# 18x18x36" Zoo Med "skyscraper"



## mtbrutger (Jun 5, 2015)

Hey everyone, 
I found my local reptile shop sells 18x18x36" "Skypscraper" Zoo Med. Has anyone built a viv in one of these? I'm wondering how lighting such a tall/narrow viv would work out. I really like the idea of this shape viv but want to see if anyone has two cents on this.

Mat


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

Lighting will be somewhat challenging. You will need focused lights to push light down. But no matter how great your lights if you want multiple layers of plants they may just block a lot of the light and you wont be able to do much about it. With a wider tank you can usually count on more light coming in from side angles but not so much with a tower like that. At any rate creative construction can get you a great look that will work. 

That said there are plenty of lights that are capable of pushing enough PAR 36 inches down and having it at high enough levels to penetrate some leaves. If you were looking for the cheapest solution it would probably be 3 of these 3W evos.

Also if you are OK with unconventional solutions you can do things like lighting from the side etc....


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## SLEEPiNG GiRL (Oct 15, 2015)

I second the 3w Evos. It's what I'm using at the front of my 24x18x36. If you buy some of the snap on lenses, you can remove the standard 60 degree lenses and black cover, snap on the lenses you require (mix and or match) and thus reduce light loss in the process. On mine I run it at the full 15v until I decide, when fully planted, as to needs. On my 18x18x24 I run two at 12v and 50% via a TC420 timmer/dimmer along with some rgb strips to simulate sunrise and sunset. Works brilliantly and very pleased with them.

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## SLEEPiNG GiRL (Oct 15, 2015)

*Re: 18x18x36&quot; Zoo Med &quot;skyscraper&quot;*

Also, removing any mesh top and replacing with a glass vented lid will dramatically increase light penetration over siliconing glass over/into the standard mesh lid.

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## mtbrutger (Jun 5, 2015)

Hey thanks for the feedback everyone! Those lights look awesome, I'll keep ya'll posted on what I end up building!


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## Ecoman001 (Feb 25, 2016)

I used two 13w green gro leds from joshs frogs the plants all still look good after a few weeks.


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## Holdway (Jan 26, 2015)

mtbrutger said:


> Hey thanks for the feedback everyone! Those lights look awesome, I'll keep ya'll posted on what I end up building!


Do you have any updates on this build?


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