Lighting for a 125?

I just gt a 125 gallon of craigslist. I was thinking about going 2x 250 MH. The guys at the fish store said this will be enough for sps. The tank is 6'x18.x"23.5" deep. The only thing I dont like is the two braces at the top. There is one every 2' will these interfere with the lighting?

 

What kind of budget you got?

Check out the Maristar fixtures from Sunlight Supply, best price for quality I found recently when lighting my 180. You'll want the 72" w/ 3x DE HQI and 4x 39w T5. With ballasts, bulb, and fixture it was around $1100. I went the Select-A-Watt ballast route and I think it was $50 more or so for 3 of them vs the Bluewave magnetics.

With MH lighting you really want 1 bulb every 2' of tank length or you get dark spots.

If you want hanging pendants check out the LumenMax DE Elite's, they have the best "throw" of all the pendant lights. I have 2 150s on my 58 reef and it's great.


As for the braces, they won't interfere with the lights really. On some tanks they can be cut off if you want a full open top. Contact the manufacturer to make sure. If the tank is full and the braces are taut then they're probably needed for bracing. If they're loose then they're just for holding the cover/lights and can probably be removed. Personally I know i could remove mine but am leaving them on for holding the tank covers.

-Doug

 

You will need 3 MH's if you don't want center brace shadow. Other option is to have 2 islands on the left and right side of the tank with 250W each and softies at the middles with some other kind of lighting or less wattage MH.

It is best not to remove the center braces and you are taking a huge risk of bowing and worst cracking your tank, especially for 6' long tank. You could possibly replace the braces with transparent ones but I don't know how well or how long they last.

 

I agree, I just added 3 MH to my 6 footer. I dont believe that 2 would have done the job. They are rated at 2 ft each for coverage. And yes, DO NOT remove center brace!!!

 

3 won't be a problem for me just seeing if i could get away with 2. I'm also going to make a canopy to house them. thank's for all the replies much appreciated.

 

The thing that would stink about 2 MHs is that the optimal spacing for the lights would be over the bracing, which would cast a nasty shadow. Granted it wouldn't be directly over the brace, so you wouldn't lose too much lighting, but it could definitely look weird.