Lighting For A 125G Planted Tank

[BowMaster]

Greetings all,

I'm considering upgrading my aquarium from my 72G bowfront to a 125G tank. The dimensions will be roughly the same width and depth, but 72" long instead of 48" @ 18"Dx22"Hx72"L.

I would like at least as much light as I have now for my heavily planted setup. I currently have a 4x65w Coralife fixture with 6500K bulbs, which does a fine job. I want to use this as a base for my light choice, but I have no idea what the lumen output of it is.

Ideally, I'd love to use LED for energy consumption/heat reasons, but longevity seems to be an issue and replacing LED's doesn't really seem viable. Not only that but lighting with enough output to compete with my CFL's seems like it would cost a fortune.

Is there any way of figuring out what the lumen output of my fixture would be?

I'm considering a 4x80watt T5 fixture which I think is probably a decent way to go as parts/bulbs should be relatively easy/cheap to come by and replace like my existing fixture. However, I'm not convinced 320 watts of T5 is going to cut it and the next step up is a 480watt 6x80 watt fixture which is quite large and would only allow me 4" of access to my tank top, if only there were a 5x80 watt T5 fixture...

I'll take any help I can get.

Thanks!

[jvision]

I am a HUGE fan of the Finnex LEDs. They're priced well and do a fine job of lighting. I have the Ray II model over a 75gal, and my Glosso carpet is crazy!! I think they've come out with a new planted/reef light this year, so your choices are many. 2 x 36" models would be ideal for your tank, and will cost you roughly the same as the T5 fixtures you're looking at.

Check out Finnex.ca, and even ask Rich if he has any pics or testimony of the new plant lights; if not, there's lots out there on the Ray II.

[creekbottom]

When you say replacing LED's because of longevity, I'm not sure what you're refering to. LED lights are not like tube T5's or T8's, the LED bulbs do not need to be replaced, pretty much ever.

I second the finnex recommendation.

[BowMaster]

I'll definately check out the Finnex website, thanks for the recommendation.

@ Geophagus,

I know in theory LED's are good for 50,000-100,000 hours, but I know a few people who paid dearly for their LED canopies and had individual LED's burn out on them, my brother-in-law had about half of his die after 1-2 yrs with no warranty help and he had to buy a new fixture as a result. Personally I'd be looking at purchasing replacement LED's and getting out the soldering iron, but I don't know the viability of this due to availabilty/difficulty, etc. Where one of these power compact systems, there are tons of inexpensive generic ballasts and bulb options that will keep your fixture alive more or less indefinately. My current Coralife CFL canopy has needed new bulbs 3 times in 8 years and the last couple sets I've purchased generics on ebay for 1/4 of the pet store price and they've worked beautfully. Fortunately I've never had an issue with ballasts, but they are available as well. To make a long story short I want low maintenance costs for my lighting/aquarium, that keeps this hobby enjoyable for me.

[ckmullin]

I like t5ho technology and quite happy with it. LED still does not do it for me...at least the lower priced units. I had leds in a fixture and many have burned out...what did I do? Remove all the led's and just convert to straight t5ho. If you want to spend 100's $ then yes you can get quality IMO. I get great 48inch bulbs for $13 and I run a high tech FULLY planted to the hilt tank. I also use t5ho on a drystart as well as a newer 20 gal planted tank.

[BowMaster]

I've done some more research on this subject and I'm reasonably confident that you can buy replacement LED's for pretty much any light from LED parts suppliers.

I figure if the Finnex Ray2 does what it says, I should save about $70/year in electricity costs on this 125G I'm considering. I'm pretty good with a soldering iron and replacement 7000K LED's are only a buck or two depending on the output.