FOWLR lighting

h8z2luze · May 29, 2018

Hello all, After about three years ive decided to set my 75 back up but one of my lights is burned out. SO this time im just doing FOWLR and I dont need anything fancy. IS there a 4ft lighting system out there you guys recommend just to make the fish look good? As I said ive been out of the game for a few years and I know how fast stuff changes. Obviously trying to stay low on price if possible. Thanks in advance.

cloak · May 29, 2018

One 40 watt normal output fluorescent bulb should do the trick IMO. (Power Glo?) Check your local clubs. Somebody might just give you a fixture for free. GL.

LowLi · May 29, 2018

you can find current usa marine leds for used pretty cheap they are pretty good ive been using em for 4 years. just now getting into coral

jda · May 29, 2018

Shop light with Normal Output 48" bulbs? If you have lids, and you probably should for a FOWLR, then they will last a while even over a damp tank.

Porpoise Hork · May 29, 2018

Take a look at the BeamsWork LEDs. You want to look at the "Beamswork LED 1W Hi Lumen Aquarium Light Marine FOWLR Reef Cichlid" light. They are dirt cheap and very reliable. I have run one of those on my reef tank with a pair of atinic led bars for over a year. Plenty bright for a fowler tank.

There's one on Ebay right now from TopDogSeller or something like that for 42.00 shipped.

h8z2luze · Jun 3, 2018

Nice! Thanks for the replies guys. I will look into those.

h8z2luze · Jun 7, 2018

Ok ive changed my mind lol I want to do Softies and possibly LPS but definitely don't want to do SPS again. Is there an affordable 48" option out there. Seems like all the ones on amazon that are around $150 have some horror stories.

Porpoise Hork · Jun 8, 2018

I have been running a mix light setup on my 40g for the past 18 months. I have an lps dominant tank and everything is thriving and very good color. The primary light being the aforementioned beamswork. I then added a pair of atinic reefbar lights off eBay. The seller for the reefbar lights is 21 led or something like that. I have the lights on separate timers so the atinics kick on 2 hours prior to and post main light cycle. This gives me a sunrise/sunset effect.

Another option is to get 2 or 3 of the HIPARGERO led lights off Amazon. They are very bright and use 3w Cree LEDs in them. These run 60 per light and you can probably get away with two of them to start.

Last option is the MicMol smart LED light for marine. Also on Amazon. It's a tad more coming in at 200 for 48" but it offers a lot of controllability over the light output. Plus I think it is the best looking in the bunch. This was the light I was considering going with before I picked up a barely used Reef breeder's photon V2 for about 350.

All three will easily grow soft and lps if you decided to get into the lps corals.