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Deep aquarium led light

Nikola

Member
Joined
9 May 2020
Messages
179
Location
Slovakia
Hi all,
Does some off u have experience with deep planted aquarium.
I mean at least 80cm or even 1m?

With these days modern led lights is it maybe possible accomplishing heavily planted tank with high light plants?

Let’s put aside managing flow and CO2 in that big aquarium(that is another big problem)
I’m just curious are there some lights that are capable to grow for example some dwarf hairgrass on 80-100cm depth?


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You'll want to look at something that has a focused beam.

No experience with a tank that deep but something like the kessil maybe.

For really deep tanks, look at the ecoxotic cannon range :) ☀☀
 
I’d suggest contacting Filipe Oliveira via FB etc as he has done several 90cm tall aquascapes - including one in the Aquaflora canteen which he has maintained over the years (you can view this on his YouTube channel)
There is also the Aquaflora 1400 L aquarium (which travels to exhibitions) 200cm x 80cm x 90cm h

More recent tanks have shifted to LED, older tanks were done with T5 (presumably HOT5 or VHOT5 with well designed reflectors)

Some of the videos include planting, lighting, filtration details, or these often appear in comments in response to queries

Magical Tree (previewed at Interzoo 2016 and maintained through the year)



Red Bonsai Tree (approximately 1 year after setup)
 
On the top of the Tree: - Ludwigia sp. 'Mini Super Red'

I did try to link videos that included details :)
The plants was tied loosely (to hold the stems in place but not cut into the stem) with fishing line type thread (I think) - if glued, the plant failed
(Filipe Oliveira mentions this somewhere/sometime re it’s a frequent question in his workshops)
There are several videos following this scape (beginning a few days after setup perhaps, there are also other “trees” in FOA’s portfolio)

Note this version of Ludwigia does seem slightly different than Tropica’s L palustris (for example)
 
Thanks for the video [mention]alto [/mention]
I can see that he is using Awuaillumination 4x hidra leds.

My dream is to make planted aquarium 300cm x 80cm x 90cm.

So I would need 6 off them, that is around 3600$ just for the light. My dream will stay a dream for now


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One thing to bare in mind, which is often a point of failure in deep tanks, is maintenance.

You need to think how you are going to reach the bottom of the tank to clean, plant plants, shuffle substrate etc. People have come up with boxes to stand on, scaffolding steps, extra long gravel pumps etc. so they can reach the bottom of the tank.
 
The plants was tied loosely (to hold the stems in place but not cut into the stem) with fishing line type thread (I think) - if glued, the plant failed

Note this version of Ludwigia does seem slightly different than Tropica’s L palustris (for example)
It must be a high maintenance set up. If there is enough light to keep Ludwigia Palustris red, it will grow rapidly requiring constant pruning and periodic replanting.

Why not try some slower growing red stems such as AR mini, and will it likely work?
 
One thing to bare in mind, which is often a point of failure in deep tanks, is maintenance.

You need to think how you are going to reach the bottom of the tank to clean, plant plants, shuffle substrate etc. People have come up with boxes to stand on, scaffolding steps, extra long gravel pumps etc. so they can reach the bottom of the tank.

Yea I know, it’s a trouble but still manageable.
My biggest concern is storing off water for changing it. Aquarium would be almost 3 tons off water.
And off course it has to be automated otherwise it’s pain in the ass


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It must be a high maintenance set up. If there is enough light to keep Ludwigia Palustris red, it will grow rapidly requiring constant pruning and periodic replanting.

Why not try some slower growing red stems such as AR mini, and will it likely work?

It’s I think just a good reason to earn extra money on maintenance.


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It must be a high maintenance set up. If there is enough light to keep Ludwigia Palustris red, it will grow rapidly requiring constant pruning and periodic replanting.

If you follow Filipe Oliveira, he has several videos on how he maintains his home tanks - they follow much the same principles as the tanks he scapes and maintains for Aquaflora
Nutrient rich substrate
Low water column nutrients (nitrogen limited to enhance reds) to slow growth
Good flow (but not so much the sort where plants are waving in current), CO2, lighting etc

I find him really zen

I’m not a fan of AR mini - it may grow slower and shorter but the leafs are so big, it just looks like a stocky dwarf version of its taller cousins - it’s often used in small tanks and does no justice to the perspective
 
My biggest concern is storing off water for changing it.
Is there some reason you can’t just use tap water?

