The Puffer Forum

Ares gets his new tank on Saturday. It is a 125gallon (72" long). It come with three glass tops and three separate 24" aqueon light strips (the bulky plastic kind). I really don't like the lighting (the ugly housing) and want to get nicer looking, sleeker lights. I don't want to spend a whole lot, somewhere around $200. The tank will not be planted. I was thinking of getting some sort of lights on "legs". Maybe two 36" or 3 24". I like the idea of 2 lights instead of three. I'm just afraid the the lights will actually be too long and won't fit with the brackets. I guess I just want to see what other people have done with their lighting or get suggestions. I would love to hang the lights but it's not possible where the tank is. I just really would like the tank to look nice considering it is basically the centerpiece in my living room. I prefer t5's bit am open to suggestions. And pictures are always good

I just bought a tank that is a little bigger than yours. I plan on doing FOWLR, so I won't need any special lights. I am more than likely going to purchase two of the 36-48inch Marineland Double Bright LED light system. Very sleek like you want and has a cool moonlight option for night time. They are 129.00 a piece at FosterandSmith right now. I know that you said you only want to spend 200, and you can easily find a florescent lighting system for that.

Here is a video review of the lights... Short advertisement in the beginning but def worth a look....

Had you thought of constructing a lid to house any lights you fancy? You could get away with a couple of tubes or led strips if you are not planting the tank

research LED lights ... they are $$ but wait a bit and save up. There are some excellent models out there to be had... fully programmable even from your phone.

I'm a boy disappointed because I really want a canopy and Aqueon no longer makes the canopy for the 125 . My husband has said he will build me one so I could always mount some stunners in it later to add blue. Double brights are awesome! I have then in my F8 tank...the single brights suck. I bought the single brights for my 55 and took them back. I'll have to check out DFS...I hadn't even considered the Marinland double brights before you brought it up...thanks!

I have had to have custom build my canopies on my 120 and 250 gallon tanks. They don't make them because they are odd dimensions. On my 120 I have a tempered glass lid and the lights are on legs to suspend the fixture a little. Looks classy and clean and is easy to maintain.

Now that the rank is set up the lights aren't as bad as I thought they would be. They actually have a better color than the lights on his old tank. I didn't realize how yellow the light was on his old tank until I set the new one up...they are crisp white and put out enough light for his setup. The stand is made of pine and the LFS guy told me that Aqueon quit making the canopy for the pine stand because they bowed really bad by the humidity the tanks put off. We plan on making one after the new year.