# Arcadia ArcPod 9w /11w any good?



## Lindy (11 Jul 2012)

Hi, rescaped my 60x30x30 tank today and thought how good it looked without its crappy dark hood(and equaly crappy 15w t8) Have been looking at other lighting options but I'm really restricted by the height space above the tank, as there is a shelf my husband refuses to get rid of, and also by cost. 
The GreenMachine has Arcadia ArdPods which are designed to sit really close to the water so would fit well. I'd thought I'd need two as the 9w is recommended for a 30cm tank and the 11w(£26) for 40cm. Would these pods provide more lighting than my t8? Apparently the watts aren't and indicator of light intensity so I don't know how to figure it out! Has anyone here used them?
Enquiring minds want to know.......

Cheers, Lindy


----------



## HarryRobinson (11 Jul 2012)

There are many bad reviews of arcardia arc pods due to the horrible pinkish hue they have  I would suggest getting a t5 HO luminaire possibly a 2x24w if you are going for carpeting plants  Don't worry about the cost or height as they are pretty slim, here's a link to a cheap one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/T5-Aquarium-F ... 210wt_1396 

Yes you are correct, the arcpod would provide more power than the t8 however they wouldnt provide enough power for a planted tank setup


----------



## Lindy (11 Jul 2012)

Thanks for the reply, however I have noticed on several postings that one of the experts(Clive) has said this light(15w) on a tank this size is sufficient for growth.( Someone posted that had the same set up) I've had plants growing in the tank for 2 yrs now but just limit my choice to the less demanding of light. I had looked at Allpondsolutions but I only have 13cm above the tank and their unit is 6cm without the legs soooo.


----------



## Morgan Freeman (11 Jul 2012)

Overpriced and horrible pink colour.


----------



## Nutbeam (11 Jul 2012)

got 2 of them and changed the lamps to daylight, works well for me


----------



## HarryRobinson (11 Jul 2012)

If your trying to just grow low light demanding plants then i would suggest like a led tile, such as this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Aquarium- ... 067wt_1163 OR http://www.warehouse-aquatics.co.uk/gro ... ampaign=wa and mount it to the underside of the bookshelf


----------



## Iain Sutherland (12 Jul 2012)

2 x 24w T5 will be far too much unless your suplimenting co2 and probably injected to have few problems.  There are plenty of arcpod style lights available, if its low tech 2 x 11w would be good.  My nano is 30x30x30 if you look in my sig which is 11w from MA.


----------



## ceg4048 (12 Jul 2012)

ldcgroomer said:
			
		

> Hi, rescaped my 60x30x30 tank today and thought how good it looked without its crappy dark hood(and equaly crappy 15w t8) Have been looking at other lighting options but I'm really restricted by the height space above the tank, as there is a shelf my husband refuses to get rid of, and also by cost.
> The GreenMachine has Arcadia ArdPods which are designed to sit really close to the water so would fit well. I'd thought I'd need two as the 9w is recommended for a 30cm tank and the 11w(£26) for 40cm. Would these pods provide more lighting than my t8? Apparently the watts aren't and indicator of light intensity so I don't know how to figure it out! Has anyone here used them?
> Enquiring minds want to know.......
> 
> Cheers, Lindy


Hello,
    You have not specified whether the tank is CO2 enriched or not. Light intensity and CO2 enrichment are inticately linked in that the more light you have the more CO2 is required. The opposite is not true however.

The Arcpod is nothing more than a T5 Compact Flourescent (CF) bulb encased in a plastic shell. The shell acts as a waterproof barrier as well as a reflector. I've not heard of any problems with the hardware breaking or with the units getting too hot. It is assumed therefore that the long term durability of the unit is not an issue.

