# Lighting options for 60cm tank



## Deeny (24 Mar 2018)

Hi all,

I need some advise on lightning please; it's for an aquascaper 600 tank (600 × 500 × 360) and I plan to grow medium tech plants with CO2. Most of the lighting options I am seeing seems to be a bit on the expensive side so I am hoping for some advise on this please.
Thanks


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## MarkyP (24 Mar 2018)

If you cant stretch to the Twinstar units then take a look at one of our sponsors Hinterfield the chihiros RGB is a nice unit the rgb-60 is £70.21 delivered there are cheaper models as well the A-series is very cheap at £43 but is only white led's


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## Deeny (24 Mar 2018)

Thanks Mark, I will have a look at the Chihiros RGB as suggested;


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## Zeus. (24 Mar 2018)

*ADA | WASMAS | ZETLIGHT | TWINSTAR | CHIHIROS | LED PAR DATA* worth a read for PAR output level comparison


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## Nigel95 (24 Mar 2018)

The chihiros rgb is not a strong light. Especially with 50 cm depth that can give some trouble. I would go for 2x chihiros rgb if med/ high light is needed.

for a 60 cm I would go twinstar 600 sp but again if you have lots of hardscape blocking out light (if you do competition scapes) or want lots of colorful stems you might need two. The twinstar s series is very good for red plants and has a better spectrum than chihiros but comes with a price tag.

I would try 1 twinstar 600 sp and see how it goes probs with some med tech plants you are fine.


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## Deeny (24 Mar 2018)

Thanks for the feedback @Nigel95; that is almost the price of a twinstar unit but will ×2 chihiros RGB be as strong as a twinster 600E ?


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## Nigel95 (24 Mar 2018)

Deeny said:


> Thanks for the feedback @Nigel95; that is almost the price of a twinstar unit but will ×2 chihiros RGB be as strong as a twinster 600E ?



Hard to tell tbh there is no really par data with 2x chihiros rgb on that size of tank.

I personally have chihiros rgb and twinstar e series. I like both light units but twinstar e series wins for me. More vibrant colors and less cold (lower Kelvin).

With 2 x chihiros rgb you are generally much safer because the light spread will be better. Beside that I like Twinstar more... It's a hard choice. Personally I would go twinstar. It will probably grow med plants fine. But if you want red plants I highly recommend s series over E series. If you ever need more light because of heavy stem or hardscape scapes you can always buy another light. George Farmer also uses the twinstar 600 s series on that size of tank and the plants grow fine.

The thing with lights is I always want to upgrade them. I went form chihiros rgb to ada rgb solar because I have odd tank dimensions (80x40x40 cm). If I had a 60 or 90 cm tank I maybe went for twinstar s series but again there is a risk I wanted to upgrade from that one to ada rgb solar. So yeah big investment but there is not much more to upgrade atm. Yeah Lupyled but that price is really ridiculous.


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## Bolota (24 Mar 2018)

if you go for medium light tank, twinstar 600E is too intense. Get yourself a dimmer


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## Nigel95 (24 Mar 2018)

Bolota said:


> Get yourself a dimmer



It's always nice to have a dimmer at least when the tank isn't stable yet. You can use chihiros dimmer on twinstar or tc 420 as long the light output is <4A.
When you want to use the tc 420 you need to buy some man / female dc connectors. Very cheap and plug and play no wires cutting.


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## Tim Harrison (24 Mar 2018)

For colour rendition I'd go for a Twinstar 600S. I've seen the comparison between that and 600E. The 600S really brings out the colours in fish and plants. Either way a dimmer or a TC420 is a must...
The Twinstar 600S over an aquascape by Dave Pierce in the Aquarium Gardens showroom http://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/visit-our-aquascaping-showroom-49-w.asp



IMG_2107 by Tim Harrison, on Flickr


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## Danny (24 Mar 2018)

ADA Aquasky 601


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## Deeny (24 Mar 2018)

Thanks for the advise all; the ADA aquasky 601 comes as a single unit as opposed to the twin unit 602, will the 601 be enough for a 50cm depth tank?


