[Aparker2005]

Hey guys. I used to have a 2x65w Coralife Compact Fluorescent fixture on my 55g. Plants grew really good under this light.

I eventually replaced it with a Planted+ and they did great also.

Now on my 125,I have 3 Finnex LEDs. A 48" Planted+, and 2 30" 24/7s.

I've thought about moving to t5ho for the back 2 lights, but I've never used t5s. I'm trying to stay with Excel/metricide only for c02. Do all t5s need injected c02?

I just haven't had much luck with my 2 30" 24/7s. I think they don't give enough light for as big of a tank as I have.

So, they're up for trade. I'm just not sure what I need to go with after these. I plan on keeping the 48" Planted+. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[jeffkrol]

What are the tanks dimensions?
Standard 125's are 72" x 18" x 23"

 

[Aparker2005]

That's what mine is. I have the 2 30s on the back and the 48" in the middle centered

 

[jeffkrol]

There are some .5w Beamsworks at 72".
6500k
That would make a good start.
ELF 1800 72" 12000 lumens $125.95

 

[Lonestarbandit]

Jeff why you preaching Beamworks lol or are you championing a higher end model?

 

[Aparker2005]

I hadn't seen that model but looks great. Any reviews of it?

Seems to me the 72 may would give out more light than my 2 30" Finnex?

 

[Freemananana]

Jeff has always been a beamswork guy. I had really good luck with 3 spiral CFLs over my 75g, so 5 over your 125 would probably do really well if you want a budget suggestion. 5 of the 13w 6500K spiral CFLs in 10.25" dome reflectors from the hardware store, approx. $60. If you want more light after 2-3 months, 23w bulbs are about $10 for 5.

 

[jeffkrol]

LOL, I'm only a Beamswork person because 1)They fit aquariums and 2)Economical
Don't see any Finnex ect that fit a 72" tank end to end.
Duny and reefbreeders "class" LED's are too cost prohibitive for many.
Besides research money is in .5w emitters..
For the o/p they have the sat for "color"..

Led lights for aquariums really do have some major holes in price points and functions.
If led shoplights came in 72" I'd probably recommend those. The 4000k color is more natural to me.
At 4' and 3000 lumens they don't match the Beamswork in "theoretical" output. But those are about $40 and don't really fit 72"

Spiral CFL's in brooder fixtures are a cheap highly functional choice but the look is also a choice.
Modern led emitters are approaching a parity in cost vs output of CFL's w/ more upside in form/function and power. Not there yet commercially. Diy maybe.
Consider the cost of 3 fixtures and bulbs vs the Beamswork I posted.
Factor in aesthetics.
The 3 brooders could exceed the output but at what maintenance cost?

Secondly one can hack in and put a $3 manual dimmer on the Beamswork. Dimming the brooders involves either different bulbs or some physical alteration I.e. height or shade cloth.
On the upside only costs $20 or $30 to change the "color".
Each has its own strength and weaknesses.

How many CFL's to get 12000 lumens? Food for thought.
Hint... More than 5 @ 23w.
Even downrating the Beamswork by 50 % gives you 3..and by factory specs..


7.5 23wcfls IF factory specs could be believed.
Which could be only a total cost of $29 plus brooders $10 each
Eqiv cost is 8 "sets" @ roughly $14 per set. $112...
Point is lumen to lumen cost in a fixture is not that far off..

