LED lighting for my 125 gallon tank?

[Talon33]

I am getting my equipment together for my 125 tank. I am still torn between going reef and going FOWLR. Thinking about going FOWLR and transitioning into a reef. I will probably never keep SPS corals. The tank will most likely just have LPS and soft corals. May try SPS as I get the hang of things. Anyways I want to go LED on this tank. On my last reef tank I had a T5 and replacing the bulbs and the noise of the fans really got to me.

So I can I get some recommendations on some decent LED lighting? I want something that will produce a great shimmer, be adjustable, and have pretty much a full spectrum.

I have been considering some of the Kessil lights. Especially the A150 that is on sale at BRS. I could get some of those. Or if you guys can just give me some good lights I can keep an eye out on here and CL.

 

[DaveK]

Since this is a FOWLR system now, and as I recall you want to keep SW bytterflies, most corals and similar livestock is out of the question.

We put high lighting on a reef system for the corals. The fish really don't care too much.

This is a case where you want to save some money and use very modest lighting. Something like a pair of these 2 bulb T5 fixtures should be fine for a FO system.

Yea, I know they are only 2 bulb fixtures, and since they will not be able to span all 73 inches of a 125, you'll need to hang then one way or another.

The upside it that they are cheep.

 

[Talon33]

Yeah it is a FOWLR system in the making but I am still not sure what I want it to be. I am setting it up to be a FOWLR that can be easily converted to a reef if I want. Basically just adding the light and doing some restocking if I end up with butterflyfish. I am just wondering what are some good LED options I can be on the lookout for in case a good deal comes up. Right now I have a current USA satellite LED light to light the FOWLR in the meantime.

 

[DaveK]

The Current LED lighting your using is fine for a FOWLR system.

You don't want to spend a lot of money on a high end LED lighting system for several reasons. First off, the fish don't need it. Also, less light usually means a lot less algae problems. Lastly, LED lighting for SW reef aquariums is improving rapidly. By the time you might want to make this an all out reef system, LED lighting should be a lot better and cost a lot less.

 

[1325903997]

I own two of the AURORA Timer-165w LED lights with better spectrum,they can do a 3 stage ramp,for example, moons on for an hour, then blues, then white the third hour

 

[StevesLEDs]

Steve's LEDs has a great LED system for the 125G FOWLER. Choose any LED combination netting any color you can imagine. Fully compatible with any aquarium controller on the market too!

Shoot me an email at Techsupport@StevesLEDs.com and it will be my pleasure to personally assist you.

Jeff

 

[Matthew Greenwald]

Before you buy anything I'd def make up your mind if you want it to eventually be a reef or not. This can make a HUGE difference. If you're just going FOWLR you can get a cheap green element LED system off ebay for like 120 that is VERY bright and looks really nice. If you want a reef you're going to spend 5 times that for a system as large as yours. My advice is def. decide for sure what you want to do with the tank in the long run.

 

[StevesLEDs]

I think every aquarium I have had except 1 started off as a FOWLR. First you put in the fish, then you start asking the fish store what corals.anemones need low or no light, such as mushrooms, then you start seeing prettier corals that need better light..... and it goes on from there.

Jeff

 

[DaveK]

...also folks hope to get a cheap and good led lights for aquarium...

As the farmer said upon seeing a giraffe at the zoo for the first time... There ain't no such animal.


You have some latitude with choosing features and and how may LEDs are in it. However, bargain priced LED fixtures or for that matter, and lighting fixture, almost always means they left something major out.

You need not get the most expensive thing out there, but don't try to cut too close. Just about every time I have tried to go cheep I ended up replacing the junk for something decent.

 

[DaveK]

I own two of the AURORA Timer-165w LED lights with better spectrum,they can do a 3 stage ramp,for example, moons on for an hour, then blues, then white the third hour

I first want to say that I'm not coming down on the OP. This is a really excellent tank, just look at the livestock in it.

However, in my opinion, the LED lighting being used could be a lot better, not because there is anything wrong with the fixtures, but because there just are not enough of them. Note the bright pillars of light directly under the fixtures. LED lighting likes to go straight down. Everything directly under them is well lit, but the tank has a dim center, and dim corners. To get really even light in the tank, I would add at least one more fixture. Adding two more would even be better.

I had a similar problem with my own tank, and ended up adding a couple more fixtures so there were no dim areas.

 

[1325903997]

I first want to say that I'm not coming down on the OP. This is a really excellent tank, just look at the livestock in it.

However, in my opinion, the LED lighting being used could be a lot better, not because there is anything wrong with the fixtures, but because there just are not enough of them. Note the bright pillars of light directly under the fixtures. LED lighting likes to go straight down. Everything directly under them is well lit, but the tank has a dim center, and dim corners. To get really even light in the tank, I would add at least one more fixture. Adding two more would even be better.

I had a similar problem with my own tank, and ended up adding a couple more fixtures so there were no dim areas.

Yes,it has a little brace shadowing,I will add one more fixtures,love the timer lights,thank you very much.