Orbit Marine 72" IC LOOP LED (4108) Good Enough for Macros?

[litsoh]

I'm currently running a 125g FLOWR tank that's just been going off of the stock strip lights that came with it, but I want to upgrade these a bit more in order to grow some macroalgae since I'm unable to do corals for the tank. Does anyone have experience with running these lights on their tank, whether or not it would be sufficient enough? I've been looking around for some lights that can fit my tank since it is a 72in long so these seem to be the cheapest appropriate choice.

Orbit Marine 72" IC LOOP LED (4108) - Current USA

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

 

[oreo54]

I'm currently running a 125g FLOWR tank that's just been going off of the stock strip lights that came with it, but I want to upgrade these a bit more in order to grow some macroalgae since I'm unable to do corals for the tank. Does anyone have experience with running these lights on their tank, whether or not it would be sufficient enough? I've been looking around for some lights that can fit my tank since it is a 72in long so these seem to be the cheapest appropriate choice.

Orbit Marine 72" IC LOOP LED (4108) - Current USA

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

Description: 72” Orbit™ IC LED Light
Max. Watts: 63
Dual Actinic 445nm/460nm LEDs: 36/36
Dual Daylight 6,700K/10,000K LEDs: 28/28
RGB LEDs: 16
Total LEDs: 144
90° optics.

Any idea of the stats on the orig light?

 

[litsoh]

Description: 72” Orbit™ IC LED Light
Max. Watts: 63
Dual Actinic 445nm/460nm LEDs: 36/36
Dual Daylight 6,700K/10,000K LEDs: 28/28
RGB LEDs: 16
Total LEDs: 144
90° optics.

Any idea of the stats on the orig light?

Unfortunately no.

Top Fin® LED Aquarium & Stand Ensemble - 125 Gallon

Buy Top Fin® LED Aquarium & Stand Ensemble - 125 Gallon at Petsmart

www.petsmart.com

It's these standard lights that come with the tank. White LED strip lights, I've tried finding the specs of it to no success. I'm pretty positive it wouldn't be enough though

 

[oreo54]

Unfortunately no.

Top Fin® LED Aquarium & Stand Ensemble - 125 Gallon

Buy Top Fin® LED Aquarium & Stand Ensemble - 125 Gallon at Petsmart

www.petsmart.com

It's these standard lights that come with the tank. White LED strip lights, I've tried finding the specs of it to no success. I'm pretty positive it wouldn't be enough though

72.5 in L x 18.5 in W x 23.5 in H....
In the freshwater world at 18.5" you might consider 2 strip lights to give full coverage to the front back dimension.
Even considering most lights are like 120 degrees spread not 90.
I also think about 1wpg led is a good starting point.
Now that's for higher plants. Not sure of the specific lighting " likes" of the macro's you are considering. I'm going to assume they are not too demanding.

So with that and your light choice I say it sits too low for that wide of a tank. Raising it would help at the cost of par.
Arguably a bit underpowered but compensated a bit by the narrower optics.
Color ys whiter than the current " usual" sw
tank but should be fine for your goal.

If you don't want the color adjustments or the fancy programming Beamswork makes a 72" light that though sold as fw probably has a real color temp of 10000k or so.

USED DA FSPEC Series 0.50W Full Spectrum Timer Ready Freshwater Bright Fixture (OEM by Beamworks)
72" DA 180 176x - 8000 lumen 102x 10000K, 32x Actinic, 22x Red, 26x Green

358 .5 watt class diodes. So like 179 watts..

120 degrees so not the same punch as what you are considering. Better f/b from the start coverage but still not perfect.
Some report a bow in the light but doesn't hurt it function. At 72"
Can get a timer/ dimmer for it but no color adjustments.
$129.95 for one at eBay. Topdogsellers
Didn't look to see if new are available
5 rows of LEDs.

USED DA 180 FSPEC 72" LED Aquarium Fish Tank Light Multi color w/ Rise Dim Timer | eBay

USED DA 180 FSPEC 72" LED Aquarium Light Beamswork freshwater. The latest Beamworks DA FSPEC series LED fixture provides a high quality, energy efficient light fixture that replaces the typical single tube fluorescent light.

www.ebay.com

Just a thought.....Granted the 2 choices are night and day different...

 

[litsoh]

72.5 in L x 18.5 in W x 23.5 in H....
In the freshwater world at 18.5" you might consider 2 strip lights to give full coverage to the front back dimension.
Even considering most lights are like 120 degrees spread not 90.
I also think about 1wpg led is a good starting point.
Now that's for higher plants. Not sure of the specific lighting " likes" of the macro's you are considering. I'm going to assume they are not too demanding.

So with that and your light choice I say it sits too low for that wide of a tank. Raising it would help at the cost of par.
Arguably a bit underpowered but compensated a bit by the narrower optics.
Color ys whiter than the current " usual" sw
tank but should be fine for your goal.

If you don't want the color adjustments or the fancy programming Beamswork makes a 72" light that though sold as fw probably has a real color temp of 10000k or so.


358 .5 watt class diodes. So like 179 watts..

