I need advice for a light in my 125 gallon aquarium

[olichka87]

I bought a 125 gallon aquarium about 6 months ago, its a fish only freshwater community. all my plants are fake, but I am planning to get a little bit of hardy live plants in the future. The light I have in there now is a florescent strip from my old 10 gallon aquarium. I have been trying to find some sort of light that can be mounted on the canopy of the tank. But most of the lights that I see are for saltwater tanks. Honestly I don’t know anything about aquarium lights. So I’m hoping that someone can help me and point me in the right direction.
Here is a picture of my tank.

the doors are being fixed and hopefully I will have them soon.

[Mgamer20o0]

well it kind of depends on what you want to do and how much you want to spend. ahsupply.com has great lights and worth every penny. it will allow you the option to have higher light tank with co2 and ferts if you want. you can still go with a lower light tank with lights from them also


there is also a cheap option. t8 shop lights. i have a combo of t8 and compact florescent set up.

[olichka87]

I am defiantly looking for something cheap, under 100 maybe, nothing fancy. I don’t think that I’m planning to get a co2 system with plants. Where can I find the t8 shop lights? Anything specific I should look for in them? Also my biggest concern is that are they waterproof? I’m afraid that water might reach them and cause some problems.

[Rbishop]

I'd visit some of the lighting sites or suppliers and get a handle on what is available. Most set ups come with means to minimize the moisture issue of you piece all the parts together.

Maybe post some links here of what you are considering for more input.

[Kyohti]

Better lighting improves a lot of things... the fish's health, the biological balance of microbes, your chances of growing live plants... and your enjoyment of the aquarium, of course!

Better lighting, especially for such a big tank, might run you a pretty penny, but it's worth it once you see the results and if you buy a good quality lighting system, it should last you a long time.

There's an eBay seller... aquariumlights.com or something of that nature. They specialize in lighting systems, parts, and bulbs. The seller is very helpful and answered all my questions. You might try looking them up if you do eBay.:dance2:

[Mgamer20o0]

i got t8 shop lights from home depot. i had t12 shop lights over my open water tank for 3 years with no problems. if you go with t8 shop lights i would go with the philips daylight deluxe.

[olichka87]

thanks for the advice i will check it out

[monkey_toes]

You can also get the glass tops for the tank. It looks like you have a single brace. My 125 has two braces, so my top is in three pieces, but you should be able to get a pair of tops for your tank. Then no worries about moisture affecting the light fixture(s).

[olichka87]

i got some shop lights from home depot. the aquarium looks much better. thank you everyone for your advice.

here are some before and after pictures

[Mgamer20o0]

night and day...... looks great.

[soccerkidbs]

wow that is an amazing difference i would have never thought of using shop lights. Great tank BTW

[Mgamer20o0]

wow that is an amazing difference i would have never thought of using shop lights. Great tank BTW

they are a great cheap and easy way to light a tank

[syddakyd]

good luck keeping plants with silver dollars:dance2:

[lilshoe2]

beautiful tank....but does it have doors to cover the holes?? It might look a lil better with henged cabnets, but just an opinion....oh yea I know I know I cant spell......
-shoe

[olichka87]

beautiful tank....but does it have doors to cover the holes?? It might look a lil better with henged cabnets, but just an opinion....oh yea I know I know I cant spell......
-shoe


One of the doors flew off on the freeway when they were delivering the tank. its geting fixed but its taiking a while.

[lilshoe2]

okey dokey smokey....lol
Im sure its ganna look great and good Idea with the shop lights!!
oh and is it a cherry stand?? J/W