# Can anyone recommend a light for 120 cm hightech tank



## Ulfsark (17 Feb 2018)

I've encountered a difficulty to find a reasonably priced light for a 120 cm hightech tank. I've tried chihiros A series 1201 plus and was terribly disappointed. Could anyone recommend a light for me? Preferably LED.


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## Zeus. (17 Feb 2018)

Is that the chihiros A series  or the chihiros A series Plus similar named products with different outputs and different tank mounts. A lot of folk go for two of these units on there High Tech tanks


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## Andrew Butler (17 Feb 2018)

Ulfsark said:


> I've encountered a difficulty to find a reasonably priced light for a 120 cm hightech tank. I've tried chihiros A series 1201 plus and was terribly disappointed. Could anyone recommend a light for me? Preferably LED.


I think It depends how much you're willing to spend or class as 'reasonably priced'

I don't think there's too much choice for the kind of money the Chihiros A series 1201 plus is let alone to suit a high tech setup.

Have you considered a T5 unit?


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## alto (17 Feb 2018)

Tank dimensions? 

If you want  "high" light at substrate & tank is over 45cm tall, you're not going to manage this with a budget LED


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## ian_m (17 Feb 2018)

Look at T5 setups from IQuatics ? They are certainly high light, in fact very high light for the 4 tube version.


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## Ulfsark (18 Feb 2018)

alto said:


> Tank dimensions?
> 
> If you want  "high" light at substrate & tank is over 45cm tall, you're not going to manage this with a budget LED



Dimensions are: 120x45x45 cm.


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## Ulfsark (18 Feb 2018)

ian_m said:


> Look at T5 setups from IQuatics ? They are certainly high light, in fact very high light for the 4 tube version.



They are out of stock for 120 cm light fixtures


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## Ulfsark (18 Feb 2018)

Now I'm willing to spend roughly 500 eur on a light. Thinking about  ATI Dimmable Sun Power T5 - 4x54W fixure or 2x Twinstar LIGHT 600SP - 60 cm pendant LED. Which would be better?Are these twinstar lights dimmable?


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## Andrew Butler (18 Feb 2018)

Ulfsark said:


> I'm willing to spend roughly 500 eur


That's a bit different to the cost of the Chihiros! There are options in the LED world for that kind of money like the AI Prime freshwater, Ecotech do a freshwater version of the Radion XR15 but I think that's a bit more and with both of those you get full control. I have no experience with either of these but other people may have so worth a search if you like the look and cost.



Ulfsark said:


> Thinking about ATI Dimmable Sun Power T5 - 4x54W


Have a research on these and you will quickly find many people are dead against dimmable T5 fixtures, probably better looking on a reef forum like ultimatereef.net
The benefits of a T5 fixture is the fitting can be cheaper, you can always get a fitting where you can control channels independently and for example run channels 1+3 for 8 hours a day and just add in 2+4 for 4 hours day - It's kind of like dimming.
On the downside you need to replace those tubes as often as every 6 months to get the full benefit from them so costs soon add up over time.



Ulfsark said:


> 2x Twinstar LIGHT 600SP - 60 cm pendant LED


I had a twinstar pendant and I thought it was rubbish; purely because of the way in which it can only be hung through one hole either end. This means it is very unstable and I found the slightest touch left it not sat level and it relied upon the power cord being wedged into a certain shape to maintain anything like stability which is a real shame. If they were to have put 2 holes at either end I think this would cure the problem or at least go a long way in helping.
On the other hand I have 2 tank mounted Twinstar S lights and I think they are great. You can dim them but only with the addition of an inline dimmer which they sell separately.


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## ian_m (18 Feb 2018)

Andrew Butler said:


> On the downside you need to replace those tubes as often as every 6 months to get the full benefit from them so costs soon add up over time.


As stated by the tube manufacturers... My T5 tubes are over 4 years old and show no sign of reduced light output.

See here for 6month and 30month tube side by side. In fact 2 1/2 years later the one on the right is still going. The left one failed due to "being attacked" by surfacing plants which caused the tube to crack and fail. Something to be careful of I now know.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/how-often-do-you-change-your-lighting-tubes.38094/#post-413372


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## Andrew Butler (18 Feb 2018)

ian_m said:


> As stated by the tube manufacturers... My T5 tubes are over 4 years old and show no sign of reduced light output.


I'm not going to argue; only going by experience with T5s on marines.


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## foxfish (18 Feb 2018)

When T5s were really in vogue & virtually everyone was using them, there was plenty of discussion on this forum about the longevity of the bulbs.
As I recall, based on freshwater use, they would last for many years without significantly loosening light output.
However they do need to be wiped & cleaned every now and again.
I find that the ends tend to deteriorate  before the bulbs expire, I change mine once a year just because I feel the need.


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## Ulfsark (18 Feb 2018)

Andrew Butler said:


> That's a bit different to the cost of the Chihiros! There are options in the LED world for that kind of money like the AI Prime freshwater, Ecotech do a freshwater version of the Radion XR15 but I think that's a bit more and with both of those you get full control. I have no experience with either of these but other people may have so worth a search if you like the look and cost.
> 
> 
> Have a research on these and you will quickly find many people are dead against dimmable T5 fixtures, probably better looking on a reef forum like ultimatereef.net
> ...



I've looked into AI Prime freshwater and am considering buying it. Do you think 2x of those lights would be enough for 120x45x45 tank?


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## Nigel95 (18 Feb 2018)

I would go for 2 x twinstar 600 sp. Great spectrum and they make reds really pop.


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## Andrew Butler (18 Feb 2018)

Ulfsark said:


> Do you think 2x of those lights would be enough for 120x45x45 tank?


According to their info it would easily cope.
I think the freshwater version are HD as standard which just means if you turn one colour down you can use that power and put another colour over 100%
http://www.aquaillumination.com/lighting/prime/freshwater.html



Nigel95 said:


> I would go for 2 x twinstar 600 sp


The hanging of these lights just ruins them - utter rubbish for the money in my opinion.
I don't know how it would work with heat but if you had a rigid pipe running over the aquarium; tapped and screwed into it it could work but hanging by the wire is just rubbish.


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## mow said (18 Feb 2018)

in my opinion you will need 120 - 140 watts in a 250l tank. Im calculating on lumens per litre as we do not have those fancy parr meters. Its not easy to find leds for big tanks unless you want to spend allot of money. ADA solar RGB is the best for your tank but you will need 2 for the light to spread evenly and we all know how much those are. I would add another  chihiros A series 1201 plus or get a custom made leds. T5 are not energy efficient i know some people still use them but we are in 2018 and i would not use T5s , leds are better for energy efficiency and longevity.  


check this guy out he makes leds and he is from poland message him and see if he can deliver to lithuania
https://www.facebook.com/PowerLedTOMALED/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA3t-6z0FfW-lB4u61_tZvA/videos


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## alto (18 Feb 2018)

Ulfsark said:


> I've looked into AI Prime freshwater and am considering buying it. Do you think 2x of those lights would be enough for 120x45x45 tank?


No
- not if you want even lighting across the length of the tank
- the 80 (or 90, sorry can't recall which) degree lens on this light makes the light fall even more focused than with a Kessil (120* lens)

The "nicest" rendition of reds & greens I've seen with various planted aquaria is 
ADA solar RGB (out of budget)
Twinstar RGB - I've seen quite a few suspended

Green Aqua in Budapest have several light options including theses & the ATI Sunpower  (which also provides very nice aesthetics) 

George Farmer & Jurisjs mit JS both have tank displays (FB Utube) with the Twinstar
There are also several ukaps journals with Twinstar lighting


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