Running lights front to back on a tank

[Linkandnavi]

Does anyone have any experience of running multiple lights front to back across an aquarium, as opposed to lengthways?

I have a custom size tank currently being built, at 179cm length, 61cm depth, 70cm height (total volume 764l/202 US gallons). I've been struggling to find lights that stretch to that length and in any event want to stick with Fluval Aquasky as I have them on multiple other tanks, I like them and it means I only need to use one app/timer to control everything. The longest light they make isn`t long enough, so I'm left with the option of putting two shorter lights lengthways. However, my tank will have glass sliding covers so while the lights could attach to the tank rim at either end, they would have to balance on the glass in the middle.

Not the end of the world, but I was wondering instead of three shorter lights, evenly spaced along the length of the tank, running from front to back and attaching to the front and rear rims. Anyone know what that would mean in terms of light spread and penetration? Obviously one way is to do it and find out, but that proves rather expensive if it doesn`t work out.

Thanks.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Sorry you appear to have been ignored.

Lighting serves two purposes; It allows us to view the tank contents and it provides the necessary for plants.
Traditionally, the lengthways arrangement of lights came about with the introduction of fluorescent tubing and allowed the whole length of the tank to receive adequate lighting. Prior to this, bulbs could be found either at the ends of tanks, or sometimes smack bang in the middle...or even both, depending upon the size of the tank.
(Before electric lighting, light was provided by natural daylight, with all of the algae problems that precipitated).
Even with special plant spectrum-friendly bulbs, it was acknowledged that the light provided was unevenly distributed and planting was carefully arranged to take this into account.
With the advent of tubes, light was provided more evenly and, especially with plant spectrum-friendly tubes, more plants were able to be grown successfully, throughout the tank.

So, to answer your query, your arrangement of lighting has been used before and then generally discarded in favour of the lengthwise arrangement. That said, provided you arranged your planting to match the distribution of lights, then it should work well enough. As for penetration, the arrangement of the light lengthways or widthways shouldn't make any difference and the larger lamps are the brighter ones.

Also, please bear in mind that whilst the plants may love lots of light, fish seldom do, so there's always a balancing act to play with.

Regarding the Aquasky, remember that whilst the actual lighting unit may not be long enough, they do have extendable arms that may facilitate you running just the one lengthways.

 

[Linkandnavi]

Sorry you appear to have been ignored.

Lighting serves two purposes; It allows us to view the tank contents and it provides the necessary for plants.
Traditionally, the lengthways arrangement of lights came about with the introduction of fluorescent tubing and allowed the whole length of the tank to receive adequate lighting. Prior to this, bulbs could be found either at the ends of tanks, or sometimes smack bang in the middle...or even both, depending upon the size of the tank.
(Before electric lighting, light was provided by natural daylight, with all of the algae problems that precipitated).
Even with special plant spectrum-friendly bulbs, it was acknowledged that the light provided was unevenly distributed and planting was carefully arranged to take this into account.
With the advent of tubes, light was provided more evenly and, especially with plant spectrum-friendly tubes, more plants were able to be grown successfully, throughout the tank.

So, to answer your query, your arrangement of lighting has been used before and then generally discarded in favour of the lengthwise arrangement. That said, provided you arranged your planting to match the distribution of lights, then it should work well enough. As for penetration, the arrangement of the light lengthways or widthways shouldn't make any difference and the larger lamps are the brighter ones.

Also, please bear in mind that whilst the plants may love lots of light, fish seldom do, so there's always a balancing act to play with.

Regarding the Aquasky, remember that whilst the actual lighting unit may not be long enough, they do have extendable arms that may facilitate you running just the one lengthways.

Thanks for the detailed reply. Yes, the longest Aquasky "arms" are 145cm, so don't come close to the length of the tank and the actual light strip element of those are only 115cm, so about 60% of the length of the tank. Think I'll opt for two (shorter) lights and run them lengthways. Duly noted re plants v fish needs. It's one of the things I like about the Aquaskys is I can set up the daily routine through the app and adjust brightness levels etc depending on the stocking.

Thanks again.