In general, T5 units will output somewhere between 30%-50% more light than a T8 of similar wattage, depending on reflectors and so forth. The CFs will output less than the straight tubes generally, and their shorter length will mean that their light spread may not be as wide. If you are limited in terms of space, and if you are sure that these units will fit under the shelf then I see no reason not to get them assuming that they fit, that they do not interfere with space for tank maintenance and that their ballast plugs also fit in the alloted space and can be protected agains water spills. I agree that two 9W units can be used on a 15gallon tank, but you should do the calculation and realize that you will be changing the lght to the equivalent of between 23W and 27W of T8. This will have an impact on growth rates on both plants as well as algae.

I agree with other posters that you might want to look into LED solutions but I don't see this as being imperative. If you know that the Ar Pods will fit and if you are not averse to the pricing then get them and carry on. I don't think you're in this hobby in order to get a Masters Degree in lighting, so just get what works and what you're happy with visually.



			
				HarryRobinson said:
			
		

> ...There are many bad reviews of arcardia arc pods due to the horrible pinkish hue they have


Denigrating a lighting unit just because someone doesn't like the color of the lightbulb is illogical. Change the light bulb or ask the vendor to supply the unit with a different color bulb. Far more important is whether the unit accomplishes the goals of the hobbyist in terms of form, fit and function.

Cheers,


----------



## Lindy (12 Jul 2012)

Thankyou all for your replies. Put the hood with a new sera bulb this morn and looks good. I think alot of the darkness came from the dark bogwood, dark substrate and bulb needing changed. I have changed hardscape/added some new plants and will post some pics. Decided to keep the hood as the puffers need to be kept at 80F and water evaporates quickly. Anyway thanks to the folks on this site for the inspiration to rescape and lots of pics showing lots of different hardscape materials at work...
@ceg4048 I want to keep it low tech, I just wanted something that looked a little better! Was just relying on my ecocomplete substrate to feed the plants but think I have to add something for the java moss and ferns as not much livestock in the tank and moss ain't doing much. Have bought some Profito fert and some easycarbo too.
Anyway thanks for imput, it gets a bit dull with folk telling you you don't have enough lighting...
Cheers, Lindy


----------



## ceg4048 (12 Jul 2012)

OK, well glad you found an easy and cheap solution. Those are always the best.   

FYI EcoComplete is basically inert. It has a wee bit of Iron in it and small amounts of other trace elements but it's nothing at all to write home about. This is just another hard baked clay whose only advantage is that it's heavier than kitty litter. Unfortunately it doesn't come at a kitty litter price, which is a bit of a disgrace, to be honest.

You can add a tiny bit of nutrients once a week or once every two weeks and you will find that the plants will generally perk up.

Cheers,


----------



## Lindy (13 Jul 2012)

Wow, I got the eco as it was marketed as a growing substrate for plants! Alot of the  substrates I see say they lower the ph and hardness of the water and on the south west coast of scotland we have very soft acidic water. I also have fish and shrimp that have to go back into the water 48hrs after rescape so can't afford the ammonia spike produced by other substrates but i guess the reason Eco doesn't alter any of these things is because it's inert. Bugger...
I had thought of putting something under the eco when doing the rescape but what could i put in that wouldn't change water parameters?


----------



## ceg4048 (13 Jul 2012)

Hi,
   Well, there are several issues involved and I think you hit the nail on the head with the term "marketing". This is a problem because vendors want to separate us from our money, so all kinds of claims are made and the truth of an issue always seems to get trampled and buried beneath their feet. Subsequently, a false house of cards gets built right on top of the debris by convincing you that there is some property of material that is crucial and that their products have that property you need. So we really have to excavate in order to unravel the pieces of information that are actually useful.

In the first place, EcoComplete is not a terrible sediment. It's made out of clay. Clay sediments are the choice of aquatic gardeners for a very good reason, and that is because clay has a property called Cation Exchange Capacity, or CEC. Without getting too bogged down in theory, it's sufficient to know that the reason that a sediment has an effect on the water parameters has to do with this CEC property. CEC allows the soil to pull nutrients from the water and to pass them on to the plant roots. So even though the clay itself is inert it can sequester nutrients from the water to the plant. It's therefore no big deal that EcoComplete is basically inert.

