Lighting for 125g Reef Tank

[AaronS]

Good evening everyone. Today I was met with a surprise, that I knew was coming I just did not realize the day was today.
I typically change out my metal halide bulbs every February, I run 3x 250w Radium Moguls. Have run those on this tank for around a decade now.
Well, one burned out, I went online shopping and I am now learning that 250w mogul bulbs are out of stock everywhere, or appear to be in stock until I reach "checkout".

The tank is 125 gallons, 6 feet long. It currently has a nice canopy with the MH fixtures as well as 2x T5 bulbs encased inside.

Since I apparently have lost touch to what is current, could anyone point me towards a solid upgrade in lighting that won't cost two grand?

Changing the canopy and hanging LED's was not exactly something I wanted to do, but I may be approaching no choice. Unless someone has a source for some good MH bulbs.
Any help is appreciated. If anyone has some LED fixtures that are applicable, that would be great as well.

Aaron

 

[chaples55]

Budget pick:

NOOPSYCHE K7 V3 aquarium led saltwater coral light for USA

Better spectrum out / Excellent Growth / Feed Almost all the of the SPS/LPS coral in one reef tank isn't a dream especially red coral Perfect mixing and Shimmer / Superior Color Mixing / The best mixing spectrum technology / Affordable price LED reef lighting/ about 1.4watt per dollar

noopsychereeflight.com

Upgrade pick:

ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro – ReeFi Lab

www.reefi-lab.com

Light bars:

Products | Quanta Lights

This is where you buy the super awesome Quanta or Quanta Pro lights. Sold exclusively here!

www.quantareef.com

I own a pair of these El Cheapo bars and they are actually really nice (the 150cm Blue UV variant):

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EJm4Eoh

 

[fishyfishy]

what’s the depth on the tank (front to back)? if it’s less than 24” you may want to think about that, as some of the lights are designed for 24”x24” coverage and you may not need to waste money with light on the glass (and additional algae). Im sure the radiums had similar coverage though…

 

[billyocean]

@enderg60 may know a place to source bulbs. Not positive though

 

[AaronS]

what’s the depth on the tank (front to back)? if it’s less than 24” you may want to think about that, as some of the lights are designed for 24”x24” coverage and you may not need to waste money with light on the glass (and additional algae). Im sure the radiums had similar coverage though…

I measured today, it is 21" deep and 18" front to back.

 

[fishyfishy]

I would prioritize getting the length down (6ft) with good coverage. You are about 3” shorter height wise than most tanks, and 6” less deep front to back.

I have the reefi uno 1s and they are great lights, but i probably wouldnt recommend them for you, because they are extremely powerful. The 2s have even have more power… it’ll go to waste on your tank i think, unless you see benefit to running lights at a lower power output (less fan noise and longer life). They also are designed for a 2’x2’ spread i believe. I have 4 on my 5’ tank to better blanket the tank with light, but the front to back spread is the same. I can get 200 par on the sand under 70%.

it also depends on what you are trying to grow, led strip lights might get you good inital coverage, and then in the future you could add in additional lights for a hybrid led approach.

 

[billyocean]

@chaples55 laid out some great coices. I have viparspectras over my 125. 4x165 with vipars hung perpendicular (front to back) with thr addition of some led bars is an option as well. I too like the quanta bars

 

[chaples55]

Agreed, as far as classic black boxes go the Viparspectras are great. Might actually be one of the best ways to blanket a long, relatively narrow tank with light. Stay away from cheaper ones like the Phlizon; their spectrum is garbage.

The 100w/150w Nicrew reef lights are a pretty good option too.

@fishyfishy brings up a good point regarding the tank dimensions. The Reefis are probably not ideal in this case.

 

[billyocean]

Yeah...and keep in mind the viparspectra white channel sucks IMO. But..they work well and the whites can be fixed or supplemented