Bring me up to date...

[Aeropars]

Hi All,

For years I've had high tech Juwel Rio 180 with CO2 injection but utilized T8 lighting. I've just moved house and I want something a little more contemporary to I've decided on going for a 80x40x40 tank and figured LED would be the way to go.

My education was with watts per galon but now I'm seeing works like PAR which I do not understand.

Firstly, can anyone educate me in the way of LED?
Secondly, can anyone suggest something which would be sufficient for this sized tank? I'm looking to go inexpensive as possible and I'l need some way of mounting the light on the tank.

All help appreciated!

 

[Sacha]

Personally I'd stick to T5 lights. They're generally better for plants than LEDs.

 

[Alastair]

Personally I'd stick to T5 lights. They're generally better for plants than LEDs.

I agree to a point but it depends which led units you purchase. Cheap leds maybe.

If you look at many of the journals on here that are using leds ive never seen any proof that theyre inferior to t5s. I run leds myself too.

On that size tank id opt for the Fluval aqualife and plant led bar. Beautiful looking lights slimline and have great colour rendition. The soft blue night light on them is nice too.
Or you could opt for a tmc 1500nd but with controller would be quite costly.

There are the beamswork units too but not sure how good they are at growing plants.

Led units give the shimmering effect too which you dont get with t5 or t8s etc.

 

[Rob P]

TMC Grobeam 600 ultima twin = £135
TMC Aquaray Controller = £65
TMC Mountaray Brakets = £25
Hardware to fit (TMS rails etc) = £20

Approximate prices, will suffice for tank size. Will grow plants

 

[Aeropars]

Thanks for the replies.

Rob - Do you need all of them things?

So whats all this PAR business then?

 

[Rob P]

Rob - Do you need all of them things?

If you want the lighting mounted over the tank i'd say yes, there are other ways - suspended from ceiling etc... I was thinking of along the lines of your budget (tank + DIY stand + these lights = under £500) and would advise to have controllable lights (because i've been on the rear end of these things uncontrolled lol).

So whats all this PAR business then?

This will get you started lol

PAR Readings - what are good readings ? | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Clives not a fan of WPG/WPL lol

 

[Aeropars]

Boy, I am out of date! So how come so many on here can measure par? I've looked online for a par meter and they are damn expensive!