height of the light, allowing for any distance you want and you don't risk kicking it over like I know I would with a floor light 🤣. I've used regular two bulb fluorescent shop lights over my 150 gallon rubbermaid tub and its about the same size as my 300 gallon tub depth wise. The ones I picked up have slots in the top of the lights to slide S hooks in to attach chain. Maybe just use two spaced out since the 300 is a decent bit wider?

[Daniel]

[ReNae]

28 minutes ago, Jeremy B said:

So you could attach a hook to the ceiling and use a chain to set the height of the light, allowing for any distance you want and you don't risk kicking it over like I know I would with a floor light 🤣. I've used regular two bulb fluorescent shop lights over my 150 gallon rubbermaid tub and its about the same size as my 300 gallon tub depth wise. The ones I picked up have slots in the top of the lights to slide S hooks in to attach chain. Maybe just use two spaced out since the 300 is a decent bit wider?

I didn't want to mess with the ceiling since we do use the chandelier sometimes. My husband doesn't mind me changing the chandelier to one that has lights pointing downward rather than upward. I want to be able to have the lights on a timer so I was actually looking for 2 floor lamps (shouldn't get knocked over if I'm careful!) that would work. I have attached pictures to show the room that might help. Are there any shop lights already built like a floor lamp?

[Jeremy B]

Not really sure about floor lamps as I hang all mine or just set them on the tanks but if looks wouldn't be a problem you could do something like this:

https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/pvc-light-stand

[ReNae]

Thanks for this link! I like this idea but I'm not sure if my DIY skills are this good!😂 If I could make something like this as a floor light on each side with adjustable lights on each pole, that would be golden!

[Jeremy B]

5 minutes ago, ReNae said:

Thanks for this link! I like this idea but I'm not sure if my DIY skills are this good!😂 If I could make something like this as a floor light on each side with adjustable lights on each pole, that would be golden!

A ratcheting PVC cutter will give ya all the skills ya need to pull this off, once you start building with PVC you won't stop so give it a try! If it doesn't work out you're out very little money. Lengths of PVC pipe are around $6 last I checked, and that's about 10ft. The T fittings and elbow fittings are less than $5 each, and you could spray paint it black if you end up liking it

[ReNae]

@Jeremy BThanks for the ideas! I will look into this option!

[Streetwise]

That little nub on the bottom: is it screwed in? I wonder if you could swap it with the eyelet mount at the top and invert the entire chandelier.