Help with lighting a 6' tank...

[Uglyknob]

Hi! I love this site. My wife and I have been perusing various threads on here for a while, but most of our questions are answered with a search, so I saw no reason to post before this.

We currently have a 120 (4x2x2) with an FX6, and it is lit by a programmable Fluval 4' light that rests on the top.

Without spending 1200 dollars on Radion 15FW lights, can anybody recommend a good lighting option for a 6' tank as we are about to upgrade to a 750XXL, thanks in no small part to the tank envy from reading posts on this site. Although, I think the 50,000 gallon tank finally snapped me out of it to some extent.

I'm fine hanging a couple Fluval or Current USA 36" lights from some brackets. I just want it to look nice as it is a rimless tank. We will have to do the DIY net cover (Bichir/Rope FIsh/Dojos), but we'd like to keep it as clean as possible. I'm pretty sure the one 750XXL build I could find was using the radions. That seems ultra expensive to light up a fish tank to me.

Is there a bracket combo that works for this kind of setup that you all could recommend? Pictures would be great, if you have them handy. For reference, it is unlikely we would do anything besides low-tech plants.

Thanks for any advice or criticism in advance!

 

[Uglyknob]

Oh, and if anybody has any ideas on how to sex a Dojo that is missing its pectoral fins, that would be great too. We got him like that (we thing it is a he, but who knows). He has a female companion.

 

[Lepisosteus]

I have the 650 peninsula and use three radion XR30 pros. Initially I had the aqua illumination lights that come with the deluxe package, they worked well. You should consider creating a floating canopy. You can hide halides or LED strip lights easily within. Pic attached, not my picture.

 

[Uglyknob]

Thanks, I have been thinking about that. My only concern is that the strip light I have is right over the tank. As I go higher, I'm going to need more and more powerful lights to penetrate. It may work if I bump up to the Fluval or Current USA plant lights and just back them off a bit. I know the regular Fluval light i have now would not penetrate if I lifted it as high as I would need to for a floating canopy. Of course, if I use brackets, I'll be in a similar boat.

I might end up just spending a lot of time and money trying not to spend the money on the XR15's. :\

 

[HoneyCashews]

You can use a a shop light LED from Costco $25 very bright and it works well.

 

[TheNonEuclidean]

I set up led spot lights from the hardware store. If you wanted to make it easy you could get track lighting. Imo point lighting looks much better than light bars

 

[DN328]

Thanks, I have been thinking about that. My only concern is that the strip light I have is right over the tank. As I go higher, I'm going to need more and more powerful lights to penetrate. It may work if I bump up to the Fluval or Current USA plant lights and just back them off a bit. I know the regular Fluval light i have now would not penetrate if I lifted it as high as I would need to for a floating canopy. Of course, if I use brackets, I'll be in a similar boat.

I might end up just spending a lot of time and money trying not to spend the money on the XR15's. :\

I had a 6' custom rimless tank with eurobrace. I spent a lot on that and custom metal powdercoated stand and everything else that one would want blah blah blah. It was my first tank as an adult. I decided to go with aquatic life t5 HO because it looked decent to me as it was going to be in my living room, function well most of the time for plants and was about as much as I was willing to spend given everything else.

Two years later I ended up with a 3 XR15 and the long bracket. If it were me today LED would be my only option and not T5. There are many good LED options aside from radions, but the moral for me is buy once if you can for your situation. Given you have a rimless and depending on where the tank is located you may want something nice to complement AND provide enough output for your needs longterm too.

 

[pacu mom]

We went with shop lights. When I first saw Simkar Reflect A Bay lights in a plumbing/electrical store, I had to have them. We put them in our equipment room, utility room, garage, and over the fish tank. I chose bulbs in the daylight range. The lights are very bright. We also got lens covers for the lights over the fish tank, since the lights are mounted two feet from the top of the tank. They are not the cheapest lights you can get..a 48" 4 light unit is $179 on Amazon. The units I have take fluorescent bulbs, but I see that Simkar has come out with LED Reflect A Bay lighting.

I needed lighting that could shine through in a deep tank. While my tank is still not set up, I am positive that I made the right choice going with Simkar lighting. If there is too much light, we have the option of going with two or three lights instead of all five.





When the lights were first installed. Plastic not pulled off four of the lens covers.

 

[Uglyknob]

My problem has been hemming and hawwing through this whole swap. This tank will sit in the living room, and while my wife has been very patient, it would behoove me long term to have a nice looking setup (she does love the fish, but not necessarily the bare-red oak stand they live on).

In the last week, I have flipped and flopped back and forth between the 750XXL and one size down cause the fish store says their guy won't bring it this far. I don't know how I'm going to move a 1000lb crate either - and we've looked into forklift rental and it is not cost effective. I saw a picture in a build the other day that had a pallet jack and that may work, but I can't figure out the trailer to ground part yet - although a PVC conveyor and come-a-along might work.

The lighting I THINK I have figured out. I have a Fluval Aquasky on our 120 now and really like it. They don't make a 72" version. They also don't make brackets. This is under a vaulted ceiling so hanging isn't preferred, but isn't out of the question. My current tentative plan, subject to change in the next five minutes, is to use 2 Fluval Plant 3.0's (36") with the Orbit bracket and the Fluval canopy mount. I think I can use one mount each for the 36" and it will still look sleek and clean. Plus, I won't be into it for much more than ONE XR15FW. Is isn't about cost, it is about value. If those lights cost 50 dollars to produce, I'll crap a solid gold brick.

However, with all of that said, I have also (in my head) started piecing together my own light using an arduino. I've done much more complex LED stuff with an arduino before and it wouldn't be that hard to make a bluetooth connection and a phone app to control it (I am a C# programmer by profession). I'd just have to do a little research on the right wattage LEDs with the right spectrum. If i continue down that road, it'll be another year while I find the perfect LEDs and build materials... so that doesn't satisfy my lack of patience for getting this moving.

I want to hurry up and get it done, but I have premature buyer's remorse that I'm going to do something I/we won't like. I have to just listen to the wife and get the tank here and on the ground and the rest will work out once I have a fire under my butt to get it put up.

If you actually read all of that, thanks for humoring my anxiety.