# Proven Lighting Setups for 36x18x36



## RandomUser (Jul 3, 2016)

Does anyone currently have a good lighting setup for a 36x18x36 exo-terra? I'm trying to decide what to buy, but as tall as this vivarium is I'm not sure what to go with. Considering a combination of 2 Jungle Dawn 22w and 2 Jungle Dawn 40w MEGA spot lights, any thoughts on this? Any help is greatly appreciated


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

I use dual t-8 sized, 4' long fixtures that have been converted to use 2, 32W LED tubes. This has been plenty of light in my 24" tall enclosures. I don't have any 36" tall but, i suspect your choice will suffice. Most of the plants we use are 'low light' anyway. That being said, our brighter vivs are still roughly equivalent to bright shade.


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

This will do it. 

SE Quad 30" Timer 6500K LED Aquarium Light Freshwater Plant 48x 3W 75 Cm | eBay


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

I'm curious about this too as I'm planning a 36x18x36 build soon. I was thinking of going with two 36 inch Finnex Planted 24/7 fixtures. Any thoughts if that would be enough light?


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## Gibbs.JP (Feb 16, 2016)

I'm using a 36" Current Satellite+ Pro for my 36x18x36 Exo, but it's only been planted for a couple weeks now. In that couple weeks, though, the plants seem to be doing well. New leaves, roots, flowers, etc. have all been happening. I know at least one other guy with the same light and same tank, and he says his plants are doing really well. It may be hard to grow certain bright-light plants at the bottom, but with low light plants I'd think you should be ok.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Current-USA-...t_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=46PS71BD364RXHAC13SF


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

Gibbs.JP said:


> I'm using a 36" Current Satellite+ Pro for my 36x18x36 Exo, but it's only been planted for a couple weeks now. In that couple weeks, though, the plants seem to be doing well. New leaves, roots, flowers, etc. have all been happening. I know at least one other guy with the same light and same tank, and he says his plants are doing really well. It may be hard to grow certain bright-light plants at the bottom, but with low light plants I'd think you should be ok.
> 
> Link: https://www.amazon.com/Current-USA-...t_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=46PS71BD364RXHAC13SF



So one 36" Current Satellite+ Pro is about the same cost as two 36" Finnex Planted 24/7 fixtures. I was skeptical whether one Current Satellite fixture would be enough to light the entire tank, which was why I was looking into two Finnex fixtures. I don't mind having low light plants on the viv floor, no big deal to me. 

How long is the ramping period on the Current Satellite+ Pro? I liked the Finnex because it had a full half hour of dusk and dawn where it ramps up and down.


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## chin_monster (Mar 12, 2006)

I'm using finnex planted+ fixtures on my 36x18X36 exo -with excellent results all things considered.

However, there's going to be something of an issue with lighting gradients in a super tall tank like 36" exo's. I've got a super brightly top and a much dimmer than l'd really like bottom.


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## Gibbs.JP (Feb 16, 2016)

Rusty_Shackleford said:


> So one 36" Current Satellite+ Pro is about the same cost as two 36" Finnex Planted 24/7 fixtures. I was skeptical whether one Current Satellite fixture would be enough to light the entire tank, which was why I was looking into two Finnex fixtures. I don't mind having low light plants on the viv floor, no big deal to me.
> 
> How long is the ramping period on the Current Satellite+ Pro? I liked the Finnex because it had a full half hour of dusk and dawn where it ramps up and down.


Mr. Gribble -

The ramping period is 15 minutes. If you set your daylight timer from 7am - 7pm, it will ramp up from 6:45 -7:00 and then ramp down from 7:00 - 7:15. I think in hindsight, I might have also gone with 2x Finnex rather than this one, but I wanted the cool effects this one had. Only problem is that you can't program the effects, they are only activated thru the remote. Still, so far I have no reason to believe it's an inferior light by any means.


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

Gibbs.JP said:


> Mr. Gribble -
> 
> The ramping period is 15 minutes. If you set your daylight timer from 7am - 7pm, it will ramp up from 6:45 -7:00 and then ramp down from 7:00 - 7:15. I think in hindsight, I might have also gone with 2x Finnex rather than this one, but I wanted the cool effects this one had. Only problem is that you can't program the effects, they are only activated thru the remote. Still, so far I have no reason to believe it's an inferior light by any means.


Thanks for the info Josh. I think I'm gonna stick to my original plan and equip the new viv with the two Finnex fixtures.


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## RandomUser (Jul 3, 2016)

> This will do it.
> 
> SE Quad 30" Timer 6500K LED Aquarium Light Freshwater Plant 48x 3W 75 Cm | eBay


I've looked into these and I'm not really confident that they will punch all the way to the bottom well, thats why I have been considering the LED strip/ spot combo. This is going to be a display tank so it really needs good light everywhere. Do you have any experience using these on a 36" tall tank?


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

The EVO lights will punch to the bottom and do it more evenly than any other light listed above. They have some optics which focus more of the light down as opposed to most of the strip lights on top of simply being very powerful lights. 

I expect this light to give you at least 70 PAR through most of the floor of the tank. If you have any reservations you can upgrade to the 36 inch version here. I know this because I have a shorter version and access to a PAR meter.

I did not suggest the 36 inch version because I think the 36 inch one is slightly larger than 36 inches so it may not fit under any wood hood you may be building for a show tank. And speaking of that make sure if you are using a hood you know exactly how long each light you are purchasing is. Many of these lights are designed to over hang an aquarium slightly.


