Lighting for 120g

Saltwatertaylor · Jul 17, 2012

Hello! I am almost done with the cycling process for my 120g. I was thinking of changing the lighting. I am going to have a reef tank eventually. It is going to be a mixed reef tank. I am going to start off with frogspawn and buy more of the cheaper corals. I was wondering what type of lighting I should get?

Rob.D · Jul 17, 2012

I have a 120, I use 2 250 watt MH's (Phoenix) and 4 T5 bulbs. As soon as I can get the $$$ I'm going to switch to LED's.

Saltwatertaylor · Jul 17, 2012

Whats the difference between those two different types? I have hang on light holders and they can only hold one bulb each. :l Would two T5 bulbs work? How much do T5 run for and what wattage do you need etc?

Steelerfan747 · Jul 17, 2012

Hey Taylor, congratulations on completing the cycling process. I would recommend going with a t-5 set up. It is reef ready and less heat than mh

Steelerfan747 · Jul 17, 2012

Lawmanrob said:
I have a 120, I use 2 250 watt MH's (Phoenix) and 4 T5 bulbs. As soon as I can get the $$$ I'm going to switch to LED's.

I an thinking of doing the same thing but hopefully they come down a bit in price

ritter6788 · Jul 17, 2012

Saltwatertaylor said:
Whats the difference between those two different types? I have hang on light holders and they can only hold one bulb each. :l Would two T5 bulbs work? How much do T5 run for and what wattage do you need etc?

I hope this helps a little.

Aquarium Lighting | Marinedepot.com

chort55 · Jul 17, 2012

I like LED's and you can do a DIY unit fairly reasonably if you are mildly handy. Also, they have solderless DIY kits you can do really simply, and arent much more either! IMO thats the way to go if you can spring it. For some tanks one of these DIY kits is cheaper then you would pay for many T5 or MH setups anyways, especially when you figure in getting decent bulbs to get going!

Saltwatertaylor · Jul 17, 2012

Thank you everyone for the help. Since i'm in college, I am going to have to skip the LED for now and settle for the T-5 lights.

Pappy · Jul 17, 2012

chort55 said:
I like LED's and you can do a DIY unit fairly reasonably if you are mildly handy. Also, they have solderless DIY kits you can do really simply, and arent much more either! IMO thats the way to go if you can spring it. For some tanks one of these DIY kits is cheaper then you would pay for many T5 or MH setups anyways, especially when you figure in getting decent bulbs to get going!

+1 and remembers leds you don't have to replace bulbs every 6 months AND you will have less heat and stuff will look soo much better IMO!

Mike D "like the beastie boys" Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

AugieReef · Jul 19, 2012

T5 LED combo!!! I think T5' grow corals better and LED's give corals better colors, and you will get the shimmer effect!

mainereefer · Jul 19, 2012

you can diy a led fixture for the price of just the t5 bulbs

my 120 over the years had a few different kinds of lighting. first I listened to everyone and went with 2x 14k, 250w mh and 2x t5 actinics
if you had a 100% sps tank I would say that is right but with mostly lps and a few high end softies I settled with a 2x 12k 175w mh with 2x vho actinics and love how it looked more than any fixture I have had including my current setup with 2x 120w led fixtures and a 250w mhwith 4x t5 actinics over my 180g