# LED Lighting solution for 90x45x45?



## Robbie X (1 Apr 2017)

Hi all, need some suggestions for lights and fittings. 
I have been looking at Wavepoint LED strip light 6500k 36"
https://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/wa...12_327&zenid=95c536175ffdfd0c2b694f8bca2bdef3
Or the TMC Grobeam 600 Ultima Twin.
https://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tm...12_327&zenid=95c536175ffdfd0c2b694f8bca2bdef3
What mounting options are available for the TMC GroBeam?
Are both options ok running over a 90x45x45 planted tank?
Any other systems I should consider?
Cheers


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## Daveslaney (2 Apr 2017)

Look at the Chihiros A901 on hinterfield website in the sponsers list.
No personal experience with these but others seem to have good results with them, the price is good and they come with a inline dimmer.


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## Robbie X (2 Apr 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Look at the Chihiros A901 on hinterfield website in the sponsers list.
> No personal experience with these but others seem to have good results with them, the price is good and they come with a inline dimmer.


Looks good, plus a dimmer at that price! I am trying to find out when the RGB version is due as well.


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## micheljq (4 Apr 2017)

Grobeams : Aquaray does have a rail system, which can be suspended or on the tank, check their website :

http://aquaraylighting.co.uk/

However, it is not a must, my Grobeams 600 are just over my tank which have a central frame.  You would probably need 4 Grobeams 600 for 90 X 45 X 45 tank, 2 would give low light.

Michel.


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## Robbie X (4 Apr 2017)

micheljq said:


> Grobeams : Aquaray does have a rail system, which can be suspended or on the tank, check their website :
> 
> http://aquaraylighting.co.uk/
> 
> ...


Cheers Michel. So the Chihiros won't be up to the job then? If I have to go with 4 of the TMC Grobeams, maybe I should look at 2x TMC Ultima 1500 Natural daylight Tile?
I think 2 of these on a hanging bracket would look quite nice.
https://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tm...12_327&zenid=95c536175ffdfd0c2b694f8bca2bdef3


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## imak (5 Apr 2017)

Two chihiros will be enough for almost anything. I'll put an excellent example in a bit. 

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## rebel (5 Apr 2017)

The problem with the chihiros A series is that they are too powerful and I can't stop increasing brightness using the dimmer.


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## Ryan Young (5 Apr 2017)

You could try out the Fluval Aqualife and Plant 2.0? If the chihiros A series is too powerful, the Fluval LED can also be bought with a full hang on kit which attaches to the back of the tank. I have one over a 90cm tank also and it is perfect.


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## imak (5 Apr 2017)

Robbie X said:


> Cheers Michel. So the Chihiros won't be up to the job then? If I have to go with 4 of the TMC Grobeams, maybe I should look at 2x TMC Ultima 1500 Natural daylight Tile?
> I think 2 of these on a hanging bracket would look quite nice.
> https://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tm...12_327&zenid=95c536175ffdfd0c2b694f8bca2bdef3


Check this thread https://www.ukaps.org/forum/index.php?threads/42683/

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## micheljq (5 Apr 2017)

Robbie X said:


> Cheers Michel. So the Chihiros won't be up to the job then? If I have to go with 4 of the TMC Grobeams, maybe I should look at 2x TMC Ultima 1500 Natural daylight Tile?
> I think 2 of these on a hanging bracket would look quite nice.
> https://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tm...12_327&zenid=95c536175ffdfd0c2b694f8bca2bdef3



2 TMC Grobeam 1500 or 4 Grobeam 600. 

I do not know the Chihiros, hence no opinion on them.  I like the TMC because of the 5 years warranty, the IP67 standard which gives some water resistance (but they cannot be used underwater).

Michel.


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## Robbie X (5 Apr 2017)

imak said:


> Check this thread https://www.ukaps.org/forum/index.php?threads/42683/
> 
> Enviado do meu HUAWEI GRA-L09 através de Tapatalk


Cheers imak. They certainly do the job.


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## Robbie X (5 Apr 2017)

micheljq said:


> 2 TMC Grobeam 1500 or 4 Grobeam 600.
> 
> I do not know the Chihiros, hence no opinion on them.  I like the TMC because of the 5 years warranty, the IP67 standard which gives some water resistance (but they cannot be used underwater).
> 
> Michel.


