125 lighting question

808smokey

808smokey

Member
Aloha,
It's been a while since I posted in here, Working too much.. but...
I have a 125gal. FOWLR. I have about 45-60lbs. of Live rock, mixed types (fiji and florida)
Fish list:
1 - Heniochus Butterfly
1 - Flame angel
1 - Perc clown
5 - Damsels (2 blue, 2 yellow, 1 black fancy one??)
5 - pep shrimp
1 - banded coral shrimp
1 turbo snail
2 nass snails
5-7 hermits.
2 choc starfish
How much is too much for this tank as far as fish go?
I'm getting a little more free time and would like to upgrade the lighting system I have. My tank came with 2 - 36" Flourescent lights. I had a 3rd from the previous 40gal and threw that on top too. I know that's not enough for anything other than fish. So what should I get?
I've been looking and there's so many types. I would like to get some type of coral/anemone type of things but I don't/can't empty my wallet for lighting.
I guess my real question is what type of coral requires the least (cheapest) amount of light. Maybe call it the "hardiest" types of corals.
Also do they sell any kind of light "Timers"? I'm sure they do, just haven't found any.
Thanks a bunch for your help...
Aloha
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
Hey~
I would suggest Satellite by Current. They offer some pretty nice set-ups at a decent price. Your LFS should have a couple on display. They also can guide you in the right direction as far as timers. They are a lot easier because you don't have to worry about turning your lights on and off. You can read up on them a lot on this site as far as what times to turn what types of lights on.
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
PowerCompacts are gonna be your option. There not super pricy and will take care of all soft corals or lps and some anemones. They wont stand up to SPS or clams but there price is in range and you can find really nice lights for around $200.
 
808smokey

808smokey

Member
Originally Posted by Snipe
PowerCompacts are gonna be your option. There not super pricy and will take care of all soft corals or lps and some anemones. They wont stand up to SPS or clams but there price is in range and you can find really nice lights for around $200.
Thanks,
How about two of these lights:
1(bulb)x36" Current USA Satellite Power Compact Fixture w/ Lunar Light"
It's selling for $84.50 a pop. Or should I go for the dual 2x36" lights? Are dual really neccesary?
Could I get away with just a dual 48" strip? vs. end to end 36" lights
Thanks again :)
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
It all depends on what you want to keep. If you just want to show colors of the fish, you will be fine with the single strip. If you want to keep a couple soft hardy corals then you might want to up it to the 2x duals. You will be amazed with how much more light the duals will put out. I'm gettting the 2x dual 48" for my setup. Hope this helps.
 
808smokey

808smokey

Member
hmmm...
I would like to get some corals but didn't really knwo about the lighting. So I'll get the duals. Well maybe one dual and one single. The LFS pretty much suck around here for equipment. All I have is a Petland and a Petsmart.
Why is everything so expensinve for fish tanks?
Do you know of any places to buy them online?
Thanks
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
If I remember right, you said you were in NE Ohio right? I used to be stationed at WP Air Force Base in Dayton. I might be able to hook you up with a couple out there depending on just how NE you are. There are many different options as far as lighting goes.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
If you want an anemone you should check your nitrate levels, with the amount of live rock you list I would guess you have too high a nitrate level to safely support an anemone. If you want a reef ( anemones and corals) do it right even if you will only have a few anonomes or corals. I personally wouldn't waste my time with PC lighting. Too many better options out there.
 
pyro

pyro

Active Member
You can also look into VHOs. I went with 2 X 96W retrofit PC's on my 30g, and I'm sorta wishing I hadn't considering they sorta feel shaky and the VHO's just seem more stable.
I've heard you can keep some very basic mushrooms, basically shrooms and maybe polyps under some heavy duty normal flourescents, but I'd just go the extra 10ft and go a little heavier to make sure.
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
VHO's have a bigger price tag and are the same thing as powercompacts. For a 125 I would go with at least a 4 bulb unit "I have a 4 bulb on my 55 and if I had room I would have another 4 bulb on there as well". For a 125 I would do a 6 bulb light. You can get nice lights like mine "odessey" for $110 shipped "at least I did" that would give you eight 65W powercompacts for $220 "mine came pre wired for moon lights as well" that would be 520watts total being 4.16 watts per gallon letting you keep just about any soft coral you want. I wouldnt think anemones would be aple to live under that but most soft corals would.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
If you want high light critters and cant do halides look at T5 fluorescent lighting. The units with individual reflectors for each lamp can't be matched with VHO or PC lighting. They are not cheap to set up but I have measured the PAR on my tank and 480 watt T5's on my 125 provided better than 38 percent more PAR to the bottom (18.5" below the surface) than my 3 x 150 watt halides with 168 watts of PC actinic does.
The lamps can be used from to 18 to 24 months according to Ice Cap
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
Originally Posted by Snipe
But if you can afford thoughs T5 Lights then you can afford metal halides.
No, If you can afford the T5's you can afford dam nice halides :joy:
The T5's can be ran in a standard canopy with a couple fans. Not something you can usually get away with running halides.
 
808smokey

808smokey

Member
Well I got one of the PC lights. OMG it's wayyyyyy brighter than the standard flourescents. It was only $89.99 at the LFS. I'm getting another one in the next week or so. All the other types cost too much $$$.
Thanks for your help
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
No prob they are way cheaper for really good lights! What did you get "how many watts and how many bulbs?".
 
808smokey

808smokey

Member
Originally Posted by Snipe
No prob they are way cheaper for really good lights! What did you get "how many watts and how many bulbs?".
Well I bought the only light they had left, the current satelite 36" 1x96watt. I ordered the same thing on line this afternoon but it's a dual vs. the single bulb. Hopefully it gets here soon :) I probably order a 2nd dual in a few weeks. Then have the dual lights end to end and the single "overlapping" in the front. I also bought one of those day/night timers. Pretty slick...
Thanks again for the help everyone!!
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
I would put as many as I could fit on that tank lol its a big tank and would need alot of light to make the same amount on say a 55.
 
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