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## PBM3000 (18 Apr 2018)

Are there any UK suppliers for the Chihiros LEDs?


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## Martin in Holland (19 Apr 2018)

PBM3000 said:


> Are there any UK suppliers for the Chihiros LEDs?


I think you can find them on Ebay.


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## PBM3000 (19 Apr 2018)

Only the Aquasky there. Looking for the Series A.  There’s the Plus in the UK but it’ll fry my 45cm x 36cm I think.


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## Tim Harrison (19 Apr 2018)

PBM3000 said:


> Are there any UK suppliers for the Chihiros LEDs?


Not sure but try our sponsors Aquasabi https://www.aquasabi.com/aquascaping/lighting/ The prices are competitive, and the customer service excellent.


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## zozo (19 Apr 2018)

PBM3000 said:


> Are there any UK suppliers for the Chihiros LEDs?



Look up sponsor Hinterfeld, they sell Chihiros products.. They also have an Ebay shop.. But depending on what you are ordering first check out there webshop and check the shipping conditions. Ebay is OK for single small orders, because ebay is a tad more expensive, the international free shipping is not realy free it actualy is already calculated into the sales price. So this means, ordering 2 seperate products from ebay you pay the calcutaled shipping added per item and it's shipped seperatly. Even if shipped combined, the price stands, you still pay the incalculated shipping. (Ebay aint stuppid they know how to make money..

So ordering it directly from the vendors webshop is cheaper with the real items price and because the combined shipping can save you money.


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## PBM3000 (19 Apr 2018)

Tim Harrison said:


> Not sure but try our sponsors Aquasabi https://www.aquasabi.com/aquascaping/lighting/ The prices are competitive, and the customer service excellent.


Yes, I'll give them a shot.  More expensive (and I've heard there's knock-offs of these knock-offs!) but probably quicker to arrive.



zozo said:


> Look up sponsor Hinterfeld, they sell Chihiros products.. They also have an Ebay shop.. But depending on what you are ordering first check out there webshop and check the shipping conditions. Ebay is OK for single small orders, because ebay is a tad more expensive, the international free shipping is not realy free it actualy is already calculated into the sales price. So this means, ordering 2 seperate products from ebay you pay the calcutaled shipping added per item and it's shipped seperatly. Even if shipped combined, the price stands, you still pay the incalculated shipping. (Ebay aint stuppid they know how to make money..
> 
> So ordering it directly from the vendors webshop is cheaper with the real items price and because the combined shipping can save you money.


They seem to be poorly stocked, UK-side at the mo but thanks.


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## Tim Harrison (19 Apr 2018)

Both companies are excellent.


PBM3000 said:


> I've heard there's knock-offs of these knock-offs!


I doubt it very much. Where did you hear that?

I think Hinterfield trade as Aquahk-uk on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chihiros...hash=item33e73817ef:m:mOnA3zByJ2wJgP6oh5RvLUQ


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## PBM3000 (19 Apr 2018)

A US forum I think.


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## zozo (19 Apr 2018)

Tim Harrison said:


> I think Hinterfield trade as Aquahk-uk on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chihiros...hash=item33e73817ef:m:mOnA3zByJ2wJgP6oh5RvLUQ



Yes they are.. And see the price difference of Ebay free P&P £82.00 compaired to their home brewn webshop £69.27 but than you pay shipping. I'm not sure if ebay to UK is TAX free at this sum. For me it's not, anything over €22.00 ordered outside EU is +21% regardles the ebay price. But this i only notice at pay checkout.. Anyway Hinterfeld offers..


> Some EU countries free shipping over USD80. Actual shipping fee is shown in you cart when check out.


 But outside EU and likely VAT will be added..
So be carefull with the alledged free international P&P and check before you hit the ebays buy now button.. SInce 82.00 GPB = *116.77917 USD*

Many ebay and Amazon etc. vendors also have a webshop on their own. (Aquadepod Europe is one of them also). Then you pay exta ebay or amazon fee.)

Anyway ebay charges in this case £ 13.50 shipping... My fat behind Free P&P.


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