Need help on choosing the correct lighting for 200 gal

burrito010101

burrito010101

New Member
Hello all,
I just bought a 72" long X 24" tall X 30" wide glass aquarium with "euro bracing" and am wondering what I should do for the lighting system. I would love to try a DIY LED system but am worried I would not be able to make a system with enough illumination/power. I do want to have SPS and LPS. Currently I have a 100 gallon with T5 fixtures for 18" height, but am concerned about the heat since I live in Arizona. I have to run my A/C full time in the summer so that the tank wont over heat. I would like to stay under 2000 dollars. I am not married to the LED system, but feel it would be nice to be able to have more control, reduced power consumption, longer life, and less heat generation.
Thanks
 
bullitr

bullitr

Active Member
I will have all LEDs by next week
Running SPS predominant tank
And I found a cheap plug and play LED fixture maybe I can help you out! It will be less than 1k and with 2 years warranty
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Depends on how you want to hit your pocketbook.
You can go with 3 premade Ecoxotic LED fixtures (I assume you have three opening in your eurobracing, yes?) which is going to set you back a cool $2400.00. The upside to this is (a) the cool factor, as in "I got me an LED system!!" (b) the heat issue is instantly solved, and (c) bulbs are obviously included, and don't need replacing.
Alternately you can do 3 250W MHs....less costly,but much more heat, and replacing bulbs once a year. Definitely need a chiller running for this option.
Third option would be to pick either two 36" Nova Extreme 6-bulb fixtures or a single 72" AquaticLife 12 bulb fixture (same nuumber and size bulbs either way). Either choice is going to set you back about $750.00. You will also need to buy bulbs, as I don't think this price includes bulbs, and you will have to factor in the cost of replacing them every 12-18 months. 12 bulbs a year may add up to you....between $180 and $240 for bulbs a year. Finally, you will need to chill this tank, but you probably won't spend as much in cooling with T5s as you would with MHs.
The choice, as they say, is yours. If you DO go with the premade Ecoxotic LEDs, you better durn well post pics!!
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
They are sweet LED's....Have seen them first hand several times, and the tanks they are over are impressive.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///forum/thread/382426/need-help-on-choosing-the-correct-lighting-for-200-gal#post_3337505
Depends on how you want to hit your pocketbook.
You can go with 3 premade Ecoxotic LED fixtures (I assume you have three opening in your eurobracing, yes?) which is going to set you back a cool $2400.00. The upside to this is (a) the cool factor, as in "I got me an LED system!!" (b) the heat issue is instantly solved, and (c) bulbs are obviously included, and don't need replacing.
Alternately you can do 3 250W MHs....less costly,but much more heat, and replacing bulbs once a year. Definitely need a chiller running for this option.
Third option would be to pick either two 36" Nova Extreme 6-bulb fixtures or a single 72" AquaticLife 12 bulb fixture (same nuumber and size bulbs either way). Either choice is going to set you back about $750.00. You will also need to buy bulbs, as I don't think this price includes bulbs, and you will have to factor in the cost of replacing them every 12-18 months. 12 bulbs a year may add up to you....between $180 and $240 for bulbs a year. Finally, you will need to chill this tank, but you probably won't spend as much in cooling with T5s as you would with MHs.
The choice, as they say, is yours. If you DO go with the premade Ecoxotic LEDs, you better durn well post pics!!
 
burrito010101

burrito010101

New Member
Are there any plans out there for DIY that I would be able to follow, including bill of material? What I am most concerned about is getting an even lighting with enough penetration so that I may place corals anywhere in the tank. I would be able to build a fixture, but I dont know what type of LEDs would be sufficient or how many of them I would need.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
There are several good build threads. A couple here; the 1 that pops in my mind is KingNeptune, and over on the other forum, there are quite a few really in depth LED threads. Long, long threads, but well worth the reading.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Yep lots of good threads out there that you can find by simply searching for DIY LED BUILDS. Over on You Tube theres a guy who made some videos of the process. If you go over there try a search for Ricketts Reef DIY LED build. There's like 4 or 5 parts to it. Anybody tell you that your name sounds awefully farmiliar? lol
 
B

brandonsivek

Guest
Welcome to the board Burrito! I would have to agree with the DIY light fixtures. Is there anyway we can have a look at your 100G? We like seeing our competition around here.
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
Definitely go the DIY route over the Ecoxotic. IMO their units don't have the "umph" to reach the bottom of a tank that size, especially if you're looking to keep SPS.
 
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