Cheapest way to light a 125 gallon tank?

[PhysicsDude]

Depends on how many plants you want, and the light requirements of the plants.

For 125g, Four 4' florescent tubes is plenty. They're usually 32 watts per bulb, so thats ~128watts of light, or 1 watt per gallon.

60+ watts worth of LEDs would work too. LED flood lights or LED ribbons like this work too:


I've used both. Florescent lights are cheap and easy. I prefer LEDs because it makes the tank "shimmer" a little bit more, is quiet, reliable, no flicker on turn off/on, no bulbs to replace, less heat, generally less power hungry etc.

If you go with LED flood lights or LED ribbons, just make sure to get enough wattage. I think 60 watts is plenty for some basic plants. 12v light ribbons with a 12 watt power supply is a pretty easy way to do things, you can just staple the led ribbons to the top of your hood with a staple gun.

 

[Dam ok]

Thanks a lot on the detailed answer it helps a lot. With led floodlights do I have to have some sort of ballast? I can find the bulbs all over but I don't want to buy a whole fixture when I'm going to build it into the canopy. Do they work in regular light fixtures?


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[coolkeith]

I just use 14 watt 5000k screw-in daylight cfl compact florescent bulbs from Walmart. A 4 pack of the cheapo "Great Value" brand usually only costs 77 cents. I use them in bayco clamp lights and position them where ever I want. Very handy to have around.

Also have a 16 foot DIY LED kit with a dimmer remote control that I got on EBay for under $30, which I use for ambient lighting in my fishroom. It probably could grow plants, if that's what I wanted it to do.

I'd never go with fluorescent shoplights or t5's again. They burn up too much electricity and create too much heat. Had to have an exhaust fan in the hood to cool them down. It was loud and somewhat dangerous also. Fire and electrical hazard. I'd never put lights in a canopy or use a canopy hood again. My canopy hoods always ended up filled with mold and mildew also. Prefer glass tops now. It's just so much easier.