LED lighting for a Rena 350 Aqualife

[cherdemelle]

Hello everyone, I wonder if anyone could advise me on what LED lighting system to replace the T8 Tubes system that came with the purchase of the tank 5 years ago. Has anyone done this on this particular model of tank before?

My Aquarium is heavily planted, growth is supplimented with Aqua Nourish and Aqua Carbon, with yeast fermentation.

The fish I have are Boesman Rainbows, Cardinals, False Flying Foxs, Clown Loaches and Glowlight Danios. The Tank has been set up for 5 years. I would be most grateful for any information.

 

[Plunket]

Are you planning to retain the hood, or go open-top? TBH, if you want to get the best from LED's, they need to be mounted at least 100 to 150mm above the water surface - not really possible with a closed hood....
That said, I did retro-fit some LED strips (TMC AquaRay's) into a Juwel hood, and it worked pretty well. To start with, TMC have got a T8 adaptor which allows for their mounting rail to be mounted into the T8 I-bar in place of the bulbs - this created mountings for at least two LED units. In addition, the back of the mounting rail is threaded, and if you're prepared to drill your hood panels, the rail can be screwed to the inside of the hood. Finally, you could glue a mounting block to the inside of the hood - this created a "shelf" that the mounting rail can rest on - advantage of this is you can position the units where you want them, or remove them when you need access to the tank. I've got some photos of this set-up it that would help - can email them to you later if you're interested?

 

[cherdemelle]

Thank you for your reply. I would prefer to keep the hood, which is 3 flat squares of metal to keep the fish in and the dust out and are spayed white by the manufatures to reflect light. I have seen the TMC Aquaray on line and I am considering this system. I understand your description of intalling it. I already guessed that I would have to put in new mounting rails. From what I have seen of TMC litrature it does seem to use a whole lot less energy, especially with the latest cost of energy. How many do you think I will need for this depth of tank(60cm/2ft)? There were 4 T8 tubes in there at the moment which come with the tank.

 

[Plunket]

To get even spread, I'd say you will need a minimum of 4 AquaRay units - I'd probably go for the GroBeam 500's at 6500k. You could use the T8 adaptors to mount these in place of the existing T8 bulbs - this would be the neatest install, but not sure that you would get enough spread (LED's are much more directional, especially mounted close to the water surface). If it was me, I'd probably remove the T8 ballasts and mountings to create some space, and mount 4 x GroBeam 500's (2 rails with 2 units on each rail) distributed evenly to cover the whole surface area. From memory, this rig would draw about 60W (4 x 15w) compared with the 120W you're using at the moment. Depending on the kind of light levels you are looking for, you might find you want to add an additional unit or two which would push up the cost - on the up-side, the system is modular which makes it easy to achieve the finish you want (budget notwithstanding ). They also do an 8-channel controller which would allow you to create a precise photo-period.

 

[cherdemelle]

Thanks for the great advice, I think you have made my mind up for me. The only downside is shall have save hard as I have seen they start at about £90 per strip thats without the mounting rails but I know I will save in the long run. Thank you very much

 

[Johno2090]

You can pickup twins andsingles pretty cheap on eBay just make sure that the power packs are recent and not the old ones as they had issues and went into disco mode after a year!

I run tmc growbeams on my tank along with the 8 Chanel controller works really well as you can start them off at 50% and up them as your plants establish.

I Have 4growbeams and 2 aquarays which is prob overkill for my tank, 4 grobeams at 50% seem to light it fine. ( sorry it's 1m x 18" x 20"deep)

 

[cherdemelle]

You can pickup twins andsingles pretty cheap on eBay just make sure that the power packs are recent and not the old ones as they had issues and went into disco mode after a year!

I run tmc growbeams on my tank along with the 8 Chanel controller works really well as you can start them off at 50% and up them as your plants establish.

I Have 4growbeams and 2 aquarays which is prob overkill for my tank, 4 grobeams at 50% seem to light it fine. ( sorry it's 1m x 18" x 20"deep)

Thank you, I will have a look on eBay, once I've saved some money.