hi all first post. love the site i have been reading on the diy led threads but im an absolute noob. anyway my brother has put me in charge of his dream tank build. its in the planning stages now. we have semi agreed on a 120 x 24 x 30 reef tank. what would guys build for yourselves for a tank this size if u had a budget of 3-5k for the lighting???

DIY is fine if you are so inclined. There are lots of good build threads here for ideas. If you are not so electrically inclined (soldering will be required), then the Aquaillumination fixtures may fit the bill. Your budget would certainly allow for the 6 to 8 modules that you would need.

Ya, if it were me I would build my own LED fixture into the hood of that beast. And you should be well under budget for your lighting as well. With no yearly (or more often) bulb replacements.

LED would give you a tangible reduction in power requirements, including your AC bill, the size of your chiller, and the number of individual breakers you would need for the system. Going MH is an option, but I think a much more expensive one involving more maintenance and going with T5 would mean basically covering the ceiling in bulbs and forking over the $$$.


Also I don't think it will count as a nano

so how many cree's are we talkin here for a good amount of light??



well nano is a state of mind not a tank size