Lighting for 72" Tank -Fish for Now

MVlk

MVlk

ReefWolf
I would like some lighting advice from the community please. I have a new 125 I am setting up. When I bought the 72" tank I made the decision to get two 36" cheapo (Perfecto) lights. My thought was buy cheap now and upgrade later. Well... the tank has been going for 2 weeks now and I am not happy with the light. Water looks clear, just not enough pop (Surprise!)

It will be a long time before I try anything more than fish, but would love to try corals eventually. I have been told a good T5 setup will be fine for most. Also would like to have some Lunar LED lighting in as well.

I have looked at the Nova Extreme which seems great, but I see it only in a 48" length. So... besides general advice and opinions, my initial question is should I pay the bigger bucks for a full 72" fixture or is two 36" fixtures just fine?
 
it would probably be cheaper to just get a 72" fixture because the shipping on two fixture would be more then one fixture plus when it comes to to replace bulbs youll be buying double the amount of bulbs for two fixtures. and if your going to get t-5's i would suggest the nova extreme pros as the bare minimum to get as a fixture since the nova extreme pros have independent reflectors but the IR's on the pro are quite weak comparatively speaking.
 
Thx for the reply... Some additional info. My LFS will work something out with me to bring the old lights back. Hypothetically, that will be $150 or so in credit, so I may not buy online...

Simple research online from Doctors Fosters and Smith:
36" Nova Extreme T5 w/Lunar $180 x 2 = $360 ... No 72" option given
Could not seem to find something comparable... and now their website has stopped responding.

Really would like to have the Lunar LED's integrated... do not want to build myself. I have the knowledge, but with three kids, not the time.
 
the thing is with the extreme is that they dont have the IR's the extreme pros do have the IR's which double or triple the PAR output of the lights therefor giving you the ability to keep anything you want, but you wont be able to do that with the extremes.
 
Decide on what you want to do now and for the future.You may end up buying yet another fixture six months from now.If you see corals in your future then start looking at better fixtures than the Extremes.The Pros are a good place to start.
 
I dont know that they make a 72" fixture with moon lights.If they do,I've not found it.
If you even think you might add corals later on,look into the Nova Pros.
Even though moon lights are nice.How often are you actually going to see them?
 
well yote, even though you usually wont see them, they have been reported to help SPS and clams go through a spawning session
 
nova extreme pro 72" is the bottom light I would go with.........
If you want to go all out, get an aquactinics constellation 72", or a sfiligoi stealth 60". Get those, and you'll never worry about lighting again
 
Ughh... Looks like no cheap solution. Just got a quote to add new plumbing in my basement for a laundry tub and hook up for a RO/DI system. That is going to be a big expense so I guess I will live with the cheap lights for a while.

Thanks all for the great advice.
 
OK... Lots of good advice, but I am thinking I just need to wait and save up for a really good lighting system. Until then, I have found the following for $200. Is better than my single tube system lighting now and good enough for fish. Any thoughts on what this could support before the big purchase?

Coralife 72 Inch Aqualight W/ 4-96W Sq. Pin Base And 5-3/4W Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow LED Lamps

http://www.marinedepot.com
 
I have the Nova extremes for my 75g and they're ok but I don't like multiple plugs and the fact that there are no moon lights. On top of that one of the fans kicked the bucket. I'm looking into the Sundial made by Current USA. I've heared great things from my lfs and they've got all the bells and whistles at a resonable price.
 
MVlk said:
OK... Lots of good advice, but I am thinking I just need to wait and save up for a really good lighting system. Until then, I have found the following for $200. Is better than my single tube system lighting now and good enough for fish. Any thoughts on what this could support before the big purchase?

Coralife 72 Inch Aqualight W/ 4-96W Sq. Pin Base And 5-3/4W Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow LED Lamps

http://www.marinedepot.com
Click to expand...

Learn term,it will probably be enough for soft corals.Probably not enough for anything else.
 
Thank you all for the advice and info. I ended up picking up the Coralife 72 Inch Aqualight W/ 4-96W Sq. Pin Base And 5-3/4W Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow LED Lamps for $200. Needs bulbs replaced but is still a big improvement over the old. After picking up I just found out we need a new clothes washer $$$ ... glad I did not get my hopes up for a nice T5 system.
 
Congrats on your new lights. But that's always how it goes, isn't it? It would be nice if things would break at say, one month intervals or so, but everything in my house always seems to break at the same time :(
 
Should be last question for this thread... now that I have purchased the light (see previous posts) what bulbs do you all recommend? It has essentially two rows so I was considering a mix of two and two for the 96W Square Pin 34" bulbs. My first inclination was to go for 2 of the dual whites and 2 dual blues. The old bulb in it now seem like it could benefit from more white light so I do not know?

Bulb options from Current USA:

  • 10000K White/7100K Blue (50/50)
  • Dual 6700K Daylight/10000K White
  • 460NM Actinic
  • Dual Actinic 03/7100K Blue - Half Actinic03 (420nm) and half 7100K (460nm)
Tank desc is as in tag line... 125 Reef ready but FOWLR for now.
 

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