Lighting for 125g 6ft tank

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

I am interested in changing my lights on my 125g 6ft tank. Right now we have 2 - 36 inch fluval double t5ho sitting on our tank. LFS said these were fine for our tank at the time(fowlr), which they have been. Problem is that we haven't been able to figure out a way to hang them and 2 out of 3 of my glass tops have cracked in the last week due to weight and heat.
In the last 4 months I have added a few different corals: frogspawn, 2 torch, 2 ricordia, toadstool and also added an rbta. I am not looking to fill my tank with coral but I would like to add a few different zoas to add color in different areas of my tank. I want to keep most of my rock showing.
Can anyone recommend lighting that will let me get the color and growth from my corals I have? I don't need and can't afford the best of the best. I don't want all the bells and whistles. I want to have a ramp up and ramp down and also to be able to control the intensity. Am I asking for too much?
I should also mention that I am in Canada so I would more than likely order from within Canada to save the shipping and duty costs. Thanks in advance
Lori

 

[mcarroll]

What does your LFS carry?

Is your tank 18" wide? (72x18x23"Tall or so)

If you're just looking for options to consider, CurrentUSA's Orbit Marine Pro is a nice one....not too expensive, has ramping timers, ideally designed for hanging due to the relatively strong/narrow lenses they use. One 72" strip would do it.

 

[Jem45472]

I'm using a reefbreeders photon 48 on my 125. Sunrise to sunset ability, great price, and enough light for anything you want. The light is 5' long, and if you can't hang it, the included legs will stretch long enough for a 6'tank.

P. S. If you're in Ontario, and would save you significant money, I'm in buffalo area. You could pick up there.

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

What does your LFS carry?

Is your tank 18" wide? (72x18x23"Tall or so)

If you're just looking for options to consider, CurrentUSA's Orbit Marine Pro is a nice one....not too expensive, has ramping timers, ideally designed for hanging due to the relatively strong/narrow lenses they use. One 72" strip would do it.

Yes those are the dimensions of my tank. I am going to look at both this weekend and see what they have and what they recommend. I will then research thoroughly as they usually both differ on opinion. Thank you

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

I'm using a reefbreeders photon 48 on my 125. Sunrise to sunset ability, great price, and enough light for anything you want. The light is 5' long, and if you can't hang it, the included legs will stretch long enough for a 6'tank.

P. S. If you're in Ontario, and would save you significant money, I'm in buffalo area. You could pick up there.

I am in Ontario but right across the river from Detroit. I have the option of using my detroit mailbox which I completely forgot about. I have looked at reefbreeders a couple times but because it wasn't available in Canada it was crossed off as an option. That option is now back on the table. The super lux actually interest me but they are on back order at the moment. I'm going to look into them more and find out when they might have them again. I would need 3 but from the reviews I've read and the cost, I think this would be a good option. Thank you

 

[ksc]

I think those CurrentUSA's Orbit Marine Pro's still use .5watt led's. Not a good choice at all for a 24" deep tank. There are much better choices out there.

 

[Duke4Life]

I got the Orbit Pro for my 6ft 125 and I'm switching out. Just not enough juice to reach the bottom like you are going to want. I would recommend looking at other options before wasting your money.

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

I got the Orbit Pro for my 6ft 125 and I'm switching out. Just not enough juice to reach the bottom like you are going to want. I would recommend looking at other options before wasting your money.

I was looking at the reviews and I can say I have ruled these out completely. This is why I love this site. You get many opinions and if you research them well, you can usually what is best for your tank and situation. Thank you

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

I think those CurrentUSA's Orbit Marine Pro's still use .5watt led's. Not a good choice at all for a 24" deep tank. There are much better choices out there.

Looking at the cost, comparisons and reviews, these would not be a good choice for me. Even though I'm not putting in a lot of coral, I still want good lighting for the ones I do have. Thank you. Keep the suggestions coming please.

 

[mcarroll]

I think those CurrentUSA's Orbit Marine Pro's still use .5watt led's. Not a good choice at all for a 24" deep tank. There are much better choices out there.

Watts per LED is meaningless in terms of what works for a given tank. Watts per fixture or per square foot would be more interesting, but still only tells a tiny fraction of the story.

(Sounds like you may have never seen 1 watt LED's work. You may also be unfamiliar with the proper use of lenses. Both of these things matter.)

I got the Orbit Pro for my 6ft 125 and I'm switching out. Just not enough juice to reach the bottom like you are going to want. I would recommend looking at other options before wasting your money.

Since you have the fixture, can you define or elaborate on what is "enough" for you and how you were gauging it?