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## MELLOWROO421 (Feb 21, 2007)

Here is one of my 36x18x36 exos. It's lit with an LED fixture I got from SimpleLEDsolitions and a dual T8 shop light fixture and is growing pretty nice for me. 

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


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## pooky125 (Jan 16, 2012)

I'll second the vote for the EVO's. I have 2 of these over my 18x18x36 tank and i have no problems keeping anything. It's the same wattage as the quad evo, I just bought mine one at a time for two other tanks.


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## RandomUser (Jul 3, 2016)

Awesome, definitely going with the EVO thanks guys!


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

Thanks for the info, I might consider using the EVO's in combo with something else to get the effect I want. 

Sent from my Z970 using Tapatalk


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

Gibbs.JP said:


> I'm using a 36" Current Satellite+ Pro for my 36x18x36 Exo, but it's only been planted for a couple weeks now. In that couple weeks, though, the plants seem to be doing well. New leaves, roots, flowers, etc. have all been happening. I know at least one other guy with the same light and same tank, and he says his plants are doing really well. It may be hard to grow certain bright-light plants at the bottom, but with low light plants I'd think you should be ok.
> 
> Link: https://www.amazon.com/Current-USA-...t_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=46PS71BD364RXHAC13SF


Post some pictures of your viv!


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## Gibbs.JP (Feb 16, 2016)

Rusty_Shackleford said:


> Post some pictures of your viv!


Jon - you can see it here: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/278194-77g-azureus-tank-build-log.html 

Towards the bottom of page 3 shows the viv planted. Not much has changed in the month since I first planted it... nothing dramatic anyways. There is lots of new growth, but it's all so minor right now that if I took a shot today it would look pretty much the same. 

That said, I'm encouraged that there is new growth happening. I think it's enough lighting for _some_ plants, and others still would do better with more. I think a lot of it is the shadows so far down as well. My Marcgravia sintenisii is at the bottom and has rooted onto the ghostwood and shown a new leaf or two, while my Marcgravia rectiflora Suriname and another Marcgravia sp. (both at the bottom) aren't showing any new growth and haven't really even rooted onto the background yet. They are more shadowed though, so I'll most likely move them. Also, some orchids up near the top are cranking out new leaves and blooms while others aren't doing much. Again, it's more likely the specific plant and location vs. the light fixture. 

Only being a month in with the plants, I'd still say that light is working. The tank could stand to use more light, but I wouldn't say this one isn't cutting it by any means.


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## entropyhappens (May 25, 2016)

I'm using a rapidled setup consisting of two dimmable meanwell power supplies and 24 cool white Cree XP-G led's. Even with that I have considerable dark areas on the bottom of the tank but my tanks hardscape is pretty large. Even with a smaller hardscape I dont think I could honestly suggest anything less than what I'm currently using. Lighting is VERY important, and with a height of 36" you lose alot due to the inverse square law of light.


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## Tivaj (Dec 30, 2015)

I'm using a double jungle hobbies led unit on my 107cm high tank....they are great...expensive though

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


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## chin_monster (Mar 12, 2006)

(2) Finnex Planted+ (not the 24/7 version)
(1) Finnex Stingray 

the less powerful Stingray is currently lighting the shallow top back of the tank (sloped background) but is planned to move to the front vertical panels (along with another one) to provide more even lighting top to bottom and better brightness at the bottom of the tank)


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

chin_monster said:


> (2) Finnex Planted+ (not the 24/7 version)
> (1) Finnex Stingray
> 
> the less powerful Stingray is currently lighting the shallow top back of the tank (sloped background) but is planned to move to the front vertical panels (along with another one) to provide more even lighting top to bottom and better brightness at the bottom of the tank)


Does that mean 2 planted + and 1 stingray on the viv? 

Sent from my Z970 using Tapatalk


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## chin_monster (Mar 12, 2006)

Rusty_Shackleford said:


> Does that mean 2 planted + and 1 stingray on the viv?
> 
> Sent from my Z970 using Tapatalk


yes, there two of the 36" Planted+ fixtures and one 36" Stingray fixture


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## Darrell S (Jan 9, 2011)

I have not had real great luck with the jungle dawn screw in lights , even though I removed the reflectors from the exo terra hoods the light seem to get too hot and stop working . All of the diodes still light but the electronics inside fail sooner than you would expect .


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## MasterOogway (Mar 22, 2011)

I use 4 of these Phillip's LED Spot lights in my 36x18x36. I had a 4 bulb, 96W 30" T5HO fixture over it and it wasn't nearly enough. While the overall coverage with the LED's isn't as 'even' as the T5HO, it looks hugely better aesthetically, and the light penetrates all the way to the bottom of the tank quite well, much better than the T5's did. You also get the fun dappled sunlight look that you don't get with fluorescents. The plants are all really enjoying it as well, all the broms are coloring back up and throwing multiple pups. I'd consider adding in a one or two bulb t5 fixture again, but I truly don't *need* it. It would just be to add a bit of overall ambient light for aesthetic reasons.


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## rpping (Sep 5, 2015)

I purchased two 24" LEDs from Idris (Tincman Herps) for my 36x18x36 Exo. Still in the planning process to build it out, but Idris was confident that they will do the job.


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