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Advice on second LED unit

PaulLB

Member
Joined
18 Dec 2022
Messages
135
Location
Cheltenham
I have a Superfish 45 Scaper that I’ve been running as a “Dutch style” ( heavily planted) since mid Dec that is viewable from both long sides as it sits on an island in my kitchen.

My plants (stems) are also arranged in an “island” sloping down from one side and surrounded on 3 sides by a lawn of Monte Carlo.

Now that the stem plants are reaching their optimal height I’m finding that having just the single LED light (the Superfish one that came with the tank package) in the middle isn’t throwing enough light on the two long sides, so I’m in the market for a second light.

Now, I’ve got two of these Superfish 45 scaper aquariums, the other one doesn’t suffer from this shadow problem as it has a more traditional cascade of plants from high at the back to low at the front.

The logical choice would be to move the Superfish LED from the second tank to this one and buy a new LED for the second tank. A Superfish 45cm LED of the same part number A4051840 is £43.99.

So question is, should I buy another Superfish LED exactly the same, or is there some other LED unit members can recommend within a similar price bracket I should be looking at that will give better colour results with my plants?

Photos of both tanks attached - hopefully it’s obvious which is which.
 

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A twinstar or chihiros LED might give you better coverage with a single light over your dutch island, especially if you could hang it, but the cheapest option is going to be to get another scapers light. (it actually looks a decent light for the price)
 
I have a Superfish 45 Scaper that I’ve been running as a “Dutch style” ( heavily planted) since mid Dec that is viewable from both long sides as it sits on an island in my kitchen.

My plants (stems) are also arranged in an “island” sloping down from one side and surrounded on 3 sides by a lawn of Monte Carlo.

Now that the stem plants are reaching their optimal height I’m finding that having just the single LED light (the Superfish one that came with the tank package) in the middle isn’t throwing enough light on the two long sides, so I’m in the market for a second light.

Now, I’ve got two of these Superfish 45 scaper aquariums, the other one doesn’t suffer from this shadow problem as it has a more traditional cascade of plants from high at the back to low at the front.

The logical choice would be to move the Superfish LED from the second tank to this one and buy a new LED for the second tank. A Superfish 45cm LED of the same part number A4051840 is £43.99.

So question is, should I buy another Superfish LED exactly the same, or is there some other LED unit members can recommend within a similar price bracket I should be looking at that will give better colour results with my plants?

Photos of both tanks attached - hopefully it’s obvious which is which.
This is the one light? 24W
superfish.JPG
 
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sooo, besides the "geometry" factor (te more "panels" the better) you have a "color" issue.
The lights you have list a fairly high CRI and the pics seem to show it. A real neutral white tone without green/yellow one would expect from lower cri diodes.
Anyways you sort of have an opportunity to try something different.
Now what you have is darn natural but it is short of red and cyan.
IF you want to follow the "Dutch Style" of over exaggeration of colors using multiple different colored t5 tubes you may want to try a RGB type fixture on the one 1 light tank.
Move the replaced light to the peninsula tank.
Of course you would cut each light down to equal what you currently have.
Like if you currently run the one light at 100% you would want to run each of the 2 at 50%.
Point is just to spread the light out not add light..

This is a "palette" of choices.
Personally all you could really want is add some 660 nm to the 7300k..
adaled.JPG
 
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sooo, besides the "geometry" factor (te more "panels" the better) you have a "color" issue.
The lights you have list a fairly high CRI and the pics seem to show it. A real neutral white tone without green/yellow one would expect from lower cri diodes.
Anyways you sort of have an opportunity to try something different.
Now what you have is darn natural but it is short of red and cyan.
IF you want to follow the "Dutch Style" of over exaggeration of colors using multiple different colored t5 tubes you may want to try a RGB type fixture on the one 1 light tank.
Move the replaced light to the peninsula tank.
Of course you would cut each light down to equal what you currently have.
Like if you currently run the one light at 100% you would want to run each of the 2 at 50%.
Point is just to spread the light out not add light..

This is a "palette" of choices.
Personally all you could really want is add some 66nm to the 7300k..
View attachment 202749

Problem with these Superfish LEDs is they have no dimmer (even tho they advertise it, there ain’t one - at least not that I’ve been able to locate), but I suppose I could reduce my photoperiod to compensate.

But on to the more interesting stuff…so what RGB LED model do you suggest I get? Probably what I’m asking is what’s the entry level to the “next level” that gives me colour control ?

Or maybe the question is how much do I have to spend to see a difference in rendered colour and actual redness (say) of my Rotala Hra?

Would a Twinstar Series E do the job ?
 
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Well first with most "constant voltage" arrays they are all dimmable or programmable if one wants to put in the effort (DIY, possibly cutting cords).
As long as the power brick is anywhere from 9V DC to 24V DC out and not too big..
Your light has a 20V 1.2A ps.

On paper I've taken a liking to the Micmole series.
Though most 45cm lights are around $200US dollars.
Tons of output though at 50W .
Thing is you could probably find 2 45cm led lights that are still cheaper than $200US
Equivalent Chihiros except it is just RGB though somewhere there is a wrgb version.



AFAICT there isn't a REALLY BAD RGB aquarium light if one treats power supplies as a consumable. ;)
Some software is better than others.
There are RBW lights RGBW lights ect waterproof not water proof , simple programming not so simple programming
Brands like Hygger (or a number of "brands" of the same light. ) Finnex, Fluval,Current ect to name the more US ones.