The complaints seem the same as you'd find for any fixture so it would help.

The OP also has only four 36" T5's running the tank right now and I didn't hear a complaint about it....other than not being able to hang it to get it off the glass which has broken. So if you could include the OP's criteria in your thoughts that'd be cool.

I was looking at the reviews and I can say I have ruled these out completely.

It would be awesome if you could link a few of the reviews. Maybe a few notes on the particulars that convinced you so completely would be good too? (Rarely are things so cut and dried.)

Lots of folks are in your boat, so please share!

This is why I love this site. You get many opinions and if you research them well, you can usually what is best for your tank and situation.

Research into lighting is a tough one as much of the info in the hobby is marketing oriented. Info I use on light required by corals, how they use it, etc, comes from outside the hobby....even info on LED's and their use come from outside as much as possible.

Most users don't even use a light meter so they aren't even aware of how much light they're putting into their tanks. (I'd highly recommend getting a meter so you aren't "in the dark" too so to speak. PM me for details, or just ask.)

2¢

You seem to have ruled out the one option that would seem ideal for your tank according to the details you gave us, but I can't really tell why. Without more info it seems like for no good reason. (Which is OK I guess.)

(It may be worth noting that I build my own lights in addition to having experience with various other commercial lights. You don't have to listen to or believe me – my feelings won't be hurt – but I'm basing my recommendations on experience and your stated requirements and goals.)

 

[Duke4Life]

We were gauging with a Par meter that @reefwiser brought over to my house. The output compared to that of my 4 bulb t5 light was significantly less. While the bottom appeared to have light the actual numbers we got showed otherwise. Same dimensions as the OP's tank.

 

[mcarroll]

Can you share numbers? Hanging height? (Don't make me beg for the details, mang! How you use the light is at least as important as which light to get.)

If you didn't save the data so to speak, pls consider taking some readings with a lux meter and post those. The OP is more likely to have/afford a lux meter anyway...so it'd potentially be more meaningful.

I know I'm very interested for my own sake.

 

[mcarroll]

@Duke4Life I knew this tangent seemed familiar, but it was too long ago for instant recall.

Your thread: Lighting intensity at 160ft

You had that light expressly for a low-light installation.....which it should be able to do pretty easily, yet still be in range of growing coral. Even stony coral.

(I grow em at that light level with "little 1 watt LED's" mounted a foot off the tank. I know that sorta goes against the status quo, but I haven't figured out how to argue with a happy, growing coral yet. )

Just curious how you got from that thread to the lights needing to be bright?

(All good no matter the answer, I just wasn't totally aware of the plan to begin with – just what's in that thread....so what happened since then?)

 

[Duke4Life]

@Duke4Life I knew this tangent seemed familiar, but it was too long ago for instant recall.

Your thread: Lighting intensity at 160ft

You had that light expressly for a low-light installation.....which it should be able to do pretty easily, yet still be in range of growing coral. Even stony coral.

(I grow em at that light level with "little 1 watt LED's" mounted a foot off the tank. I know that sorta goes against the status quo, but I haven't figured out how to argue with a happy, growing coral yet. )

Just curious how you got from that thread to the lights needing to be bright?

(All good no matter the answer, I just wasn't totally aware of the plan to begin with – just what's in that thread....so what happened since then?)

I've grown and learned a lot since then lol The biggest change was my move because I had to tear down of course and my rockwork isn't going to look the same. I'm doing away with mostly pillars like I had where I could place a lot of coral higher up.

The biggest factor is that I'm installing a pvc cave for my eel and won't be worried if he has a covered area. This feature then allows me to go T5s and a metal hallide, using this Orbit as an accent.

 

[mcarroll]

Gotcha! Quite a bit has changed!

Glad you (clearly) made it through the move....those are tough on everyone!

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

Watts per LED is meaningless in terms of what works for a given tank. Watts per fixture or per square foot would be more interesting, but still only tells a tiny fraction of the story.

(Sounds like you may have never seen 1 watt LED's work. You may also be unfamiliar with the proper use of lenses. Both of these things matter.)



Since you have the fixture, can you define or elaborate on what is "enough" for you and how you were gauging it?

The complaints seem the same as you'd find for any fixture so it would help.

The OP also has only four 36" T5's running the tank right now and I didn't hear a complaint about it....other than not being able to hang it to get it off the glass which has broken. So if you could include the OP's criteria in your thoughts that'd be cool.



It would be awesome if you could link a few of the reviews. Maybe a few notes on the particulars that convinced you so completely would be good too? (Rarely are things so cut and dried.)

Lots of folks are in your boat, so please share!