I am leaning more and more towards the TMC tiles. Have been reading up on them, color rendition seems to be exactly what I am looking for. Plus as you mention, the 5-year warranty is nothing to be sniffed at. Also, I very much like how they look paired in a hanging bracket. 
Have been looking at the "TMC Aquaray 2 Channel Lighting Controller" (£65 each), I believe I can only control one tile per controller? So it would be either 2 of these or the "TMC AquaRay 8 Channel Controller (£220). 
The 8 channel controller does have a lot more features, but at £220 is too rich for my taste. 
TMC also do an inline dimmer switch "TMC AquaBar Dimmer Switch" at £15 each. Does anyone know if these work with TMC 1500 tiles?
Are there any other controllers I could look at for 2 TMC 1500 tiles from other companies?
Cheers


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## Daveslaney (6 Apr 2017)

Yes you would need a controller for each 1500 tile, It all depends on your buget, How much you want to spend i suppose.
For around the same price range as the TMCs you could get a pair of kessil A160 tuna suns. These would work good and look well cool on goosenecks or Kessil mounting arms.
Not 100% sure but i dont think the aquabar dimmer will work with the tiles.


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## ErikM (6 Apr 2017)

Have you thought of Daytime Matrix? Looks great and is very adaptable.


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## micheljq (6 Apr 2017)

I am using my Grobeams 600 without any controller, but my tank is tall.  It's not the same situation.

One way to control intensity without controller is to suspend them and play with the height to the tank.

Michel.


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## Robbie X (6 Apr 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Yes you would need a controller for each 1500 tile, It all depends on your buget, How much you want to spend i suppose.
> For around the same price range as the TMCs you could get a pair of kessil A160 tuna suns. These would work good and look well cool on goosenecks or Kessil mounting arms.
> Not 100% sure but i dont think the aquabar dimmer will work with the tiles.


Had a look at the Kessil A160WE Tuna Sun lamps. They are gorgeous but at £230 per lamp plus £30 each for the Gooseneck lamp stands I would be looking at £520. Very tempting though lol


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## Robbie X (6 Apr 2017)

ErikM said:


> Have you thought of Daytime Matrix? Looks great and is very adaptable.


Will check them out, cheers Erik


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## Daveslaney (6 Apr 2017)

Robbie X said:


> Had a look at the Kessil A160WE Tuna Sun lamps. They are gorgeous but at £230 per lamp plus £30 each for the Gooseneck lamp stands I would be looking at £520. Very tempting though lol


Give Charterhouse aquatics a ring for a price on a pair with goosenecks,You may be surprised.


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## Robbie X (6 Apr 2017)

micheljq said:


> I am using my Grobeams 600 without any controller, but my tank is tall.  It's not the same situation.
> 
> One way to control intensity without controller is to suspend them and play with the height to the tank.
> 
> Michel.


This is what I am thinking of doing. The tank will be against the wall and won't line up with the ceiling beams either. Will need some sort of hanging bracket. 
Or, I could go with on tank rail solution like the TMC AquaRay Rim Mounting Brackets and some TMC aquaray mms rail https://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tm...12_206&zenid=b6424f753ecc97400edc119d39045cdd
Or, The TMC Mountray tank brackets and some TMC rails. But of course, I will lose the flexibility you gain when using a hanging system.


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## Robbie X (6 Apr 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Give Charterhouse aquatics a ring for a price on a pair with goosenecks,You may be surprised.


On a pair of lamps plus the goosenecks? I'll give it a shot tomorrow


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## Robbie X (11 Apr 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Give Charterhouse aquatics a ring for a price on a pair with goosenecks,You may be surprised.


Gave them a call but still looking at around £480. Can't really justify that amount. Will look again at the TMC 1500 tiles without a controller.


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## Daveslaney (11 Apr 2017)

Thought they may be abit cheaper than that.
The only experiance i have with tmc tiles is i had 2 400 tiles when i had a hood on the tank to light the forground when i was growing pygmy chain swords. I had them both on a controller as they are single channel tiles. Ran them around 80%. They where well bright.
With no controller i think you may find at 100% you will find the 1500 tiles to bright on tank start up and they will give you problems. Unless you can find a way to hang them higher and then lower them as your tank matures.


