Help with lighting on new 72" aquarium

[Timbo1519]

I have just ordered a new 210gallon 72x24x29 all glass aquarium. I am looking for suggestions as to what lights would work best in a canopy?
I was using a 7 bulb Aquatinics Constellation on my 125g and it was just too much light and too much heat to go under a canopy so I switched it out for a Marineland Reef Capable LED system to reduce the heat (Not reef capable at all by the way).

My tank is mainly FOWLR but the option to add some SPS corals down the road is appealing.

I was looking at the 72" Nova Extreme Pro but it says in the owners manual that is should not be placed in a canopy.

I also saw the AquaUFO LED fixtures but they are pricey and if I read their website correctly I would need 4 of them for a tank 72" long.
LED Aquarium Lighting

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Somethings Fishy]

i am for the idea of doing a diy setup!

 

[Katchupoy]

Me too... im with Mike. Are you good with DIY?
Think you can do this?
Where are you in Renton? Im 98031

 

[Red C Aquarium]

I think the aquaufo is about 36x36 with coverage.
So with the center braces you would need 3
they are doing great on sps, i love the light and I'm adding 3 more for my frag tanks.

they are making new dual cords which are coming soon, for now its manual to turn the whites off and have all blue.

REDC

 

[Timbo1519]

I have never done anything DIY but that is not to say I can't. I like the AquaUFO but price wise we are talking about 1k with tax for three of them I beleive. I will have to think about that. Can the AquaUFO be mounted in a canopy?

 

[Bosco83]

It would be hard not to spend $1000 on lights for a 210 fish tank. I know you said fish only but if you do want to keep corals later it would really suck to buy lights now and have to upgrade them later. I would just save up and buy decent ones the first time around and save money in the long run. I used the T-5's off of my 90 gallon tank for my 210 for a while so I could save up for my LED's and it looked just fine. It was a retro kit and I just staggered them.

This is how it looked with six 48" t5's and my corals actually did fine with them for a few months.

 

[trido]

price wise we are talking about 1k with tax for three of them I beleive. I will have to think about that.

Unfortunately, to light a 210 for a mix of corals including SPS is going to cost closer to 1K any way you look at it.

250 watt MH; three quality reflectors= $330, three quality ballasts= $360+, three bulbs =$240 for a total of $930 This doesnt include actinic suplementation and you will spend another $240 on bulbs every nine months to a year.


retrofit T-5 60" 8 bulb set up with individual reflectors; 4x $135 minimum (cheapest set on the market)= $540, eight 60" bulbs @ $40 each= $320 for a total of $860 With this you will spend another $320 on bulb replacement every six to nine months

When you factor in bulb replacement and the extra electricity for MH or T-5, one thousand for some LED's isnt really too bad.

When I had my 210 mixed reef set up I ran three 400W MH, two 60" VHO actinics and two 60" T-5s. Annual bulb replacement started to really add up over the years.

After building my own LED fixture and DIY dimming controller I will never go back to MH or T-5 despite the initial bigger set up fee for LED's. The initial cost offsets itself within a year or two depending on the LED fixtures you get.


Edit: I didnt include tax or shipping on these and these prices are new. Of course you can save money by buying used but if we're talking about new LED's with a warranty we might as well compare them to other new products under warranty.

 

[Timbo1519]

Thanks everyone. Today I bit the bullet and ordered the AquaUFO's. Can't wait. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Bosco83]

Nice! We will be expecting pictures when you get it all setup.