I need to reiterate that your tanks are certainly not lacking in color and "personally" I have a love/not so much love for RGB only arrays
but there is no denying the color punch they can add to a planted tank.
 
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Well it certainly sounds like a good idea to experiment with an RGB on the second “Dutch” Nano and use my two exiting Superfish panels to provide a better spread of light to my “peninsula” tank.

Micmol lights look nice but the only 45cm variant I can see is a marine light. I will do a bit more research but looking likely I’ll buy the Twinstar III 450EC.
 
Well it certainly sounds like a good idea to experiment with an RGB on the second “Dutch” Nano and use my two exiting Superfish panels to provide a better spread of light to my “peninsula” tank.

Micmol lights look nice but the only 45cm variant I can see is a marine light. I will do a bit more research but looking likely I’ll buy the Twinstar III 450EC.
micmoleexpert.JPG


Just check the options..

What about the Twinstar leads you in its direction?
Non-adjustable legs, no channels, no dimming AFAICT
This isn't said to lead you to the micmole, just I've always found on a price/feature basis Twinstars are pretty low on the totem pole..
 
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I want a unit that mounts on the tank not a pendant and I’m not really into fiddling with settings so the simpler the better. Plus the Twinstar looks nice , to me at least.

Would be interested to see hear opinions of anybody that has experience of them?
 
Ok I think I’ve narrowed it down to 3 possibilities, would appreciate pros and cons of each if you have experience:

Twinstar v3 450EC - 1750lm 6500K
Twinstar v3 450SM - 1750lm 6700K
Chihiros WRGB 2 45 - 3600lm

Aesthetically I prefer the look of the Twinstars, but can’t seem to find much to choose between them l, anybody used them head to head?

I concede the Chihiros seems to provide more flexibility thru its app (although I prefer plug and play rather than fiddling around). Also the Chihiros seems almost twice as bright. Is that useful headroom or a waste given my tank is only 32cm deep ?
 
Had a chat with the folks at AG who seem to think the Twinstar S is a big step up from the E.

They also mentioned a brand called “Life Aqua” - seems expensive but they look very nice! Anybody got experience with these ? I’m planning on a 60cm tank in the near future and they said the colour rendition is supposed to be second only to ADA?
 
I have a twinstar ver 3 900sa and it is perfect to what I want. The colour tones are second to non and the growth you get is what you pay for..
I dont mind not linking to phone or changing colours etc, I use an inline dimmer/timer and it's never been an issue.. but understand how this can be seen as a big deal vs what the competition has avaliable.
Chihiros wrgb2/pro is another one to compare for their pure power... however I don't like the colour 'tone' they produce.. looks very artificial imo.

No experience with life aqua but I've heard of them and they seem a very good brand. Iv seen the ada solor rgb in person and absolutly blows everything else out of the water...at just over twice the price of my twinstar though 🙂
 
I would suggest the Micmol Felix light. Thin flat bar that looks good for additional lighting. WRGB can be controlled by an app and the price is lower than a full fixture for that tank
 
So here’s what happened……

I decided to go for a Twinstar 450E and found one for far less then retail on EBay without too many hours on it.

I put the Twinstar light on my newest 45L “Dutch style” and the colour rendition was much better. Really noticeable in comparison the the stock LED lights that came with my Superfish 45 Scaper aquarium package. The two tanks are both in my kitchen/family room so easy to compare. The Superfish LEDs that retail for about £43 are fine but that tank looked really “yellow” in comparison to the one with the Twinstar.

So what to do? Well upgrade the other one too obviously! But now I’m thinking maybe I need to try something else and go up a step again.

So fast forward two weeks and this morning a brand new Chihiros WRGB II 45cm arrives. It took a couple of weeks as I ordered direct from Chihiros in China, but it was cheaper by a fair bit.

I replaced the 2x Superfish LEDs that had been providing lighting to the older Dutch Style tank and …….wow !

The downside? Well now the bloody Twinstar tank looks yellow and washed out! I kid you not, this light is like going from black and white TV to colour!

I’m going to live with the Chihiros for a week or two and if it’s as good as my first impressions suggest I’ll be ordering another one most likely.

The App is really good too, although I’m not into fiddling with settings but everything is just very easy, for example setting the sunrise and sunset and colour balance between RGB and the presets is very straightforward .

Another thing I really like about the Chihiros is the ability to use the little allen key provided to adjust the height of the stand legs - with the Twinstar you’re stuck with the height of the acrylic stand.

Anything I don’t like? Well it’s still day 1 so let’s see how it goes. Only thing I’d say is while it feels really good quality and well made, the black design is not quite as sleek as the Twinstar (or the bog standard Superfish lights tbh), but with the colour rendition I’m not looking at the light fixture.

In summary if I’d understood how good the Chihiros WRGB II colour rendition is, I wouldn’t have bought the Twinstar, there is simply no comparison. I do realise they are no really comparable units, but what I didn’t know was quite how big the difference in colour rendition is, it’s huge.

I would be interested to see how the Twinstar S series compares but it would have to be pretty special to beat the combination of colour rendition, app and adjustability (stand) of the Chihiros.

So yes I am a convert.
 
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