Cost effective lighting for FOWLR tank

[Mmbra]

I am in the process of converting my 180 bowfront to a FOWLR housing mainly larger predator type fish. I am using chinese blackboxes but want to replace them because i am tired of them burning out and me having to replace the units every year.
What is a good cost effective way to light 6' of tank that will bring out the colors of my fish?
LED is prefered but i am open to opinions differently.
Not looking to spend a lot. Maybe $200 or so.
thanks for the help

 

[BadFish619]

I am in the process of converting my 180 bowfront to a FOWLR housing mainly larger predator type fish. I am using chinese blackboxes but want to replace them because i am tired of them burning out and me having to replace the units every year.
What is a good cost effective way to light 6' of tank that will bring out the colors of my fish?
LED is prefered but i am open to opinions differently.
Not looking to spend a lot. Maybe $200 or so.
thanks for the help

I use the fluval aquasky. Its programmable and has lots of coloration ability and fairly cheap. I never touch it, it does everything I need.

 

[BadFish619]

Btw its fairly cheap, led, and super thin. Couldn't ask for a better light for a fowlr

 

[Mmbra]

That looks like a good option, thanks Badfish!

 

[BadFish619]

That looks like a good option, thanks Badfish!

No problem. They make a few so make sure its standard and not the marine version. The marine costs more

 

[Dana Riddle]

Are you open to a DIY lighting system (perhaps hidden in a canopy)?

 

[Mmbra]

Yeah i have a canopy already so that could work, i am open to whatever. That fluval sky looks pretty fitting for my needs though i like that it has a ramp up ramp down. I just dont know how the spread will be, it looks like the largest unit is 44 inches, and my tank is 6"

 

[dantimdad]

Why not just use rope lighting in royal blue and 6500K? It's cheap, low power and you can cover a ball field if you had to.

 

[Fudsey]

Fish don't require specific lighting like corals do. Mostly it's what you want your tank to look like.

 

[jsvand5]

Which type of black boxes are you using that they die so often? I have 4 mars aqua. Two are about 5 years old and still work perfect. On my newest reef I am using the SB reef lights. Still black boxes but with better components and pretty inexpensive.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Yeah i have a canopy already so that could work, i am open to whatever. That fluval sky looks pretty fitting for my needs though i like that it has a ramp up ramp down. I just dont know how the spread will be, it looks like the largest unit is 44 inches, and my tank is 6"

I see at least one other cost-efficient s8olution. Some of the PAR38 LED lamps could be wired in series (or two) and controlled by inexpensive timers. 6x of these lamps with timers should come in at less than $200. Just a thought.

 

[Peter Clark]

Back when I had a 120g FOWLR I just used some 4ft T8 florescent shop lights from Menards (like a Home Depot) for cheap. I know they have some LED shop lights these days too. You could even just hang some work light fixtures in there and put regular LED bulbs in there. Whatever you want really since the fish won't care. For my fish QT I just have a cheap led light to put on top.