Greenfinger2
Member
Hi Simon,
Congratulations on a wonderful Aquascape
Congratulations on a wonderful Aquascape
Hi Simon,
How have you found the Classica Light? I have one sat in a box ready to use on my incoming 240L. Am I right in saying I could adjust my light level overall to, for instance '4' and use the internal timer to run a single 8 hr phase at that level?
Looks great, some chubby little ottos there .
I have been thinking of how I can provide a little bit more cover for fish exposed to the strong LED lights (other than floating plants which will all get blown to the left hand end of the tank). The area of the tank with the sand path does not need much in the way of direct light so i was thinking about placing some translucent (green?) plastic onto the top of the glass covers in this area. I may cut it out into leaf like shapes to give a sort of dappled green shade effect? Has anyone tried anything similar to this with any success?
Perhaps I am over concerned with stressed fish than I need to be and should just put them in and see how well they cope with the bright light!!!
I have played about with the light controller a bit myself and concluded that you can adjust the intensity of the light OR use the timer setting ….but not both! I can't understand why the thing is programmed this way. However, this has not proved to be a problem as I think my light needs to be set at 100% anyway to get the required growth characteristics. I have the 80cm version of the unit which has 5x 10w LEDs (10000K and 8500K) which do the plant growth bit … I assume the 3x banks of low wattage RGB LEDs are effectively for illumination only?
I currently have it set for 6.5 hours at full illumination on the main 10w LEDs (plus 30 mins ramp up/down time before and after this). I have the other 3 banks of low wattage RGB units set to come on either side of the main unit with 1x row running a few hours after the main lights have shut off. I have also played about with the height of the unit above the water level. My tank is 45cm deep and I currently have it set about 16cm above the water (I have 1.5mm thick glass covers also which I assume have some negative impact on PAR in tank).
I have only seen a couple of internet reviews of the units and both of these were very negative about the timer vs intensity setting issue. However, as i don't think you need to set it at less 100% for a 45cm deep planted tank then this really isn't an issue for me. I am pleased with all the other aspects of the units i.e.. growth performance, looks, ceiling suspension and fitting kit, colour rendition, ramp up/down facility ….. all in all very good value for something about half the price of other 'pro' units. If the intensity adjustment is an issue for you it is possible to buy a 5 channel programmable timer unit off the web for about 28 quid and you can sort this as well (as long as you have basic skills to wire this via a multi pin socket)
Only thing I may have done differently would have been to buy a 90cm unit for may tank instead of the 80 cm one … the longer one has an extra 10W LED cluster and an even number of 10000K and 8500K LEDs. Maybe this would have given me a little extra intensity in the extreme corners of the tank.
Thanks for the comment … i am a few weeks ahead of you with planting vs you emerald isles scape - I look forward to seeing it fill out.
Not has Ottos before but i think they are great little creatures and seem very happy in their new environment (and pay for their keep at the same time with algae eating duty).
Thanks for the review Simon, I too have only ever seen the very dismissive reviews. At full chat the light is very bright but I like your idea of using the RGB's during the evening so the light level is a little more tolerable. Do you have a photograph of the setup with RGB only light levels?
Otherwise the fitting is very good value, I have planned to use 90cm over a 120cm. You mention you felt you were lacking lighting in the extremities, the photographs of the tank don't appear to show dark corners to me!
Thanks again.