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Light for 150 gallon / 588L tank

ormet

Seedling
Joined
24 Mar 2017
Messages
4
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
Hello! I'm in desperate need of help with lighting my new tank.

I am setting up a new FW tank in the new house after a handful of years foray into saltwater coral reef tanks.

It will be 140x70x60 LxWxH or roughly 55x28x24 inches.

I want to have lighting that can provide a fully planted tank.
I also want no lights covering the tank as it will be open top with drift wood sticking up so preferable ceiling mounted pendant style or similar.

My first thought was to use one of my old Metal Halide Geisemann Nova II and buy a FW bulb, but i really have come to love the control ability of LED fixtures that i used on my salt water tanks.

Lighting today is such a jungle to navigate and i feel a tad lost.

Anyone has any good suggestions for me?

And please excuse my English, i'm Swedish.

vbr
 
Ok i understand that you get this question all the time. Does anyone know of a forum where people like to share some knowledge? I have lost touch with fresh water community since my years in salt water.
 
Hi ormet

What kind of planted tank are you aiming for? Low tech, high tech? I think that definitely has something to say in regards to light. Also, what kind of budget are you working with?

If you're not on a limited budget you could take a look at Kessil leds. You would probably need a few of those for a tank your size. I have seen some people hang them from the ceiling, although most people fix them to the tank with a bracket.
If you would like a cheaper option, just use pendants hanging from the ceiling and find some suitable led bulbs. Plenty of bulbs out there, problem would of course be that your ability to control the leds would be limited. I would like more lighting manufacturers to make pendant style aquarium lights, but I guess they don't because it's just easier to get a nice wide light spread with a fixture and it's also more convenient with something you can just place on top of you tank, rather than having to hang them from your ceiling...

Another advice from me would be that you visit ukaps sponsor sites and check out the light fixtures currently available, that way you can read all about them and also see if there's some that you find aestichically pleasing and would like to look at every day.

Last night I listened to this podcast from scapefu, check it out. It's all about aquarium light, an interview with an expert: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/art...d-aquarium-with-cara-wade-scapefu059-43548241
 
To be honest, i haven't had a tank that size before, however i think these would be ok:

http://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/be...anted-aquarium-led-light-unit-6500k-721-p.asp
http://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/dennerl...ocal-led-140-78w-138-155cm-4001615055610.html

The Geisemann fixtures are really nice however i always assumed you needed a mortgage to buy one?
Yes, the new ones are very expensive. Old metal halide fixtures however are basically for free on the used market.
 
Hi ormet

What kind of planted tank are you aiming for? Low tech, high tech? I think that definitely has something to say in regards to light. Also, what kind of budget are you working with?

If you're not on a limited budget you could take a look at Kessil leds. You would probably need a few of those for a tank your size. I have seen some people hang them from the ceiling, although most people fix them to the tank with a bracket.
If you would like a cheaper option, just use pendants hanging from the ceiling and find some suitable led bulbs. Plenty of bulbs out there, problem would of course be that your ability to control the leds would be limited. I would like more lighting manufacturers to make pendant style aquarium lights, but I guess they don't because it's just easier to get a nice wide light spread with a fixture and it's also more convenient with something you can just place on top of you tank, rather than having to hang them from your ceiling...

Another advice from me would be that you visit ukaps sponsor sites and check out the light fixtures currently available, that way you can read all about them and also see if there's some that you find aestichically pleasing and would like to look at every day.

Last night I listened to this podcast from scapefu, check it out. It's all about aquarium light, an interview with an expert: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/art...d-aquarium-with-cara-wade-scapefu059-43548241
Well that is whats nice with LED's i think. I can dim them to suit my needs. I do not want to be constrained by my lights. I want a light that can be dimmed for a dark blackwater tank or provide full high tech light wherever my fancy takes me.

My budget is based on full blown salt water reef tank so no issues there, i will gladly invest in quality equipment. Kessil's have kind of crappy software and controlling options. I'm thinking Radions at the moment. The FW variant is very hard to find in Sweden tho.

Thanks for the links, i will listen to it during the day.
 
Well that is whats nice with LED's i think. I can dim them to suit my needs. I do not want to be constrained by my lights. I want a light that can be dimmed for a dark blackwater tank or provide full high tech light wherever my fancy takes me

Sounds very reasonable to invest in quality light to begin with, I am one of those people that have invested in cheap lighting without enough versatility - and it just becomes a nuisance in the long term.
 
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