Research into lighting is a tough one as much of the info in the hobby is marketing oriented. Info I use on light required by corals, how they use it, etc, comes from outside the hobby....even info on LED's and their use come from outside as much as possible.

Most users don't even use a light meter so they aren't even aware of how much light they're putting into their tanks. (I'd highly recommend getting a meter so you aren't "in the dark" too so to speak. PM me for details, or just ask.)

2¢

You seem to have ruled out the one option that would seem ideal for your tank according to the details you gave us, but I can't really tell why. Without more info it seems like for no good reason. (Which is OK I guess.)

(It may be worth noting that I build my own lights in addition to having experience with various other commercial lights. You don't have to listen to or believe me – my feelings won't be hurt – but I'm basing my recommendations on experience and your stated requirements and goals.)

I actually looked at a few different sites for prices on these lights(72 inch). U.S and Canadian. The reviews I was looking at were on the marine depot site and amazon. It wasn't that the reviews were all bad (there were quite a few good ones). The reviews that were discouraging, worried me enough, to decide against them.

We jumped into this hobby knowing nothing, but trusting whatever our first LFS told us (he's out of business now and owes a lot of people money). He told us many things that we naively believed resulting in rushed purchases. Our mistake. Lesson learned. Mistakes and lessons we don't want to make again.

Originally I was only going to have a fowlr tank until a friend gave me a couple of coral frags. Then I purchased a few more. As much as I love the look of the beautiful tanks full of coral, I also love my rock formations. I only want the corals to accent my tank. Kind of like adding landscaping to your yard to make the house and property stand out.

My t5's haven't been bad for my tank (except the glass tops), I just don't have that extra pop of color I would like to see. We purchased what we could afford at the time and what was available to us locally. Since we are having a difficult time figuring out how to hang these lights without using the ceiling or wall, we thought now would be a good time to invest in LED's. We also don't want to keep upgrading as used equipment doesn't sell that well in our area unless you are pretty much giving it away.

I mistakenly said that I ruled the Orbits out completely but until I actually make a purchase, it is still an option. I just need to get more information and also more opinions so I can make the right decision for my tank and my bank account. I also need to learn about PAR. I keep seeing this but I have no idea what it means or how much PAR my tank needs. This hobby scares the heck out of me at times with how much there is to learn. All I want is a tank that I love to look at everyday that has healthy livestock and corals.

 

[Duke4Life]

I actually looked at a few different sites for prices on these lights(72 inch). U.S and Canadian. The reviews I was looking at were on the marine depot site and amazon. It wasn't that the reviews were all bad (there were quite a few good ones). The reviews that were discouraging, worried me enough, to decide against them.

We jumped into this hobby knowing nothing, but trusting whatever our first LFS told us (he's out of business now and owes a lot of people money). He told us many things that we naively believed resulting in rushed purchases. Our mistake. Lesson learned. Mistakes and lessons we don't want to make again.

Originally I was only going to have a fowlr tank until a friend gave me a couple of coral frags. Then I purchased a few more. As much as I love the look of the beautiful tanks full of coral, I also love my rock formations. I only want the corals to accent my tank. Kind of like adding landscaping to your yard to make the house and property stand out.

My t5's haven't been bad for my tank (except the glass tops), I just don't have that extra pop of color I would like to see. We purchased what we could afford at the time and what was available to us locally. Since we are having a difficult time figuring out how to hang these lights without using the ceiling or wall, we thought now would be a good time to invest in LED's. We also don't want to keep upgrading as used equipment doesn't sell that well in our area unless you are pretty much giving it away.

I mistakenly said that I ruled the Orbits out completely but until I actually make a purchase, it is still an option. I just need to get more information and also more opinions so I can make the right decision for my tank and my bank account. I also need to learn about PAR. I keep seeing this but I have no idea what it means or how much PAR my tank needs. This hobby scares the heck out of me at times with how much there is to learn. All I want is a tank that I love to look at everyday that has healthy livestock and corals.

Par is basically the intensity of the light. While we may see light it doesn't always mean that what's there has the power/intensity needed for coral to grow sufficiently.

 

[mcarroll]

My t5's haven't been bad for my tank (except the glass tops), I just don't have that extra pop of color I would like to see. We purchased what we could afford at the time and what was available to us locally. Since we are having a difficult time figuring out how to hang these lights without using the ceiling or wall, we thought now would be a good time to invest in LED's. We also don't want to keep upgrading as used equipment doesn't sell that well in our area unless you are pretty much giving it away.

