jonnyin10 Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Ok so i already have my mind set on what kind of lights i want, i did the research and figured T5's would be good for my tank! Here is the quesion. I have a 125 gallon tank and i was trying to see what size light i should buy? 1 long one or 2 short ones? if anyone can help it would be appreciated. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 What are the dimensions of your tank? I think a standard 125 is 6' long so you pretty much have to go with two sets of 36" bulbs. Are you looking at a retro kit or a complete system? I know there are some very nice 72" T5 setups but they get very pricey once you get past the 48" mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyin10 Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 What are the dimensions of your tank? I think a standard 125 is 6' long so you pretty much have to go with two sets of 36" bulbs. Are you looking at a retro kit or a complete system? I know there are some very nice 72" T5 setups but they get very pricey once you get past the 48" mark. 72" 18" 24" And i am looking for a complete system i literally just bought the tank this weekend and the T5 are pretty pricey but here they are very good lights! willing to sacrifice some money for value! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 http://www.current-usa.com/nova_extreme_pro I have heard great things about this light ... I have never used one but if I was going to buy a straight T5 setup that is prolly what I would look at. I think you can get it for around $700 at several different online vendors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyin10 Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 Wow that is a high price! well thanks for your help i appreciate, i dont know where to start all i have is a tank and stand right now, do you have any preferences on what i should buy first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Lighting will probably be the biggest expense of a reef tank. The tank and stand is usually the cheapest at least in my experience. If all you have is a tank and stand you really have a long way to go. Some things to consider: Circulation both return pump and power heads filtration - skimmer, reactors, filter socks .... lighting - T5, Metal Halide, a little of each sump - how big can you fit in your stand refugium - are you planning on using one These are just a few things to think about. I dont know if this is your first tank or what so maybe a little more info and we could prolly help out a lot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyin10 Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 Lighting will probably be the biggest expense of a reef tank. The tank and stand is usually the cheapest at least in my experience. If all you have is a tank and stand you really have a long way to go. Some things to consider: Circulation both return pump and power heads filtration - skimmer, reactors, filter socks .... lighting - T5, Metal Halide, a little of each sump - how big can you fit in your stand refugium - are you planning on using one These are just a few things to think about. I dont know if this is your first tank or what so maybe a little more info and we could prolly help out a lot more. Fortunately this is not my first tank i have currently a 29g freshwater that i first used as Saltwater but never really had to get all the good supplys was only a fish only tank. I have been reading about the refugium but cant decide, i would like to have mostly fish but a few anemones. i have a protein skimmer, power heads and thats about it lol. how important are the refugiums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaJMasta Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 A fuge can be useful for water quality and food production chiefly, but there are other benefits. If you stick to fish mostly then you may not need to go crazy with the lighting, but a nem would probably require at least decent lighting and corals will require good lighting. With a tank that size I'd strongly consider metal halide lighting with T5 or LED for the actinic portion. Metal halides will give you the water penetration you need to get acceptable light levels at the lowest levels of the tanks for photosynthetic organisms (like corals or anemones), and considering the size of T5 fixture you'd otherwise need...... may actually be cheaper. LED is also an option, but you would need something with wide optics unless you want to buy tons of lights, and good LED lighting tends to be expensive. There are lots of lighting options available, but the reality is that unless you're running FOWLR they are absolutely essential to the health of your tank. Even the highest wattage 72" fixture of the nova extreme pros would give you only up to a moderate light level in the tank, with fairly low light areas at the bottom (in terms of photosynthetic organism requirements, not what it looks like). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Current USA discontinued making T5 and MH fixtures (i.e, Nova Extremes, Outer Orbits, etc) months ago. Anything you find online is leftover inventory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 try catalinaaquarium.com its a lighting company i have used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Do you have a canopy? You can piece together a T5 setup as a retro pretty easily and get exactly what you want that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don duncan Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 I have a 72 inch constalation light that I might be selling. It already has all the bulbs that are only 1 month old. PM me if you are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 I have a 72 inch constalation light that I might be selling. It already has all the bulbs that are only 1 month old. PM me if you are interested. "might be"? What...are you going to start another 6' tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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