Cheapest way to light 180 gallon 6 ft aquarium

[Chockful O Phail]

I used the original single rope that joey made on my 125 and it works well. The color is a bit off but it's ok. It's definitely not a plant light, my anubias wouldn't grow at all. As far as just a light for the tank it's great because its really not even strong enough to grow algae. You could do the double strand version but I think at that point the cost/effort wouldn't be worth the same as just ordering a 48" beamswork from eBay

 

[reefman]

I also might end up just getting one of these. Is there any version thats even cheaper or is he one in the link the least expensive one.

The cheapest is the $30.

 

[Fishguy679]

I think I'm just gona get the light off eBay that you gave me the link for. Thanks for the help guys I really appreciate it.

 

[monkeybike]

I have 3 of those 6 foot beamsworks lights, 2 are fine and one blew out a bank of leds in it.

 

[mattison187]

They sell 4' shop lights at walmart. 10$ then each fluorescent bulb is like 2$. I have a 90gal lit with that. Ill search my phone for a pic of how it lights my tank now.

 

[mattison187]

14$ total in lighting

 

[johnnytaboo]

Have you considered using a smaller light (like 24") and just using it over the center of the tank? It creates a pretty cool look with the darker corners that some fish find comforting. I did that on my 180. I'm a terrible aquascaper, but for me I think it turned out ok. I'm using a beamsworks led light

 

[Fishguy679]

That is a nice look, but I'd rather have the whole tank lit up and the 4 foot light on eBay that that one guy gave me the link for lights his 180 up really well so I'm just gona get that, and the beamswork will cost about the same as buying the lift on eBay, and I dont need any mpre projects right now so I'll just go with that.

 

[dan518]

Just get a 3ft for now then get another one when you can afford it

 

[Schaf83]

I did the DIY LED that Joey did, but I changed a few things on mine. I used some Mi-light controllers so I could control the lights off my phone. The lights can be (and usually are) set to the same color/brightness, but I set them at different colors & brightness for demonstration purposes. Seems to light my 240 just fine.