# Grobeam-any good



## rudirudi (19 Feb 2012)

Hi
I have been looking at the Grobeam range of lighting,does anyone use them and what are they like,it seems you can get the strip and tile,I am planning a 6ftx2ftx2ft,what units would be best for a tank of this size,they do look a little pricey,if they prove to be too expensive will return to the T5 option.

Cheers

rudi


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## danmullan (19 Feb 2012)

Hi Rudi,

I've been looking into whether these are any good as well, stuff that you read on the box and on various websites that sell the range of Gro-Beams sounds really good. But I did think it sounded too good to be true so have been searching around and it wasn't long before I stumbled across this article on TGM's website:

http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/ar ... d-lighting

I thought that these would be perfect for my upcoming set-up (apart from the initial cost) but it seems that LED's are just not good enough yet. Even though the TMC light units are described as being the perfect spectrum for plants (6,500k) from what I have read the light intensity is pretty bad near the bottom of the tank. So I would imagine this would make it pretty difficult to grow certain foreground plants that have high light requierments like HC?

I have also noticed that in the tank gallery section of the forum, most if not all lighting seems to be flourescant.

I'm still quite tempted to try the Gro-Beams, which seems a bit daft really, any comments from hobbyists who have had success with LED's would be good.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers
Dan


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## Iain Sutherland (19 Feb 2012)

aquajardin seem to have had good success with the TMC tile.  Fairly shallow tank though.

http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=19994


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## rudirudi (19 Feb 2012)

Hey Dan
I read the same article.it would seem most of the positve stuff comes from the manufacturers and not from tank keepers I think I might stick to what we know,at least until we get more feedback from folk who have used them, .Whilst looking at t5's i came across a ballast for 2 x 80w t5's,you can get them for a tenner,dimmable ones are about £60,could these ballasts be used for aquarium lighting,and if they could how easy would it be to wire them up,my electrical knowledge is less than zero.

Cheers

Rudi


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## Dan Crawford (19 Feb 2012)

I can testify that the aquaray series is perfect for what we are trying to achieve. Anyone who claims that you can't grow particular species' with LED is simply kidding themselves and are not embracing change, for whatever reason. 

I've grown almost all the usual aquatic species with TMC LEDs and so have many other aquarists. To name just a few off the top of my head, George Farmer, Tony Swinney, Graeme Edwards, Aquajardin and Jeremy Gay. 

The closest tank to your size and depth would be Tony's tank which can be seen here. 
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11596&start=160#p203162

They are pricey but they certainly do work!


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## rudirudi (19 Feb 2012)

Hi Dan,
Now that is interesting,I was really hoping these lights would get some positive reviews,I really like the idea of these lights,the rippling effect sounds like a good selling point.These units are.I think are 490mm long,so in a 6ft tank I could fit 3 units,would I need 3 units?Then there are the control units,there are different types,does anyone know which one you would need for 2/3 units.

Cheers

rudi


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## Iain Sutherland (19 Feb 2012)

if you do go down this route and want to save some cash then there are endless amounts of them always up for sale on a well know reef forum.  Hard times mean lots of marine tanks being broken down sadely.


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## Dan Crawford (19 Feb 2012)

It depends what type of tank you're planning. If you're looking for a high tech tank then you may need as many as 3 ND1000s and 2-3 500s over a 6 x 2 x 2, maybe even more! You don't "need" the controllers, they are an expensive luxury, super cool though 

As for used reef ones, I'd suspect that they are the blue and white ones which aren't really suitable. There are a few second hand NDs kicking about on eBay etc.


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## George Farmer (19 Feb 2012)

Top advice from Mr Crawford there! 

You may also want to consider the 1500XG Ocean White 9000K tiles, as used by Aquajardin in their stunning display recently.  Fantastic for greens and better penetration than the 1000ND.

viewtopic.php?f=62&t=19994


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## danmullan (19 Feb 2012)

I'm really pleased to hear good feedback about these, I just hope that for my next project I have enough money to consider using these.

The control units do look like a really good addition, you can get controllers that manage up to 8 units I think???


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## rudirudi (19 Feb 2012)

That certainly is food for thought,still undecided,me thinks I have a lot more reading to do,will be doing some on halides,did'nt really fancy suspended lights and had kinda decided on a closed hood,but thats the great thing about the planning process and forums like this,you think you have it straight then someone comes up with a better/cheaper option.


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## malawistu (20 Feb 2012)

I got a 1000 tile for my 70l tank and I've had to turn it down to 50% and all my plants are doing really well as my tank matures I mite bring it up a bit 


Sent from my miPhone using  my fingers


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## pepedopolous (20 Feb 2012)

While I don't claim that my tank is anywhere near a masterpiece, I have a MiniLED 400 over my 60l cube and I much prefer it to fluorescents. Everything is growing the same if not better than before and I have the power at only 40%! Plus the tank is 43cm deep.

The only caveats I have are the cost (though the longer lifespan should make up for this) and the shimmer. I really had to reduce the surface disturbance otherwise the shimmer was too bad. In all seriousness, these lights should come with a warning in case the customer has epilepsy.


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## gex23 (21 Feb 2012)

I use the GroBeam 1000ND tiles over my dart frog vivariums, with fantastic results. I use T5HO lights on the same vivariums purely for heat.

Anthony.


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## pembulls (23 Feb 2012)

I have just bought 5 x 500 growbeams to go on a 84 x30 x27in tank I would like to go with Co2 in a Discus planted tank , do you think this is enough light.


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