You can use T5 lighting for this tank height - though consider the running costs vs LED - and dimmable T5 lighting tends to be very expensive

If you’ve a portfolio (of your aquarium scapes), you might approach a lighting manufacturer (or retailer) for support - obviously you would need diagrams, details of your intended work, photo and video media following tank development
(Filter and plant nursery support would also be very nice)

I’m assuming you’ve already a good amount of planted tank experience before committing to such a large and deep aquarium
 
My tap water is too hard, it’s like 14GH and 14KH. It’s maybe fine, but would like keeping it lower with GH and especially with KH.

Well I’m not so experienced yet, doing my progress in this hobby, and definitely will not try it until I will be 100% sure that I can manage it.

I’m practicing now with automatization with my current aquarium, did everything over plc. In a year or two I’m getting into a new house and I really want to have that beautiful giant planted aquarium in my living room, doesn’t matter how hard will be trimming it and cleaning it.

Until than researching a lot and practicing.


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Low water column nutrients (nitrogen limited to enhance reds) to slow growth
Good flow (but not so much the sort where plants are waving in current), CO2, lighting etc
I think nitrogen limiting only works with some plants, and Ludwigia isn’t one of them according to Dennis Wong. Nitrogen limiting approach is like walking on thin line, and need experience to detect over killing intolerant plants before it’s too late.

You can use T5 lighting for this tank height - though consider the running costs vs LED - and dimmable T5 lighting tends to be very expensive
I think narrow beam led is the way to go with tall tanks to provide more uniform vertical distribution of light. T5 and any broad beam light follow the inverse square distance law in that if the substrate get enough light to grow carpet plants , there will be too intense light near the top causing uneven growth and algae.
 
There are a few large tank journals on ukaps, worth reading and most dealt with various issues (especially good flow throughout the tank, CO2 etc)
 
I think nitrogen limiting only works with some plants, and Ludwigia isn’t one of them according to Dennis Wong. Nitrogen limiting approach is like walking on thin line, and need experience to detect over killing intolerant plants before it’s too late.
I’m guessing this is just one of those YMMV situations
My tanks definitely run N limited and I don’t find it complicated but I try to set tank to run fairly low energy (FOA style) so I don’t need to trim too often etc ... plant growth is definitely more dynamic when I fertilize regularly but plants also manage when I don’t fertilize at all (I’m curious how growth will develop/maintain given just the Tropica Powder substrate)

If you’re going with high intensity, high energy, rapid growth system, then, yes, suitable fertilization becomes much more vital to maintain that system you’ve created
 
I think narrow beam led is the way to go with tall tanks to provide more uniform vertical distribution of light. T5 and any broad beam light follow the inverse square distance law in that if the substrate get enough light to grow carpet plants , there will be too intense light near the top causing uneven growth and algae.
What do you consider narrow beam?

I’ve looked at the PAR graphs from Sanjay Joshi for various lighting and 60* - 150* lens LED systems - all have much higher intensity nearer the source

120* LED lens became somewhat standard for freshwater planted systems out of trials, rather than just some arbitrary decision
 
ADA approach uses rich soil to supplement low N and P in the water column. It won’t work with hungry plants and need experience to manage aging soil to replenish lost nutrients, so it is not as easy as rich dosing.

Stage LEDs focus light with minimal reduction of intensity with distance. I’m sure you can adapt them for aquascaping use or find some already made for aquarium. A perfect form would be laser lights that generate parallel beams with conservation of intensity with distance but I doubt if it has ever been tried for aquascaping.
 
I was reading about those 60* leds, lot off people are telling that they are good for deep aquariums. They have more focused beam and penetrate more trough water column. Before I run into some diy light made from these ones and guy had success but I cannot find it again anywhere to read more about it.
I have found some leds 60* in shops...u can buy red, blue, white and green leds 1W each for like 20 cents(think 200lumen per diode but need to check again),and power supply around 100W is something like 50$. Or even to buy 60* RGB leds and than u can set spectrum like u want, they are around 60 cents. Maybe I will try making the light for something smaller and test it. I just need to find somewhere which relations between colors are this big companies using, ADA for example.

I think with such a fast progress with leds soon we will have much more affordable lights for deep aquariums. As soon as these companies sees a good market for it. Look couple off years back...if u would mention 1m height for planted aquarium everyone would say that u are crazy. Today already we have something, little expensive but it’s there.


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60 degree lenses on 3W LED diodes would get to 80cm I reckon. 45 if you want to hang them high.
 
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