75 Gallon Aquarium Lighting Recommendations

rsav

rsav

New member
Hi. New to this forum and to saltwater.

I have a couple of questions regarding the lighting I will need and/or should get for my tank. How many bulbs, etc. I can only afford T5's at this time, LED's are out of my price range at the moment.

Here are the specs:
75 Gallon Standard Size
48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 21 3/8

I wish to keep acan's, scolys, favias and blasto's. I would also like to keep SPS in the future.

I have the capability to use a calcium reactor if it is necessary for a certain lighting scenario. I already have the CO2 gear.

I also plan on having a bare bottom tank.


I am already looking at the T5 Tek Lights from reefgeek: http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Sunlight_Supply/Tek_Light_Fixtures/

Thanks in advance.
 
Teks are decent, but IMO I wouldnt get them.. There is no active cooling on them, which kills the bulb life and par. I would go with a ATI sunpower from them.. I know its pricey.. but worth it IMO.

Whats your price range, that might be easier for us to help.
 
Saltwatercoral2 said:
Teks are decent, but IMO I wouldnt get them.. There is no active cooling on them, which kills the bulb life and par. I would go with a ATI sunpower from them.. I know its pricey.. but worth it IMO.

Whats your price range, that might be easier for us to help.
Click to expand...

I would say $350-$450 is my budget.

How many bulbs should I get? 4, 6, 8?
 
Add 50 to your budget and buy two used 120 watt led fixtures, you won't regret it

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk
 
I have the 8 bulb T5 Tek light over my 90 gallon tank and it has worked great, it does get a bit hot, but hasn't been an issue for me!
 
If your going with the ATI,,, you can get a way with a 36 inch fixture.. And also,, these HAVE to be hung.. ATI doestn make legs, i dont know if thats a deal breaker for you or not?
 
Either use a canopy with PC fans or get a couple of clip on fans for your tek and boom you have active cooling...They are much cheaper than the ATI fixtures. ATIs have a timer built in though, Teks are very barebones. I have a 6 bulb.
 
If I bump my budget to $600 - $650 does that open any new possibilities?

Are there any good deals on reputable LED's out there right now? I don't want to buy some cheap LED brand to end up paying more down the road.
 
I can't hang anything from the ceiling. It would have to be able to have brackets on it to set on top of the tank. I could also get a canopy but I would prefer not to.
 
Saltwatercoral2 said:
CAn you get conduit and bend it? And screw it to your stand int he back, and hang your light that way?
Click to expand...

They delivered the tank today. I went ahead and purchased a canopy for it. Looked better with the canopy than open top (isn't rimless).

So now I guess I do not have to worry about hanging lights.

Here is the tank:

17Dcf.jpg
 
i've got a nova extreme pro. its t5x6. up until i had some alk issues i was keeping softies LPS and clam (on sand bed) and kept all that for close to 2 yrs. now i have softies LPS and a couple of SPS that i keep towards the top. all doing great.
 
Get the TEK fixture. I have the six bulb one over my 75 and it works great. This light is very intense though. I recently purchased some frogspawn that was kept under 400W halide at my LFS. They are at the bottom of my 75 and are bleaching. I pulled out one bulb in addition to replacing a B+ with a super actinic to reduce the PAR. They are still expelling their xoanthallae. If you are keeping primarily LPS with a few SPS at the top, the four bulb fixture will be plenty.
 
I also am setting up a 75...was going to go with T5 and was also between the tek and ATI ...was pretty sure I was going to go with ATI..

then... I got thinking of DIY LED I have yet to make my set up but it is in your price range.:) more eco friendly and you don't have to replace the bulbs every year like T5's
@20 -30 a bulb that adds up.

there was no way I was going to even try DIY led a first but after reading some threads and youtube vids got in to it more. now I am pretty sure I can do it. (with help of this forum.)
I am gonna go with the 48 cree DIY kit from rapid led A sponsor of this forum they will be controllable.

just my 2 cents. but very much worth looking in to.

good luck!
 
Sorry for not updating. I purchased a 6-bulb T5 HO Tek Light from another hobbyist locally from a post on the forum. Great lights.

I mounted them in the canopy with ease. I simply went to Home Depot and purchased two hanging screws and screwed them into the canopy. I then used the eye hooks on the Tek Light to hang from the canopy.

No need for drills. Just measure and mark where the eye hooks on the Tek Light will go when mounted in the canopy. Carve a small hole where the hanging screws will go, then manually screw them in with your hand. The small hole is just to give it a head start.

Put the canopy back on top of the tank, slide the fixture into the canopy and attach the eye hooks to the hanging screws. Very simple.

Canopy Mount:
469F7.jpg



Tank:
MBK3L.jpg


Thanks a lot to everyone who offered advice.
 
Last edited:
You will want to cool that fixture with fans, if you're not already. I suggest you go to the T-5 thread in this forum and TheGrimReefer can advise you on how to position the fans to get maximum PAR. Also, you will probably be able to extend the life of the bulbs more if you remove the acrylic shield that is between the bulbs and the water. The shield will trap heat that diminishes output.
 
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