Lighting For 125 Gallon Tank

[stresco]

I am looking for lighting options for my 125 gallon. I was thinking of going with T5s but I am having difficulty finding light fixtures 72" long. Anyone have any suggestions on where i may be able to find some? Or should i just go with 2 x 250wDEMHs?

 

[ellisz]

Can you light a 6ft tank with 2 halides? Does the DE make a differnece? I have been wanting to upgrade from my 4ft to a 6ft but did not want the extra cost of another MH. IMO MH lighting is the best

 

[lando]

A single MH is good for about two square feet so you will need three for the best coverage. Have you looked at the 72in Coralife Aqualight Pro?

 

[Hara]

what about building your own hood like you did before, and staggering the four ft bulbs. You would have plenty of room inside the hood as the t5 is so thin....just a thought.

 

[Hara]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=46314&item=4381055115

 

[stresco]

Cool, thanks for the link Hara. Ill give this some serious thought now. The only reason I dont want to do 3 MHs is because of the center brace in the tank. It will block a lot of the light. I was thinking that the 2 DEMHs would do the trick with 4 VHO Actinic bulbs. If I do the 2 DEs I think that 250would suffice, or should i do the 400w? If i do go the MH route, I will be building my own hood again.

 

[lando]

The only reason I dont want to do 3 MHs is because of the center brace in the tank.

Yah, that would be a problem.

If I do the 2 DEs I think that 250would suffice, or should i do the 400w?

How deep is this tank, 24in? I think 2 250's would work just fine. 2 400's would certainly allow you to keep just about anything you wanted.

 

[Hara]

steve, another thing you need to figure into the equation is replacement costs of the bulbs. I spend over 300 per year to maintain my lights.....t5's and vho's are alot cheaper to maintain and also cheaper to run.