Lighting for Softies in 125G

[Tiel]

Hello,

I am new here so please forgive me if I make any mistakes

Would either of these be enough light for softies in my 125 G tank? If so, which one would be better?

MHS 48" T6 HO Aquarium Compact Lighting 216W, > T5 - (eBay item 160147571151 end time Aug-21-07 20:56:08 PDT)

New T5ho t5-ho 5ft / 4LAMP Aquarium REEF lighting - (eBay item 120150941103 end time Aug-20-07 12:31:23 PDT)

[Samper]

T5's will work fine for a 125 atleast they do on the 6' length 125's that I've seen. I'm a big fan of them and run them on my two 4' systems. The people that I know that run T5's on 125's run a minimum of 4 3' 2 bulb fixtures. 2 sets of fixtures for a total of 4 bulbs for each side of the tank...even better would be 3 sets for each side totaling 6 bulbs per side and 12 total and the bulb selection should vary. Maybe half actinic half daylight spectrum. The best scenario would be that each bulb has an individual reflector and they are set on timers to ramp up and down to simulate dawn/noon/dusk. I don't think that you will be satisfied with either of those fixtures.

[Tiel]

Thank you for that info. Based upon price I might just pick up 2 MH someone offered me. Its about in the same price range as a lower wattage T5.

[Reefland]

Hi Tiel,

Is your tank 6' long? If so, 2 MH will not cover that length and would have to be supplemented with a 3rd MH, or some tube lighting like T-5 or VHO anyhow.

[wozza]

i would have to disagree with u there scott my tank is 3ft long and 18" deep i have a single 150W 10K MH over it and it covers the whole tank just fine.

[Reefland]

As a general rule a single MH bulb will cover a 2'x2' area. Now that is not to say that it won't illuminate more, but the intensity will not be there. That might be fine for tanks with less light requiring corals. If I had a 3ft tank, I could go with a single MH as well. With a 5' tank I would go with 2, however with a 4' I would go with 2 and a 6' I would go with 3. Just my opinion though.

[Reefland]

I should also note that I do not use any supplemental lighting at all. If I used some tube lights I might change my opinion.