Lotsa light, low heat?

[swords]

Ok, so I've got it in my head that my fishtank sized natural viv (undecorated yet) already isn't big enough and I want to build a custom 60" L x 36" H & 24" Nature scene style orchid/exotic botanicals terarrium. Now I'm wondering what kinda lights would be good to use as I'm making up my supples list.

I like CFLs but only have a small pair of coralife 40 watters and a 125W hydrofarm light & hood but I have a garage full of other terrarium lights that cost a ton to run. So, for this project I think I'll buy some lights just for it. Do you think 4x 96 Watt coralife CFLs would be sufficient? Each tube is 33" long. That's nearly the power of a 400 W metal halide or HPS but spread over the tank evenly and hopefully wll run far cooler.

What kinds of lighting options would you guys look at if you were doing a big project like this? If the 4 x 96 watters is a good plan anyone know of a cheaper source than Marinedepot.com?

[Ocelaris]

Well, that seems to be a ton of light... 4x96watts and it is all going to come down to implementation. You would definetly want to invest in a good reflector system. is it 24" deep or 36" tall+ like how tall does the light have to penetrate... florescent tubes over long distances need good reflector design since they're not a point source of light... but 24" isn't very far, even 36" isn't very far... but a good reflector design is important... check out ahsupply.com they have to my knowledge the best reflector/DIY CFL setups.

CFLs are actually less effecient than the 200watt and up Metal halides, and the HPS bulbs are even more efficient... Florescents and CFL are in the 80-100 lumens/watt range, MH are 100-120, and HPS are 120-140 lumens/watt.

Best way to keep it cool, is to isolate the lights and especially ballasts from the tank... maybe a sheet of acrylic or something and fans.

96w x 95 (lumens/watt) = 9000 lumens x 4 = 36,100 lumens, which is about the same as a 400w MH...

Only reason I would go with the CF is they're much smaller to implement on a long wide tank... where as a MH is much larger...

If you're into DIY, you can probably pick up a couple 250w MHs cheap on ebay (search core and coil) or "advance transformer" and you can come up with some great deals... I picked up a 100w MH w bulb/ballast for 25$ last month... works great for my 2x2x3' area.