I am growing a freshwater tank, with bayan tree sticking out of it. So I need very high clearance, basically hanging or mounted to ceiling. Traditional aquarium light won’t work. Traditional ceiling light don’t project narrowly, as I don’t want another light for the entire room. Thinking about a party disco spot light, but those are usually ugly and meant to be used in a dark environment. so my wish list are
mounted or hang from ceiling or wall.
projector style that shines an area of 20" circle?
full spectrum would be great
led and energy efficient would be great
timer would be great
must a modern (sleek or good looking) style fixture.
You’re only limited by your budget. But you don’t need much.
Nearly all planted tank and reef lighting manufacturers will have a hanging led pendant with a remote or app you can program red/blue/moonlight settings into. You can mimic the pattern of sunlight exactly. Or pick a color that highlights the fish. AquaIllumination, Current USA, Red Sea, probably Kessil and Aqueon. You’re paying a premium for the control though. Not actually a ton of light. But you don’t need a ton. Probably a few dozen watts. I had a nano reef growing corals under I think like 18w.
Really you can use any hanging led grow light. There’s regular screw in bulbs you just put into a hanging fixture that would be <$50 total and more than enough light. There’s regular grow light pendants that are kind of the same as a bulb but more plug and play. For more light you could use a hanging cob grow light, those can be pretty pink. Then there’s quantum boards you can grow anything under but you’ll need sunglasses to enter the room.
I’d just go with a hanging light fixture and a screw in led grow light on a budget, or a freshwater planted led pendant from AquaIllumination, Current USA, Red Sea, or what others are available, there’s a lot of them out there, if you aren’t.
Depending on ceiling height you can mount a can light and just put a grow bulb in it if you don’t want a hanging lamp. There are plenty of can lights that are a spot beam and can be aimed. They are designed to hightlight artwork on walls. Just make sure you can find the correct grow bulb for it easily.
If you have easy enough attic or crawlspace access it’s not hard to cut in a switchbox and put a timer control in. Heck you can even have one that wirelessly hooks to your phone or computer. Might even be able to find a grow light that is wifi/bluetooth and skip the switch in the wall. I don’t install many grow lights so I don’t know much about those. I tend to stick to commerical electrial and only dabble in the residential when we are short handed. Can’t say I’ve ever installed a grow light in anything but a greenhouse.
Cheap, beautiful full-spectrum light, and available with tight spot-beams? Lotta halogen MR20s come with built-in reflectors and a bipin base. Stick 'em in a can-light, and you’re done.
Plus, you can stick 2, 3, 4 lights, all around it, to shine from all angles.
There are LED replacements for MR20s, but dunno how nice the light might be, nor if they shoot as tight a beam.
Might be listed as “art lights” or “picture lights” or something like that. You know, the kind you might see in museums to highlight some doodad on display.