120 degrees so not the same punch as what you are considering. Better f/b from the start coverage but still not perfect.
Some report a bow in the light but doesn't hurt it function. At 72"
Can get a timer/ dimmer for it but no color adjustments.
$129.95 for one at eBay. Topdogsellers
Didn't look to see if new are available
5 rows of LEDs.

USED DA 180 FSPEC 72" LED Aquarium Fish Tank Light Multi color w/ Rise Dim Timer | eBay

USED DA 180 FSPEC 72" LED Aquarium Light Beamswork freshwater. The latest Beamworks DA FSPEC series LED fixture provides a high quality, energy efficient light fixture that replaces the typical single tube fluorescent light.

www.ebay.com

Just a thought.....Granted the 2 choices are night and day different...

That Beamswork would have been a great light, but I checked the link and it doesn't ship to Hawaii, nor am I able to find it for sale at other places. Go figure.

In terms of Macros I'm thinking of things like H. pannosa and Dragon's Breath, but I'm pretty open to other options as well so possibly Caulerpa, etc.

Would adding in multiple lights help with the watt issues? So for example if I added four of these lights would that give me what I need?

 

[oreo54]

Link is not working for me.
Surprised they wouldn't send it USPS..but Hawaii is kind of a different world.

Sorry got sidetracked to see if I could find some culture data.
One listed moderate/high light.
Anyways some fun stuff here:
https://coralsanonymous.com/collections/macroalgae-1


Oh sure since most led are dimmable or at the least you can put multiple light on timers yea adding is a method that works.

Your orig lights are 2 36" unit right? So I assume there is one center brace on the tank.
What were you planning on using for a top/cover.. or none?

 

[litsoh]

Link is not working for me.
Surprised they wouldn't send it USPS..but Hawaii is kind of a different world.

Sorry got sidetracked to see if I could find some culture data.
One listed moderate/high light.
Anyways some fun stuff here:
https://coralsanonymous.com/collections/macroalgae-1


Oh sure since most led are dimmable or at the least you can put multiple light on timers yea adding is a method that works.

Your orig lights are 2 36" unit right? So I assume there is one center brace on the tank.
What were you planning on using for a top/cover.. or none?

LOL you wouldn't believe it, but that site doesn't ship to Hawaii either. GCE does though but I'm thinking of trying my luck out at some tide pools first to see what I can get once I get the lighting situated.

hygger Remote Control LED Aquarium Light - hygger

hygger remote control light can adjust the working light mode, color, brightness, and time and turns on/off within a range of 32 feet for the freshwater tanks.

www.hygger-online.com

Hopefully that link works. I guess amazon links don't work here?

Yeah 2 36" single strip, the tank frame is split into three open areas, so there are two braces. Originally they came with glass lids but I'm not planning on keeping them. I've already replaced one of the lids with a DIY clear 1/4" mesh lid and that's what the plan is going to be for the other two openings so I don't think I'll have any issues with light obstruction.

 

[litsoh]

The only issue is that I'd have to figure out how to mount the lights in the event that I go for these hygger ones. If the tank just had a center brace it would have been a lot easier, but with it split into thirds it just gets a little more awkward in trying to mount them using the brackets, and buying two lights to fit each of the three openings just doesn't seem to be the best choice economically, not to mention how crowded it would look at the top. Buying a single unit that's already made for a 72" tank clears up a bit of the headache on that end

 

[oreo54]

The only issue is that I'd have to figure out how to mount the lights in the event that I go for these hygger ones. If the tank just had a center brace it would have been a lot easier, but with it split into thirds it just gets a little more awkward in trying to mount them using the brackets, and buying two lights to fit each of the three openings just doesn't seem to be the best choice economically, not to mention how crowded it would look at the top. Buying a single unit that's already made for a 72" tank clears up a bit of the headache on that end

Well 3 lights work fine..Or in this case 4..
These were customized Popbloom lights with the Turing controller.
Controllers old school (no wifi ect) but light work well..
3 50W Nicrews would work fine. Problem is they are def. "marine centric" so you have a lot o blue..
I'd assume in your case you would shoot for a more "tidepool" colored lighting which is probably like 6500-10000k not "20000k+plus

you can find this at Amazon..

PopBloom T75 Freshwater Full Spectrum Led Aquarium Light Planted Fish Tank Lamp Aquarium Lampe Led Lighting (2 Lights for 60-78" Tank)​

$349..

 

[litsoh]

Well 3 lights work fine..Or in this case 4..
These were customized Popbloom lights with the Turing controller.
Controllers old school (no wifi ect) but light work well..
3 50W Nicrews would work fine. Problem is they are def. "marine centric" so you have a lot o blue..
I'd assume in your case you would shoot for a more "tidepool" colored lighting which is probably like 6500-10000k not "20000k+plus

you can find this at Amazon..

PopBloom T75 Freshwater Full Spectrum Led Aquarium Light Planted Fish Tank Lamp Aquarium Lampe Led Lighting (2 Lights for 60-78" Tank)​

$349..

I'll look into those. I appreciate it!