# light for 648l? ?



## Voytek (22 Feb 2015)

Hi UKAPS

In far far future I have ambitious plan to set a 64L  tank.Size 180x60x70. It will happen maybe in next 5 years but right now I am doing some kind of research. I am very confused about light to such a big tank. HQI 3x 150W or maybe some LED? What do you think? 

Best regards

Voytek


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## EnderUK (23 Feb 2015)

That's a big tank for a high tech tank. I'd probably go 2 or 4 T5 HO with good reflectors depending if you're going low or high tech. I don't think current LEDs quite have the punch to go 700mm and still have good light. IT's a bit theory any ways as the technology in 5 years time will have vastly improved or moved on.


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## ceg4048 (23 Feb 2015)

EnderUK said:


> I don't think current LEDs quite have the punch to go 700mm and still have good light.


This is not really true. People worry about punching large tanks with lights all the time, when they should be worried about CO2/flow distribution. You can use a 1/2 dozen T8 and have a brilliant tank. 

Look at what Oliver Knott is able to do with nothing more than 8 30 watt T8s over a 720L tank:



 

Cheers,


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## TYB (23 Feb 2015)

Starting a new tank...I would not look at anything but LED's...70cm Deep tank is no problem, you can even go deeper.


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## Voytek (23 Feb 2015)

Sorry guys.  Is a mistake in my post. Size is 180x60x60. I didn't see this 70.
About Led I heard about radion Xr15 
http://ecotechmarine.com/products/radion/radion-xr15-freshwater

But I am not 100% sure is it good enough.


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## OllieNZ (23 Feb 2015)

I've no doubt it would be good enough but you'd need 3 to give you the coverage and I bet they cost a bomb.


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## EnderUK (23 Feb 2015)

ceg4048 said:


> This is not really true. People worry about punching large tanks with lights all the time, when they should be worried about CO2/flow distribution. You can use a 1/2 dozen T8 and have a brilliant tank.
> 
> Look at what Oliver Knott is able to do with nothing more than 8 30 watt T8s over a 720L tank:
> 
> ...


 
I'm not saying it can't be done with LEDs just saying that if you're looking par vs distance cruves then as Ollie says you'll probably need a coiple of units or at least a very expensive LED unit. As you pointed out you can have the same response using older technology I even said 2-4 T5 which are more efficient and won't use the same energy as 6-8 T8, Most new units are now T5 which is why I recommend them over T8. In five years time when this tank is made then LEDs will have advanced greatly and probably cost the same as current T5 units.


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## OllieNZ (23 Feb 2015)

EnderUK said:


> I'm not saying it can't be done with LEDs just saying that if you're looking par vs distance cruves then as Ollie says you'll probably need a coiple of units or at least a very expensive LED unit. As you pointed out you can have the same response using older technology I even said 2-4 T5 which are more efficient and won't use the same energy as 6-8 T8, Most new units are now T5 which is why I recommend them over T8. In five years time when this tank is made then LEDs will have advanced greatly and probably cost the same as current T5 units.


Hit the proverbial nail so to speak, the problem with led units is not getting the par but spreading it over the tank often requiring multiple units running at a lower output to give you the desired coverage. Not really so different from using halides. Unfortunately for us no one has sat down and made decent led fixture for fresh water at a reasonable price. The evergrow led fixtures are a good example of this for marines but I'm not sure if they do a freshwater one.


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## webworm (23 Feb 2015)

OllieNZ said:


> Unfortunately for us no one has sat down and made decent led fixture for fresh water at a reasonable price. The evergrow led fixtures are a good example of this for marines but I'm not sure if they do a freshwater one.



I'm always interested by comments like the one above, how are you defining decent, and what's reasonable from a price perspective ?


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## OllieNZ (24 Feb 2015)

webworm said:


> I'm always interested by comments like the one above, how are you defining decent, and what's reasonable from a price perspective ?




http://www.ukmarinelighting.co.uk/evergrow-d2120-timer-marine-aquarium-dimmable-led-unit-208-p.asp This is an evergrow unit, it's deemed suitable for up to a 36x18inch marine tank. I'm not sure how up you are with the expectations of reef keepers regarding par but most seem to shoot for 200um+ at the substrate and 1000um+ at the surface. Leds like these have been proven suitable for sps corals. For fresh water we know providing light levels like that will nuke our plants even reef keepers seem to be using units like these on 50-75% power..... So the definition of decent? 3W leds, dimmer, built in timers and the leds spread out over a larger area than the marine fixtures to give you a more even spread of par over the area. Price? under £250 to light a 48x24x24in tank


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## webworm (24 Feb 2015)

Thanks for the detail. Taking the 48x24x24 tank and 3w LED's how many LED's would you be thinking about ?


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## Voytek (24 Feb 2015)

My inspiration is this tank:
http://peha68.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/20140612-IMG_1176a.jpg

They always use 3 x 150w but I was curious is any other-cheaper potion


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## ceg4048 (24 Feb 2015)

Voytek said:


> Sorry guys.  Is a mistake in my post. Size is 180x60x60. I didn't see this 70.
> About Led I heard about radion Xr15
> http://ecotechmarine.com/products/radion/radion-xr15-freshwater
> 
> But I am not 100% sure is it good enough.


Yes of course it's good enough, but as mentioned above you will need at least three of the to cover the distance across from the tank in exactly the same way as you would need multiple T8, T5 or HQI to cover the total area. 

Cheers,


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## Colinlp (24 Feb 2015)

The Radions will punch very deep, I've seen the marine ones grow corals at a depth of 1000mm. I had 3 XR30 Pros over my 68" tank which did the job but it looked a bit like a zebra crossing with spotlight effect, it would have been better with the TIR lenses but I needed the punch to get to 30". I would imagine you would need 5 Xr 15s to get a good light spread over 6', no problem at the bottom, you'll get the spread there but higher up there will be shadowy areas caused by the local nature of the Radions LED clusters


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## OllieNZ (26 Feb 2015)

webworm said:


> Thanks for the detail. Taking the 48x24x24 tank and 3w LED's how many LED's would you be thinking about ?


Honestly no idea. It's something I'd like to be able to sit down with a par meter and play till I was happy with the what I was seeing but as I have neither a par meter nor the time it's not something I'm going to nut out any time soon.


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## kirk (26 Feb 2015)

How about doing a spot light gu style home made unit, you only need to be able to do basic wiring. Build a floating box from mdf you can use led bulbs then a mix of cool and warm.?


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## kirk (26 Feb 2015)

I made this tempory light earlier in the week for my sons tank, waiting for a new unit as his fluval clip on packed up. All the bits came out of a skip so it cost me electric and a few hrs. It's ok light wise.  Just trying to say there are cheap options.


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## kirk (26 Feb 2015)




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