What lighting would you suggest for a 125 gallon? The dimensions are 60"Lx24"Hx18"D. I was thinking 2 light fixtures because I have fish that prefer low light (pictus cat, red tail shark etc), and fish that don't care (Bala sharks, etc) as well as plants (anubias, and java moss I believe), and I want to get more plants in the future, not a hardcore planted tank but a good amount. I'm not sure whether to go LED or just regular bulbs, if regular bulbs I would like to use T8 as they are easier to find than T5. I was thinking something around 6500K but I don't know much else. I will have the light on 12-15 hours a day. Thanks for the help!
Lighting for 125 Gallon
- Thread starter brendon7358
- Start date
I would cover the tank with a thin piece of acrylic and put 40w or 60w equivalent LED spots on top, linked to a couple of surge protector/ power ststars, and a timer. This is cheap, you likely already have at least some of the parts, highly customizable whenever you feel like it, as you can move, add, replace and remove individual lights to get the exact effect you want, and not only that, but you can also choose to run only done of the lights when you are not being the tank, to further save power.with the leds , some will grow plants and some won't. The good thing about this is if you are having plant trouble, you can switch them out for CFLs or LED growlights.
Finnex LED is what I have. They are VERY bright, mine have worked for 2-3 years now. I don't grow plants in the 125 anymore (too much algae with all the feeding of big cichlids in there), so I use them on my 540 now.
I just bough a pair of 3 foot fixtures. It was PLENTY of light for growing plants. I had some jungle Val's, bunch of anubis, etc.
I just bough a pair of 3 foot fixtures. It was PLENTY of light for growing plants. I had some jungle Val's, bunch of anubis, etc.