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## Robbie X (11 Apr 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Thought they may be abit cheaper than that.
> The only experiance i have with tmc tiles is i had 2 400 tiles when i had a hood on the tank to light the forground when i was growing pygmy chain swords. I had them both on a controller as they are single channel tiles. Ran them around 80%. They where well bright.
> With no controller i think you may find at 100% you will find the 1500 tiles to bright on tank start up and they will give you problems. Unless you can find a way to hang them higher and then lower them as your tank matures.


I think hanging them is the way to go, for now anyways. I won't be able to hang them from the ceiling but I can mount some sort of angle brackets from the wall. Just need to find some that will look good and do the job.


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## Iain mlaren (11 Apr 2017)

I used retail shopping rail. There's all kinds of fitting can be used as arms for over the tank. They can be put into different slots to higher lower. I brought ones like a shelf with rubber feet on top so I can rest my glass lid on it while I'm in the tank so it doesn't break. It's a bit diy looking but I didn't want to drill onto the wall/ceiling. I did see someone made a rail out of an Ikea clothes hanging rail. About 10quid I think. Chopped in half and used led panel hanging wires about 4quid instead of tmc made ones that are 30quid

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## Robbie X (12 Apr 2017)

Iain mlaren said:


> I used retail shopping rail. There's all kinds of fitting can be used as arms for over the tank. They can be put into different slots to higher lower. I brought ones like a shelf with rubber feet on top so I can rest my glass lid on it while I'm in the tank so it doesn't break. It's a bit diy looking but I didn't want to drill onto the wall/ceiling. I did see someone made a rail out of an Ikea clothes hanging rail. About 10quid I think. Chopped in half and used led panel hanging wires about 4quid instead of tmc made ones that are 30quid
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


Great idea. Just had a look on the Ikea site. This one could be customized quite easily I think. Plus it has a system for raising and lowering the top bar built in. http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/...stands/rigga-clothes-rack-white-art-50231630/
BTW, what hanging wires where used?


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## Iain mlaren (12 Apr 2017)

Look at this on eBay  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301804139262

I used these. I mounted them to the rail using the tmc mounting screws but this was very tricky and included soldering the screw into the fixing. You can just drill a hole in mounting rail and put a bolt threw. 

The clothes rail the guy used was this one 

://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/small-storage-organisers/racks-stands/mulig-clothes-rack-white-art-60179434/ 

Sure his was chrome thought. The rails are flattened and looked quite good. It all depends on fit skills I suppose 

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## Iain mlaren (12 Apr 2017)

I used these

Look at this on eBay  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391558299708

And 

Look at this on eBay  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391558299708

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## Robbie X (13 Apr 2017)

Iain mlaren said:


> Look at this on eBay  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301804139262
> 
> I used these. I mounted them to the rail using the tmc mounting screws but this was very tricky and included soldering the screw into the fixing. You can just drill a hole in mounting rail and put a bolt threw.
> 
> ...


The reason i was looking at the other rail was that the height can be adjusted using the built-in system.


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## Robbie X (13 Apr 2017)

Iain mlaren said:


> I used these
> 
> Look at this on eBay  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391558299708
> 
> ...


This would also be a system I could consider. BTW both links are the same


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## Iain mlaren (13 Apr 2017)

Oh. Don't no why. Possibly because it's the same supplier. They are quite adaptable in what can be added to them. Easy to screw to cabinet. Also as I said the hanging shelf I got was for a glass shelf so I put glass lid on top while doing maintenance. But it's not as clean as something like the clothes rail. 

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## Iain mlaren (13 Apr 2017)

://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-project-low-cost-ikea-luminaire-for-tmc-led-tiles.33217/

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## Iain mlaren (13 Apr 2017)

That's a similar one. I see a guy that used both half to create I. This guy just uses one go. I'm sure all the rest would be pretty much the same though

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## Robbie X (13 Apr 2017)

Iain mlaren said:


> ://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-project-low-cost-ikea-luminaire-for-tmc-led-tiles.33217/
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


Ah, ok now I see. I like the idea very much but he is using TMC Mini 400 compared to TMC 1500 tiles. I wonder if this system would support the extra weight?


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## Iain mlaren (13 Apr 2017)

Yeah. The one had seen originally had cut the rail in half so had 2 half with a mms rail suspended between them. He had 2 1000 tiles which have got to be the same weight as 1500 if not heavier.

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