# Help with lighting (and everything else!)



## agol77 (8 Jul 2014)

Hi All

Having been inspired by several of the low tech tanks on here, I decided to take the plunge and set up my own just over a year ago.  It hasn't gone well. For some reason that I can't remember, I decided to opt for a Giessemann mercury vapour pendant  over half of the tank, and four TMC grobeam 500 strips over the other half (as I had these already). After initial planting, the plants really took off, and started looking good, but there was always a lot more growth under the MV lamp than the LEDs.  Over the past few months, this wonkyness has continued to get worse, and after having next to no algae, the half of the tank under the LEDs has become plagued with masses of green fuzzy evil. The substrate (gravel and sand over John Innes and aquatic compost) which was nicely banked up the rear and sides has now flattened, the water which has always had a slight yellowing to it (which I put down to the tannins in the compost) has gotten worse and the yellow colour of the MV lamp has finally gotten to me.  Overall, I now have a set up, which took me a lot of time and money to get going, that fills me with a combination of disappointment, embarrassment, dejection and anger at the refusal of my thumbs to turn even the slightest bit green.  Therefore, I have decided to strip the tank down in a couple of weeks time, redo the substrate, hardscape and plants, and fit a new light, as after a year or more of the yellow MV (It's been great for the plants though, and next to no algae under it at all) I long for the soft pinkish hues of good old Arcadia original tropical. 

My questions to you then, ladies and gents, is what light should I go for?  My tank is a decent size, 72" (L) x 30" (W) x 24" (D), with a 50" x 24" x 18" sump. I think total water volume is around the 1200 litre mark. Because of the width and depth of the tank, I'm really not sure what light unit to go for.  The MV has given a really nice spread, suspended about 12" above the surface, so I have been thinking about possibly replacing it with a couple of MH pendants.  My preferred choice though, would be to go for either T5s or LEDs (not TMC though, as I need a change from them). I have been looking at the Giesseman Matrixx 2, with four or six T5s, or the new Arcadia Classica OTL, but don't know if these will be overkill for a low energy, soil based, non CO2 set up. The tricky bit is getting the right spread of light over the 30" width and through the 24" depth, and without the tank turning in to an algae paradise.  My budget is pretty tight on this, having about £500 - £600 to spend, so although I would love to go for an all singing, all dancing Giessemann LED rig, I just can't afford it.  I have also thought about just using good old fashioned Arcadia T5s with reflectors, and maybe put three over the tank, but ideally I wanted something that looks nice suspended over the tank (the Matrixx is very pretty). 

I appreciate that lighting choice can be very subjective, but if anyone has experience of lighting a tank of these dimensions for a low tech set up, then I would really appreciate your help.  I have been reading through lots of posts on here over the past few days and my head feels like it may explode. 

Thanks for reading, and when I can work out how to do it, I will attach a couple of photos of my tank, so that I can share the disappointment.


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## Andy Thurston (8 Jul 2014)

I'd be tempted just to use the aqua bars to light the tank, 2 at each end and see if your algae grows or goes before spending anymore on plants.
I'm with you on the lighting colour
Arcadia original tropical and cheapy 6500k tubes are what i light one of my high techs with.
Are you adding ferts to the tank?
As for uploading photos you will need to use a image hosting site like photobucket etc. then just copy/paste the links to the forum


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## Jamie McGrath (8 Jul 2014)

ill take TMC  the lights off your hands if your not going to use them


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## agol77 (8 Jul 2014)

Thanks for your reply Big Clown. I've decided to definitely remove the grobeams, as I'm not liking the look of them anymore, and will likely stick the MV pendent of eBay at some point. I can use the grobeams for another project (sorry Jamie) as they're a good two years old now, so not worth much. 

I've not been dosing any ferts, but have been wondering if that could be a cause for the algae growth. I'll order some salts and start regular dosing when I've done the rescape. 

I'm starting to think that maybe I'll go good and cheap on the lights and just put three T5s over it. Will keep you posted.


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