I mistakenly said that I ruled the Orbits out completely but until I actually make a purchase, it is still an option. I just need to get more information and also more opinions so I can make the right decision for my tank and my bank account. I also need to learn about PAR. I keep seeing this but I have no idea what it means or how much PAR my tank needs. This hobby scares the heck out of me at times with how much there is to learn. All I want is a tank that I love to look at everyday that has healthy livestock and corals.

"Pop"...ugh.
Can't decide whether to abandon LEDs has some good stuff in it, including some stuff I added about Buyer's Remorse that address your feelings on buying once. Most folks don't use very real criteria for selecting their lights....this hampers critical thinking and leaves them open to this. Read that thread.

I think you will be able to lay the whole concept of pop to rest by realizing how many people with T5's are looking to LED's for "pop"....how many people with LED's are looking to T5's for "pop"......and even metal halide users looking to LED's for "pop" and LED users wanting halides for "pop". It's beyond silly.

"pop" to the best of my reading ability, is a word used to describe a non-existent condition of someone's corals looking better than they do.....no matter how they look.

If you can find threads where people have brown corals and actually made them colorful, you will mostly see how rare that thread is. (You will need photo-documentation, of course, because no two people have the very same idea of "good looking" or "beautiful".) Healthy, growing corals under any purpose-built reef light will look really good. Beautiful. Florescent and iridescent. If you want more than that you have to leave reality for the realm of DSLR cameras and photoshop. (I hope you take my meaning here...it's a bit sharp.)

So if more "pop" is all you're after in the change of lighting, I think you can reconsider your upgrade altogether if you want to. If the T5's have been working and you don't hate them, keep using them and go after what's really preventing the corals from coloring up. Light, nuntrients and flow all come together to make a happy coral....get one or two of them wrong....or all three.....and you'll have less-happy-looking corals as they adapt and keep on surviving in the non-ideal circumstance.

I would post some tank photos online to see if other folks concur that your corals need a change first though....just get an "aesthetic sanity" check. You might get even more non-upgrade advice.

Doing a setup something like @Duke4Life has where you use the Orbit Pro along side the T5's is a very good option. You can try both out....then just the CurrentUSA.....you may decide you like the combo so well you won't change, but you can also take your time deciding if you like the Current well enough to go alone with it. And if you wanted a really bright tank (which is arguably not necessary for anything) there's nothing really wrong with using the 72" DUAL Orbit Pro that comes with two strips – it's pretty common to use more fixtures than recommended, though shouldn't be necessary. You won't have to run either strip nearly as intense that way, which will make the LED's last longer...and you'd have the capacity to make your tank much brighter than most tanks you see pictures of. (You can search out some truly high-light tanks where surface irradiance reaches >80,000 lux or >1800 PAR....nothing at all wrong with them if done right....just that it's not necessary to have that much light for most corals. 1/10th that amount or more will do it.)

The real key is to listen to your gut – which if you're smart, will be telling you do go slow every step of the way. You cannot add fish or coral too slowly. Allotting yourself extra time in between additions allows you to make mistakes and learn from them without compromising a whole tank full of livestock.

It can be hard to be that patient, but try to think about fish and corals more like dogs – as pets.

Taking Your Time
Fish and coral both have a much longer lifetime than dogs in most cases, so you're going to have a long time to spend with these critters – even the very first additions you make to the tank.

So don't get in a senseless rush to fill up the tank in the firs year or two when you still don't know jack – it is not justified.

That's the pattern that most newbies follow to their chagrin.

There would be nothing wrong with still having only one fish and a few corals at the end of your first year with this reef, for example. Adding one or two critters a year after that – you'd have a blast stocking the tank for years to come.

(My tank was full since year one....nobody to give me this advice....and it's a little boring when there's no room to add. I've had the chance to add lots of cool corals to the tank over the last 6 years or whatver, but never had room to add them. Not the end of the world, but stocking the tank is definitely part of the fun....and I could have taken my time.)

Unloading Used Gear
Online sources like R2R's for sale forums, raigslist, Bay and local reef clubs will be your best outlets for used stuff.....I agree I don't like the bother of dealing with that though.....buy once if at all possible. Not to the point of stressing over it though....just, as you are, research and take your time. If you get to the point of stressing about any of this, slow down – you're rushing! We make our worst mistakes/decisions when we're in a hurry.....personal experience, but you can read all sorts of confessions from other folks on here too. "Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank." is the most under-rated/under-used saying in our hobby.....yet it holds more keys to success than any other thing you can do.

 

[Duke4Life]

What lights are you running? And what combination?

