Lighting suggestions

[MichelleRenee68]

Hello, I have a 150gal Cichlid aquarium and I feel my lighting is something to be desired. I am looking at changing the lighting to make it a happier and prettier environment. The lighting I have now is just a regular flourecent 48inch bulb and it just does not do the tank justice. I would like some suggestions on some nice lighting, perhaps something with a blue tint look to it... Something to really make the colors of the fish pop.

Thanks :)

[mistahoo]

Red and Blue tints make the fish color pop from what I've heard. I personally love LED lighting because of the shimmer and how efficient it is with power consumption.

[Ballinxalex]

+1 on LEDs get some beamswork or marinelands led

[MichelleRenee68]

LED.... had not even thought of that! GREAT IDEA!! thanks

[RonR.]

Michelle, I use 2 3' Marineland Double Bright LED lights on my 6' 180g tank. They sit right on top of my glass tops. Alot less power consumption and they add a nice shimmer to the water. I have them on an auto-timer. Here's a pic of my LEDs.



They are low profile which I like and if I have to take them off to clean my glass tops or to remove my glass tops they are super light. I also have 2 sets of moonlights that I purchased on-line from digikits......they are really nice and on an auto-timer as well.

I like using lighting with auto-timers because I like to see and enjoy my fish. I also believe in giving my fish consistency, a routine.

[MichelleRenee68]

Love it RonR. I too use timers and will do so with the new lighting. I am really leaning to the LED lighting now :)

[mistahoo]

Love it RonR. I too use timers and will do so with the new lighting. I am really leaning to the LED lighting now :)

Make sure if you get a timer, use one with a ground. Here's my little nano with an Ecoxotic LED Stunner Strip. Excuse the music in the background, I was mellowing out and jamming to random music.

[RonR.]

Love it RonR. I too use timers and will do so with the new lighting. I am really leaning to the LED lighting now :)

I got mine over the web with free shipping. Here's my lighting schedule as best as I can remember it:

-6am-6:45am: moonlights
-6:45am-8am: LEDs
-12noon-1pm: LEDs
-7pm-10pm: LEDs
-10pm-12:30am: moonlights

I get some green algae on my Texas Holey Rock but my bn plecos do a good job of cleaning it up. Tango Mike on this site is a good place to get bn plecos.

I also get green algae on the bottom of my glass tops. I take it off every 2 weeks or so when it builds up and lessens my amount of light getting to my tank from above. It comes off pretty easily.

Hope this helps you and others here considering LEDs and putting them on timers for consistency and giving the fish a routine.

[mistahoo]

That seems like a lot of work and requires a digital timer. I got a plain old timer from HD and I run two timers. I have the lights cut on at 10am and cut off at 9pm. Moonlights cut on at 9pm until 6am. Not LED lights though. The LEDs on the nano isn't on a timer yet, but will be in the future.

[RonR.]

That seems like a lot of work and requires a digital timer. I got a plain old timer from HD and I run two timers. I have the lights cut on at 10am and cut off at 9pm. Moonlights cut on at 9pm until 6am. Not LED lights though. The LEDs on the nano isn't on a timer yet, but will be in the future.

Not really alot of work. I bought my Intermatic Digital timers at HD. I have one of the older ones with the flip up lid and 2 of the newer ones (but still over 10 years old). I connect my 2 3' LEDs into a double outlet mini extension and plug that into 1 of my digital timers. I connect my 2 sets of moonlights the same way into another digital timer. My moonlights cover both the front and back of tank.

I use my 3rd digital timer for my 2 6080 Tunze Streams. I have them programmed to come on 4x daily for 15 minute cycles. They create a tornado effect and move all the smallest pieces of uneaten food and fish poop off my aragonite sand bottom to one of my 2217 eheims I have at either end of my 6' 180g tank.

I am working on programming my new-to-me Apex Aquacontroller. I'm going to have it control my lights, heaters, Tunze Streams, pH and temp monitors 24/7. If my 500w heaters malfunction it will automatically cut them off and send me email and text alerts. I will be able to control my system from my iPhone or from an off-site computer connected to the web. This is very new to me so it is taking me some time with all this high tech stuff.

[Chris360]

I prefer T5's over LED's especially with a depth over 24" If you 150 has the footprint of 72X18X30 then you might not be getting the lighting you're looking for. My 360 is 36" deep and I use Dual T5's and it looks amazing, my 420 is 36" W so I use Quad T5's. Check out these, they're cheap and very durable http://www.aquatraders.com/36-inch-4...re-p/52324.htm

[TexSun]

Re: Lighting suggestions

Yeah, I use T5s, but have been debating the switch over to LEDs.

[Chris360]

Yeah, I use T5s, but have been debating the switch over to LEDs.

What size tank do you have? For me to use LED's on either of my tanks would cost alot more than I wanted to spend because you need so much more lighting with LED's.

[mistahoo]

Re: Lighting suggestions

Yup that's the thing with LEDs. High initial cost but in the long run it'll save you money off your electricity bill

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.