Lighting a 75g FOWLR tank for @ $200?

[HeadstrongRSS]

Hey all -

I'm in the process of trying to select lighting for my 75g that I'm building. Short term, I'm going FOWLR...though maybe in a year or so I'll move over to some coral...not sure if it's worth the time and effort yet. Mo' corals, mo' problems. One note, I can't hang the light, has to mount to the tank. The goal is just to have the highest quality display tank lighting on this $200 budget.

I typically go to Amazon and read reviews, select from there and see if my LFS can order. But problem...seems every light I see is ranked 4.5/5.

Does anyone have opinions / experiences / comments on any of these? Or suggestions on others? I'm not getting very far...in a bit of analysis paralysis...but this is how I've ranked them so far.

1. Aquatic Life LED Aquarium Light Fixture (link)
2. Finnex Ray2 Aquarium LED Daylight (link)
3. Current USA Orbit Marine Aquarium LED (link)
4. KOVAL 45-50 Inch 156 LED (link)

Any help is greatly appreciated. i gotta move past this part! :headwally:

 

[Ron Reefman]

a) I've been in the hobby for 12 years and I've never even heard of numbers 1, 2 or 4
b) The Current fixtures use leds that are 0.3 to 0.5 watts and too weak to really be good reef lights over anything deeper than about 12", 18" max. I'd look some more.

Have you looked at the MarsAqua fixtures on Ebay? You'd need to of their basic fixtures, but they are under $90 each. And they are WAY better than the Current line or Marineland line of fixtures.

 

[HeadstrongRSS]

Hi Ron! Greatly appreciate the reply. Interesting that you haven't heard of #2, that line of lights seems to be at least somewhat popular and has a few threads on here about it and other lights in their line. But I'm also not overly concerned about depth yet...isn't that more of a coral requirement?

I have looked at the MarsAqua line...in fact, I would have gotten this 300w one (link), but I can't hang the lights and they don't have any mounting bracket. Well I technically can, but don't want to aesthetically...the room it's going in has 12 ft ceiling. Wife would also not be happy with that.

Whatever I get needs to have a way to mount it to the tank...the MarsAqua's don't have any way to do this and was told by an RC-er that it'd need to be 8-10" above the water in order to get good coverage. Even on the specs, says it's good for about 38" x 24". My 75 gallon is 48" long.

Again, appreciate the response!

Unfortunate, because I wanted this one. I just didn't put it on the list because I ruled it out already.

 

[jayball]

Hey all -

I'm in the process of trying to select lighting for my 75g that I'm building. Short term, I'm going FOWLR...though maybe in a year or so I'll move over to some coral...not sure if it's worth the time and effort yet. Mo' corals, mo' problems. One note, I can't hang the light, has to mount to the tank. The goal is just to have the highest quality display tank lighting on this $200 budget.

I typically go to Amazon and read reviews, select from there and see if my LFS can order. But problem...seems every light I see is ranked 4.5/5.

Does anyone have opinions / experiences / comments on any of these? Or suggestions on others? I'm not getting very far...in a bit of analysis paralysis...but this is how I've ranked them so far.

1. Aquatic Life LED Aquarium Light Fixture (link)
2. Finnex Ray2 Aquarium LED Daylight (link)
3. Current USA Orbit Marine Aquarium LED (link)
4. KOVAL 45-50 Inch 156 LED (link)

Any help is greatly appreciated. i gotta move past this part! :headwally:

1, 2, and 4 are freshwater planted spectrums... even though you will not have coral you still want a bluer light than those will put out.

 

[jah hoeva]

Look into the Fluval Marine and Reef 2.0. May require more power if you get into a lot of coral but for a FOWLR, it would be great.

 

[HeadstrongRSS]

1, 2, and 4 are freshwater planted spectrums... even though you will not have coral you still want a bluer light than those will put out.

Fantastic feedback. I didn't realize I'd done that. Wish I could spend the $ to get the Pro version...that's getting into the $400+ range. I'm leaning towards the non-pro version, knowing I may need a 2nd unit if I move into corals.

This one also looks interesting, although $100 more expensive.

Current USA 48"-60" Satellite Plus PRO (link)

Look into the Fluval Marine and Reef 2.0. May require more power if you get into a lot of coral but for a FOWLR, it would be great.

Appreciate the input on this - I hadn't seen this one. Do you have personal experience with it? It's gotten some pretty bad reviews due to the switch and wifi being of poor design. I don't care that much about the Wifi, but the switch issue seems concerning...some called it the worst switch in any technology anywhere. LOL!

 

[johno4]

Since its a FOWLR you could use cheaper fixtures like these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/30183239080...49&var=600642152419&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

or

http://www.aquatraders.com/LED-Aquarium-Lighting-Beamswork-Tropical-Fish-p/66377.htm