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

"Pop"...ugh.
Can't decide whether to abandon LEDs has some good stuff in it, including some stuff I added about Buyer's Remorse that address your feelings on buying once. Most folks don't use very real criteria for selecting their lights....this hampers critical thinking and leaves them open to this. Read that thread.

I think you will be able to lay the whole concept of pop to rest by realizing how many people with T5's are looking to LED's for "pop"....how many people with LED's are looking to T5's for "pop"......and even metal halide users looking to LED's for "pop" and LED users wanting halides for "pop". It's beyond silly.

"pop" to the best of my reading ability, is a word used to describe a non-existent condition of someone's corals looking better than they do.....no matter how they look.

If you can find threads where people have brown corals and actually made them colorful, you will mostly see how rare that thread is. (You will need photo-documentation, of course, because no two people have the very same idea of "good looking" or "beautiful".) Healthy, growing corals under any purpose-built reef light will look really good. Beautiful. Florescent and iridescent. If you want more than that you have to leave reality for the realm of DSLR cameras and photoshop. (I hope you take my meaning here...it's a bit sharp.)

So if more "pop" is all you're after in the change of lighting, I think you can reconsider your upgrade altogether if you want to. If the T5's have been working and you don't hate them, keep using them and go after what's really preventing the corals from coloring up. Light, nuntrients and flow all come together to make a happy coral....get one or two of them wrong....or all three.....and you'll have less-happy-looking corals as they adapt and keep on surviving in the non-ideal circumstance.

I would post some tank photos online to see if other folks concur that your corals need a change first though....just get an "aesthetic sanity" check. You might get even more non-upgrade advice.

Doing a setup something like @Duke4Life has where you use the Orbit Pro along side the T5's is a very good option. You can try both out....then just the CurrentUSA.....you may decide you like the combo so well you won't change, but you can also take your time deciding if you like the Current well enough to go alone with it. And if you wanted a really bright tank (which is arguably not necessary for anything) there's nothing really wrong with using the 72" DUAL Orbit Pro that comes with two strips – it's pretty common to use more fixtures than recommended, though shouldn't be necessary. You won't have to run either strip nearly as intense that way, which will make the LED's last longer...and you'd have the capacity to make your tank much brighter than most tanks you see pictures of. (You can search out some truly high-light tanks where surface irradiance reaches >80,000 lux or >1800 PAR....nothing at all wrong with them if done right....just that it's not necessary to have that much light for most corals. 1/10th that amount or more will do it.)

The real key is to listen to your gut – which if you're smart, will be telling you do go slow every step of the way. You cannot add fish or coral too slowly. Allotting yourself extra time in between additions allows you to make mistakes and learn from them without compromising a whole tank full of livestock.

It can be hard to be that patient, but try to think about fish and corals more like dogs – as pets.

Taking Your Time
Fish and coral both have a much longer lifetime than dogs in most cases, so you're going to have a long time to spend with these critters – even the very first additions you make to the tank.

So don't get in a senseless rush to fill up the tank in the firs year or two when you still don't know jack – it is not justified.

That's the pattern that most newbies follow to their chagrin.

There would be nothing wrong with still having only one fish and a few corals at the end of your first year with this reef, for example. Adding one or two critters a year after that – you'd have a blast stocking the tank for years to come.

(My tank was full since year one....nobody to give me this advice....and it's a little boring when there's no room to add. I've had the chance to add lots of cool corals to the tank over the last 6 years or whatver, but never had room to add them. Not the end of the world, but stocking the tank is definitely part of the fun....and I could have taken my time.)

Unloading Used Gear
Online sources like R2R's for sale forums, raigslist, Bay and local reef clubs will be your best outlets for used stuff.....I agree I don't like the bother of dealing with that though.....buy once if at all possible. Not to the point of stressing over it though....just, as you are, research and take your time. If you get to the point of stressing about any of this, slow down – you're rushing! We make our worst mistakes/decisions when we're in a hurry.....personal experience, but you can read all sorts of confessions from other folks on here too. "Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank." is the most under-rated/under-used saying in our hobby.....yet it holds more keys to success than any other thing you can do.

Our 125g is now a year old. We kept a 55g for a year before that. After going through some rough times in the first 2 months of upgrading, our tank has been pretty stable since. We have slowed all changes to a crawl. I know we still have a long way to go.
As far as some of my corals go, they are all thriving but not necessarily growing. There are some that the color looks more orange in my tank rather than the shade of purple or red from the lfs tank. If I find one doesn't seem to be doing well with the light it is getting, I move it either up or down and leave it for a week or so to see if it responds good or bad. Here are some pics of the corals I do have in my tank right now. There is one pic of my rbta as well.