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juwel 240

MR DUDE

Seedling
Joined
27 Jul 2009
Messages
5
Ok first of all hello everybody im new to this forum / planted aquariums so please forgive if i sound thick.

I have been reading alot online over this past week on the lighting side of things and seem to be getting myself more and more confused the more i read, So i thought i would just ask you guys as to what you think/ you would do.

the tank is a juwel 240 and has a t5 light unit and 2 high light juwel nature tubes with reflectors @ 54 watts each tube.
these tubes are over a year old and would need to be replaced right?
On the juwel website they recommend that you combine the nature tube with the day tube, is this a better option then 2 nature tubes?
Is just having 2 54 watt tubes [108 watts in total] ok for a tank this size?


The tank itself is not up and running yet because i what to get the lighting right first then i can look at possiably setting up a co2 kit.



Thank for your time mr dude :D
 
Hello and welcome to the forum :)

I'll beak your post down.

the tank is a juwel 240 and has a t5 light unit and 2 high light juwel nature tubes with reflectors @ 54 watts each tube.these tubes are over a year old and would need to be replaced right?

Probably best to replace them now before you start running the tank so the plants adapt to the new tubes. Have you read the pinned lighting thread, very useful :)

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=555

On the juwel website they recommend that you combine the nature tube with the day tube, is this a better option then 2 nature tubes?

As you will see from James' thread there are many combinations of lighting, it really just boils down to personal taste. The plants wont really mind what you give them. I do find the mixing tubes tends to give better colours though.

Is just having 2 54 watt tubes [108 watts in total] OK for a tank this size?

That should be enough, you can always add more later :) It sounds like you've got your head around high light tanks, but make sure when you do start the tank you get the CO2 and fert dosing right :)

Sam
 
thanks for the quick reply :thumbup:

Just been looking at www.lampspecs.co.uk and the price of them bulbs is hard to ignore, however my light unit requires
1047mm bulbs. Is there a light unit somewhere that would fit a juwel tank so i can save a bit of money in the long run?
 
Hi MR DUDE
MR DUDE said:
Is there a light unit somewhere that would fit a juwel tank so i can save a bit of money in the long run?
I think you'll find there isn't :( it's a Juwel marketing strategy, using crazy dimensions, to get us to part with our hard earned.
I run a Rio 180 which has the 892mm 45W tubes which are not standard tube lengths.
I've even had reps from lighting companies trying to source these for me, and no joy.
My plan is to rip out the Juwel Ballast when it finally gives up the ghost or the tubes go, whichever comes first, and replace ballast and lamps from http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/. Instead of paying the rip off prices of £25-£30 per tube I can replace the ballast for around £18 and then my tubes will only be £3-£4 each forever. :D
I will have to take a hit on the wattage (39W as opposed to Juwels 45W) and the tube length is about 50mm shorter. I'm afraid I'll have to live with it being slightly dimmer at each end.
Here's my previous thread discussing this subject, just needs a bit of DIY that's all. viewtopic.php?f=50&t=6750
Hope this helps.

Chris.
 
i have been thinking about DIY myself but i might just wait intill everything is up and running first and then i can upgrade if need be. thanks for the link very interesting.

i have been looking at the arcadia i bar twin light unit found here http://www.swelluk.com/aquarium/aquariu ... 5-137.html
and was wondering if that would work do these units have standerd tube sizes?
 
Hi MR DUDE
I'm only going to change mine if it breaks. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it :D
In the meantime, I can't help you about the Arcadia I Bar lighting as I have no experience of it.
Maybe others will pitch in if they have any experience of it.

Chris
 
I'm pretty sure arcadia do light tubes that fit the Juwel units?

I have a rio 400 and I find the standard T5s provided, very yellow. I have added two more tubes running off a different ballast, and I'm using arcadia tubes which are more purple and balance out the yellow.

My Juwel tubes are due to be replaced any time now though... so I think I need to answer my own question and find out if the arcadia tubes fit Juwel tanks...
 
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