# Lighting for new tank



## Becksy (16 Jan 2022)

Good morning - 

This is my first attempt at hardscaping a tank, and while I’m all up for no expense spared I’m struggling to choice a light for my setup.  I’ve got an ADA 60 by 30 - 36 tank and plan on creating a concave scap.  I’ve been and seen the ADA lights working and must say they really make the greens punch out! My only issue is that they don’t dim and are very expensive for a first timer. Can any of you light specialists recommend a good all round led light that will take care of my plants and have a dimmer setting.  I’m planning on planting mostly green plants with green carpet and the odd few reds.  With co2   Many thanks in advanc.  I’m looking to spend £250 if poss.


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## The grumpy one (16 Jan 2022)

Welcome. I am sure once the experts on here wake up on this Sunday morning and have a coffee, they will give you a list of good, cheap, LED lighting.


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## Becksy (16 Jan 2022)

Thank you very much buddy.  It’s an expensive hoppy and just don’t want to rush in spending loads of unnecessary money.


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## medlight (16 Jan 2022)

Semana Aqua p


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## pat1cp (16 Jan 2022)

The chihiros vivid mini ticks all your boxes, including budget.


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## Becksy (16 Jan 2022)

medlight said:


> Semana Aqua p


Thank you very much.  I’ll have a look.


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## Becksy (16 Jan 2022)

pat1cp said:


> The chihiros vivid mini ticks all your boxes, including budget.


Thank you very much.  I’ve actually been looking at this range.


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## Wookii (16 Jan 2022)

Amazon product

Amazon product


One of those would be my choice at your budget.


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## PARAGUAY (16 Jan 2022)

Nicrew plant light if it suits your tank


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## Becksy (16 Jan 2022)

If you had the money and was just starting out would you have this one or go for the ada ? I’m not sure if I should just save for the more expensive one. Lol.


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## PARAGUAY (16 Jan 2022)

Starting out new to planted aquariums l would go more budget friendly and many still use t5s. But its a choice and l understand price aside ADA is quality.


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## Becksy (16 Jan 2022)

PARAGUAY said:


> Starting out new to planted aquariums l would go more budget friendly and many still use t5s. But its a choice and l understand price aside ADA is quality.


I 100% get it.  But after visiting the store and seeing the ADA lighting I’m so hooked lol. They just pop the greens soooo nicely. I’ll research the ones people here have kindly recommend and go from there.  Wonder why the ADA don’t have a dimmer function for new plant growth?


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## PARAGUAY (16 Jan 2022)

That question is asked a lot . Maybe it would increase manafacturing costs?


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## Wookii (16 Jan 2022)

Becksy said:


> I 100% get it.  But after visiting the store and seeing the ADA lighting I’m so hooked lol. They just pop the greens soooo nicely. I’ll research the ones people here have kindly recommend and go from there.  Wonder why the ADA don’t have a dimmer function for new plant growth?



The ADA system is a very prescriptive one, their substrates, lighting and fertiliser regime is designed to work together as a system, but you have to follow it by the letter. Hence why they don’t include a dimmer or allow users to change the output settings.

If internet rumours are to be believed Week Aqua actually manufacture the ADA Solar RGB in China, so the light linked to by @medlight will likely be an exact clone, possibly with a lower quality external power supply (as I believe the ADA comes with a beefy German unit). Same goes for the UNS Titan 1, another clone from the same factory.

Similarly the Chihiros lights likely use the same combination RGB LED’s as the other units, but rather than have fixed voltage and current inputs into those LED’s they add a controller to give the user the ability to dim them, change the RGB mix, and set up ramp schedules.

If you like the look of the ADA lights in store, you’ll be able to replicate the same effect with the Chihiros RGB lights, but with the control flexibility we really all need in a light.


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## erwin123 (16 Jan 2022)

ADA RGB Solar vs Chihiros RGB
					

A short video with some thoughts about the ada rgb solar and the chihiros rgb.



					www.ukaps.org
				




Week Aqua includes UV bulbs. Dennis Wong has mentioned on his social media that he has been testing the lights but so far there hasn't been any follow up comments. If UV made a big difference I presume he would have informed everyone already 😀

I'm interested in the WRGB2 Pro - according to MJ's youtube, it has a 4th White channel, i.e. RGBW chips?


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## Becksy (16 Jan 2022)

Wookii said:


> The ADA system is a very prescriptive one, their substrates, lighting and fertiliser regime is designed to work together as a system, but you have to follow it by the letter. Hence why they don’t include a dimmer or allow users to change the output settings.
> 
> If internet rumours are to be believed Week Aqua actually manufacture the ADA Solar RGB in China, so the light linked to by @medlight will likely be an exact clone, possibly with a lower quality external power supply (as I believe the ADA comes with a beefy German unit). Same goes for the UNS Titan 1, another clone from the same factory.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for your informative reply.  This has helped me 10 fold in making my mind up.  I’m going to research a little into these lights you’ve mentioned.  I actually like the look of the chihiros lights.


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## jaypeecee (22 Jan 2022)

Hi @Becksy

I do wish that I'd already bought one of the lights from the following manufacturers. But, as yet, that's not the case. So, I include them here in order to mention a couple of names. I am drawn to the products below for the following reasons:

[1] German engineering is generally excellent

[2] The choice of LED wavelengths tallies well with the needs of plants

[3] There is a wide range of customizable options.

[4] You're not paying for a name

The trouble is that, in the UK at least, _LED Aquaristik _is not well-known. So, a bit of trawling the internet to find any reviews would be _very _advisable. Anyway, here's a link:









						aquaLUMix LED-light-bar AMAZON-GROW
					

Compact light - ready-configured: AMAZON GROW colour variation is a bright, tropical light, with a focus on optimum plant growth, including Grow LEDs.




					www.ledaquaristik.de
				




And, one other company comes to mind:









						Mitras Slimline - GHL (International)
					






					www.aquariumcomputer.com
				




JPC


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## Becksy (23 Jan 2022)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @Becksy
> 
> I do wish that I'd already bought one of the lights from the following manufacturers. But, as yet, that's not the case. So, I include them here in order to mention a couple of names. I am drawn to the products below for the following reasons:
> 
> ...


Thank you very much.  I’ll check these out.


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## jaypeecee (23 Jan 2022)

erwin123 said:


> Week Aqua includes UV bulbs.


Hi @erwin123 

What reason does this manufacturer give for including UV light in their freshwater product(s)? And, do they specify the range of UV wavelengths (in nm or nanometres) that they are using? It has been demonstrated that UV wavelengths can promote algae growth.

JPC


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## oreo57 (26 Jan 2022)

Interesting paper..


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## Yugang (26 Jan 2022)

oreo57 said:


> Interesting paper..


Indeed.

Quote from the paper "Altogether, the algae probably account for more than half the world total primary production (Hoeck et al., 1995)". Puts these bad boys in another perspective


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## Miniandy (31 Jan 2022)

Very useful thread, thanks for sharing


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