lighting 125Gal

[chili is hot]

Hi
i'm geting a 125gal aquarium soon and was wondering what lighting would be best? its going to be a heavily plated tank with Co2. the dimensions of the tank are going to be 60"L ,18"W ,26"H.
also i already have 4 40wat(48"L) florecent bulbs wich i would like to use.
thanks

 

[ringfinger]

I can't offer too much advice...but since nobody else has responded...
This fellow has quite the successful 125g tank.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=39189&start=0

I'm not sure what your budget will allow, but all of his lighting, filtration, and CO2 specifications are posted bellow the pictures.

 

[BrianNY]

Lighting for a 125g planted tank isn't cheap. I used a 6 X 55 brite lite kit from ahsupply.com and built my own hood. The cost was roughly $400.

 

[malkore]

a 4x96 watt setup should work nicely. I honestly wouldn't bother with the NO tubes, unless you can add a single one...if so you could toss one actinic03 bulb in there to really brighten up the fish colors.

 

[greenmaji]

NO tubes would have to be overdrivin to be worth while over your 125..
PC lighting is most popular..
6 T-5 HO's would send you up to high light as well

 

[travis simonson]

I've got a 125G with high-light and CO2 and can say that CF or MH is the only way to go to get the light levels you want. Malkore is right on when he says 4x96 watt CF. You want at least 3 wpg and CF does it very nicely. It's not cheap but you won't regret it. You can even throw your old NO lamps on top of that (that's what I did) and get a nice full coverage. Don't skimp on the lights if you want a full-on hight-light CO2 driven 125G tank. It takes a lot of wattage to light one of those guys up

 

[chili is hot]

Thanks allot every one.
i'll look into some CF and MH on the net. i went to Big al's the other day and looked at the CF hoods. They cost allot!! i think that i will probably go with some CF from ahsupply.com. That 125G planted mbuna tank is amazing i just hope mine will turn out that good. Thanks allot for all the ansers.
now i have another question ...What type of substrate should i get? I'm thinking eco-complete or something cheeper that has the same effect.
thanks