Lighting For 120 Gallon

I have a 120 gallon tank (60Lx18wx25.5H) and need suggestions for what type of lighting fixture to use. It will be a FOWLR tank but i may put in some corals later on and want it to have the capability to be able to light the corals as well. So any links to lights that you think will work will be great.

 

what type of corals do you plan on keeping?

 

4x80W or 6x80W T5HO. Good selection of bulbs to create the color you want.

 

whats the budget for these lights?

 

i can tell you this....if you are even slightly considering of making it a reef tank and choose your fish acccording, get a good light now. no sense in wasting money nice FO light setup then deciding you want coral.

at the depth of the 120 i would say MH would be best, but a good t5 setup would be ok...

disclaimer: i am new to all of this so dont take my word for it, i have a 6x54w T5 on my 55 gallon. i am transfering to my 90 gallon. i am kinda worried about stuff on the bottom of a 90 with t5's. so a 120 would worry me even more.

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I just converted my tank from a 250 halide to a 6 bulb T5. With the stock bulbs my SPS started to bleach some before they settled into the new lighting. I would say the T5's put out more light than MH.

 

well i probably wont be keeping corals for now so just a good light fixture that would work for a fowlr tank will be great and my budget is a little loose with these

 

i just briefly looked around on marine depot and drs foster and smith.

it really depends on your budget. your could get a real cheap double or triple flourescent tube style fixture.

looking at PC vs T5 i dont see a price difference that would convince me to get a PC fixture

you could get a real cheap T5 like
Aquarium Lighting for Freshwater and Reef Systems: Nova Extreme Compact SLR T-5 Fixtures

although a fish only tank only reqires the light in which you want to view it. one thing to consider is algae growth.

 

well any t8 or t12 fixture that fits..will do for fish only.. but Id atleast get 2 t5 bulb fixture @ 60"

 

oh, my bad. didnt notice it was a 120 long @ 60 inches. link i just posted is for a 48 in tank