 

[theatermusic87]

If you're looking for something diffferent you can try out these

They're available in all sorts of options, i believe 5 watts per to upwards of 500 watts, the price point is relatively low, they;re designed for outdoor use so they're rain/wind proof so the occasional splash won't hurt, have good spread, are available in multiple color temps, some have dimming and colors (though they are more expensive and generally are only for red blue green colors on a house rather than tailored for plants) and they give you the point source appearance (i.e. shimmer). While I don't have one of these on my aquarium (it would be overkill) I DO have one for a work light and it's fantastic! I do a lot of emergency/storm work for a tree service, and these get used in the rain/snow/wind/etc conditions, I've knocked them 10 feet off the top of my bucket truck onto pavement with nothing but a scratch, the brightness is pretty good (I have a 50w that is equal to about 1/2 of a halogen work light) and if I ever get a place where I can have a bigger tank they will likely be my lighting of choice

 

[baker2016]

How many CFL's to get 12000 lumens? Food for thought.
Hint... More than 5 @ 23w.
Even downrating the Beamswork by 50 % gives you 3..and by factory specs..


7.5 23wcfls IF factory specs could be believed.
Which could be only a total cost of $29 plus brooders $10 each
Eqiv cost is 8 "sets" @ roughly $14 per set. $112...
Point is lumen to lumen cost in a fixture is not that far off..

But if your going that high up for your lights, you are more or less getting into the need of co2 injection ... I mean this is some hard stuff right there.

I guess bottom line is that DYI is more flexable when your doing other stuff too. Like me, I have made my own tops, my own over flows, my own sumps and my own lights. Also, if something does not work out, I have the ability to reverse whatever I did and try it on another angle.

A good example for me is like when I was running 4x 40W CFLs ( 150 w equiv ).... that by far is too much light for a lower med light tank IMO. You know what grows when you dont have nothing else really technical? I will give you a guess but it was not the plants.

 

[Aparker2005]

I'm thinking I'm gonna sell my 2 30" Finnex Planted Plus 24/7s and go with the 72" Beamworks LED. I just wish I knew if the 72 had more Par, but surely it does being bigger?

 

[Lonestarbandit]

There are some .5w Beamsworks at 72".
6500k
That would make a good start.
ELF 1800 72" 12000 lumens $125.95

Ah that's one of the new pent models.
Aluminum heatsink and the new bracket design. Nice.


Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[SNAXX]

Here's the color the beamswork light Jeff suggested looks like using the legs that are provided. I have the 48" version. With that light in the back and some color capable lights in the front it would look great in my opinion. Just adding a regular Coralife T5 with a Colormax tube made mine look great.

Those are Rotala Nanjenshan center left, supposedly med to high loght only that are thriving in my tank, no CO2.

 

[SNAXX]

Here's the color the beamswork light Jeff suggested looks like using the legs that are provided. I have the 48" version. With that light in the back and some color capable lights in the front it would look great in my opinion. Just adding a regular Coralife T5 with a Colormax tube made mine look great. Jeff estimated the Par at 35 or so without the legs, with my 22" deep tank. With the legs it dropped the light level down noticeably and also helped get rid of alot of the algae. Your's is a little deeper so my guess is you could estimate the PAR to be around the same, with a similar effect when using the legs.

Those are Rotala Nanjenshan center left, supposedly med to high loght only that are thriving in my tank, no CO2.

Whatever you end up going with, you might want to hold on to your 24/7's to see how it looks using them with your new light.
/QUOTE]

Haha... Please excuse the self quote, was supposed to be an edit, got distracted.

 

[Aparker2005]

Well I was gonna ditch the 24/7s and keep the 48" Planted Plus. My wife loves the 24 hour lighting but knows it's not working for the plants.

Also gotta sell to buy, so hopefully not too much of a loss. They're too small for the tank really anyway!

 

[SNAXX]

Well I was gonna ditch the 24/7s and keep the 48" Planted Plus. My wife loves the 24 hour lighting but knows it's not working for the plants.

Also gotta sell to buy, so hopefully not too much of a loss. They're too small for the tank really anyway!

My mistake. I agree, with the planted plus the 24/7's are expendable.

 

[Aparker2005]

There are some .5w Beamsworks at 72".
6500k
That would make a good start.
ELF 1800 72" 12000 lumens $125.95

Thanks for the recommendation. Went ahead and got this light. When I find a box or get the 72 in I'll be shipping out the 24/7s.