Compost and other types of organic sediments also have very high CEC as well as being naturally loaded in organic forms of nutrients. However, they can become messy if the hobbyist engages in a lot of replanting and of course there is the issue of color, texture and aesthetics, which is more than just a trivial concern.

I actually have used EcoComplete many times, not only because of the CEC but for other properties of the sediment that I value. For example it is a heavy clay so that it does not float around the tank. It sinks and stays at the bottom. It does not cloud the water, making it easy and carefree to vacuum and clean in situ. What I am strongly opposed to about EcoComplete is that it is marketed as something that it is not. It is NOT a rich sediment and it is NOT fortified with high levels of nutrients but it is marketed that way and it is priced as if it were an enriched sediment. Have a look at the thread
Flora max V Eco complete

The other issue that I find disturbing is the propaganda that somehow, it is really necessary for substrates to either buffer the water against pH variations or that the quality of a substrate is determined by it's ability to affecet the water's pH. So, like you, many are disappointed for one reason or another. The truth of the matter is twofold:
1. Even if a substrate does have an effect on the tanks water parameters, the effect is only temporary. After a few months the effect is negated by other chemical forces occuring  in the tank.
2. Generally, plants and fish really don't care too much at all about pH. What they care about, more than anything else is the ability to breathe. Oxygen does not dissolve very well in water so fish have a very difficult time actually breathing. One of the main issues that negatively impact the ability of Oxygen to stay at acceptable levels in a tank is dirt. People don't change the water in their tanks often enough because they become slaves to the idea that they must keep their parameters as stable as possible, and in so doing allow organic waste to accrue in the tank which robs the tank of Oxygen. In a planted tank the plants exhale Oxygen during the day but again, this amazing fact is often ignored and it goes unrealized that the more you do things to help the plants grow, the more things the plants do to help the fish stay healthy. Whaterver negative impact there is from not maintaining a certain pH is overwhelmingly compensated for by having an increased Oxygen availability. In my tanks, Oxygen availability is given top priority. Whatever procedures or actions directly or indirectly yield a net increase in Oxygen are followed and everything else plays second fiddle.

Therefore, in my honest opinion, the issues that you seem to be disappointed with are not that important in the greater scheme. So what if EcoComplete is not enriched with nutrients? Just add nutrients which are cheap and easy. These nutrients will not only feed directly into the leaves, but they will find their way down into the substrate and will be passed on to the roots via the CEC properties of the EcoComplete. Keep you tank clean by removing fallen/floating leaves and other organic debris immediately and do not allow them to rot in the tank. Vacuum the substrate occasionally to prevent overloading of the substrate with rotting waste. These simple actions, if performed relentlessly will improve the Oxygen availability of youre water and will improve the health of your tank far more than worrying about pH this or pH that.

If you suffer from insomnia have a look at these threads discussing CEC:
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=21585
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=21198
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=21739&p=222426

Cheers,


----------



## Lindy (14 Jul 2012)

Thanks for the information, it's facinating. When we move house I'm going to get another tank going. I'll read all of the substrate info again and do things a bit differently. Not going to monkey with this tank though as fish and shrimp seem happy and healthy and the plants not doing too badly. I got some of the 1-2grow plants and they gave you a watts per gallon guide to required light intensity so will see how helpful this is re how my new plants do. I do weekly water changes with subtrate hoovering. It's amazing how much poo shrimp produce and puffers get frozen blood worm daily so messy....
Again, thanks for taking the time to answer more questions.

Cheers, Lindy


----------



## TallDragon (4 Apr 2013)

Nutbeam said:


> got 2 of them and changed the lamps to daylight, works well for me


 
Which daylight lamps are you using with the ArcPods?
I am thinking of getting one for my tank (35cmWx35cmLx40cmH).
What kind of lighting would you recommend for a low-tech setup. (No CO2)


----------

