Big Enough???

[Waddi]

Ok, so im getting a 125, but i want to go with LEDs the tank is 72 inches. And i want this light, which is only 48 inches..... what do you think??
Vertex Illumilux IV LED Fixture - Marino Bianco (48 Inch)

 

[Jmck]

I would say no.

When you buy a tank, you generally buy a lighting fixture that is only 1ft shorter, not 2. You would not be able to keep anything that needs a lot of light on the outside ft on either side of the tank. Can you go bigger?

 

[Bifferwine]

I would also say no, especially because they are LEDs, which penetrate downwards and hardly spread any light out laterally. You will have a foot of dark on both sides of it.

 

[Waddi]

Well im now thinking of this then,
48 Ultra Premium LED Do-It-Yourself Retrofit Kit
48 LEDs enough?? I might add 12 or some on to that.

 

[Jmck]

I dont think that will be enough for your tank. I would be thinking 3 of those for a 6ft tank.

it comes to 140 watts with 3 watt led's and that just doesnt feel enough. Over my 2ft I have a 160 watt.

Edit: you may be able to get away with 2 over the tank if you put it on a 3ft fixture

 

[Waddi]

Weeelll i was thinking 60-70 leds, for a mixed reef? But i was hoping that would be enough. I will send the guys an email down at rapid led see what they think.
But i was thinking like two 3ft heatsinks with 30, 3watts on each? Maybe?? im hoping to get away with the least amount of money spent, as you can see! :p

 

[Northstar24]

The 3 Watt AI LED fixtures run 24 Cree LED's in a fixture. With optics you can run one fixture per 2 feet of tank. I run 3 AI fixtures over my 180 (standard 6x2x2). Using this same forumla for the DIY route, you'd need roughly 72 of the 3 Watt Cree's for a DIY fixture if you're really looking to make it worth your while