My four footer

[lame_cow]

Hello all,

Just wanted to share my use of PAR38 lights on my 4 footer. I used to have 2x 150W MH and 2x T5 tubes running over this. One day the glass cover over one of the MH bulbs broke, i didn't realise this, and over the course of 3 weeks i lost all the corals on the side of the tank no thanks to the UV radiation.

Anyway to satisfy my itchy backside i decided to replace this fixture with a pair of PAR38 bulbs from Dr evil. These are the CREE XPE ones, not the latest XPG. 60 degree optics and the two bulbs are suspended 1ft over the water by a modified ikea lighting fixture. Hence letting go my MH fixture over here:

I'm happy with the results - what i like about this lighting is that the light is shone only on the things that need it, ie the corals and rockscape. Less or no light on other bits of the tank (front wall and equipment by the sides) and hopefully minimising algae growth on them.

[kzariman]

hi there how is the cost like? i like the looks of it.

[tunicate]

Nice Thanks for sharing. BTW, are your using the 12K or 20K PAR?

[lame_cow]

Thanks! Pretty cheap actually - 120 bucks a bulb and 59 bucks for the fixture from ikea, total cost $300! $300 would buy me 2 MH and 2 T5 bulbs and these would only last a year. These are the 12k PAR38 bulbs.