Led for Juwel and for multiple aquariums

2455 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Torreador, Apr 5, 2017

Torreador

Discussion Starter · Apr 5, 2017

Ok, I REALLY need some help in the "led-jungle"...

And before you keep reeding - my english is not the best, sorry for that!

I have two things I need lighting advice for:

1. I feel that my plants dont get enough light in my "livingroom-aquarium". It is a Juwel Vision 260 liters. It is 120 cm wide and 60 cm deep. I have juwels standard light, 2x 54W T5 fluorescent lamps. It grows well in the tub but I feel that some of the plants need more light to be its best. I use Co2 and PMDD and bottom nutrients.

I do not want to remove the cap on the tank since it is my "show-tank" ;-) and it looks the best with lids on. Juwel has a ramp called Juwel Helialux but I do not know if it actually provides better light than what I have now? The ramp I have is working fine and I have new lamps in in and more new lamps unused, so it feels like a waste to replace it if not needed.

The alternative is, i guess, to buy any extra ramp or lists/bulbs or other options, and attach it to the back flap (behind the two lamps). Do you have any tips for me?

The ideal would have been to have a light that can also give me a red dusk / morning light. But otherwise I can buy extra small red bulbs / strips for this purpose. It's just for my own sake anyway.

2. I have also (probably) bought an aquarium"shelf" (?) containing:
2 x 220 liters and 4 x 110 liters in one "shelf"
and 3 x 70 liters in one "shelf"

They are complete with heaters, filters, pumps, etc., but there are no lights on them.

The question is how to do best with lighting in these tanks??

These tanks will be in the basement in a room where I will have a rooflamp that has a UVA / UVB with the following spec:
26 watt
Color temperature: about 5500 Kelvin
Lumen: about 1,200
CRI: Approx 93 (Color Rendering Index)
Uvb 5%
Uva: 12%

(The reason for this lamp is that I also keep parrots in this room)

I do not know if this somehow affects the tanks but I thought it might be good for you to know. The room is about 15 m2.

Do you have suggestions for me regarding Juwel-tub or basement-tub? Feel free to link if you think you know something that could work.

AND - I am not a millionaire.... ;-) If I were it would be easy - so help me find a way to light my tanks and still be able to eat dinner tomorrow ;-)

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jeffkrol

· #2 · Apr 5, 2017

Hmm you state 54W t5.. but that would be t5HO. My first thought was to just upgrade your ballasts..
But I assume you have ho ballasts.
What about reflectors? Don't really see any..
There are clip on types that go on the tubes.
Your watt output should be fine..Adding more lights just gets problematic and I assume you are not in the US which will severely limit your choices..

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klibs

· #3 · Apr 5, 2017

i was also going to say that 2x T5HO bulbs with decent reflectors can put out quite a lot of light. why do you think your plants aren't getting enough light? are you sure this is the case?

pictures of your tank would help as well

many people make the mistake of adding too much light and later run into much larger issues.

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Torreador

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 5, 2017

Sorry, i guess the correct name is T5HO. Yes I have reflectors.
And maybee Im wrong - the light may bee enough... I am new to planted tanks (had Malawi for 7years - just bricks and stones...) and I keep reeding that lighting almost always is too poor for the plants.

I scaped and planted this tank 12 days ago and some plants grow as.... But some of them (like the HC) seem to just be there but not growing. The Polysperma has some pink colour but not as pink at I have seen on pictures. Same thing with the Alternanthera Reineckii and the Ludwigia Palustris.

But maybee I should wait and see.

Here is a pic from today.

A youtube clip from 3days ago (ignore the noise.... Its Swedish... haha) https://youtu.be/J487Slk5rJc

The plants are listed in the info in the youtube clip.

The red light I guess I could get from just a red led list. If the lighting I have is enough for the plants I meen.