# Best lighting for Aquarium



## Ralph (19 Aug 2011)

Next week I should be the proud possessor of a 5' x 21" x 30" deep aquarium to be used for freshwater tropical and planted. I thought I had everything under control but find that my lighting choice could be suspect.
I originally, and still prefer, Grobeam tiles. HOWEVER.
Not everybody rates these very highly, in fact some are positively anti LED lighting. On the other hand some say Grobeam will more than satisfactory reach down to 30" and be perfectly adequate for growing plants.
My question is then exactly which lighting is best for a 30" deep planted aquarium please?
Does anyone rate K4 lights and better still are they worth the money?


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## sanj (2 Sep 2011)

This is not an easy question to answer partly because most people do not have extensive experiance with Led lighting.

I can tell you that a grow beam is powerful enough to give arond 30 PAR or more at 30" which enough for most plants. That is past experiance from using Aquabeam 500s although I used a mix of marine white strips (first generation) and grow beam strips.

As far as Led manufacturers go, TMC are ok. I personally dont think they are the best and have been taken over by some rivals that are offering an all round better product. I think a lot of the negativity towards TMC is from the reef side of the hobby where PAR output is so very much more important and TMC beams and tiles do not match the best.

Why they havent made thier modules linkable and doing away with so many wires I dont know.

Led grows plants for sure, whether they are as good as a flourescent, some experianced people dont like them as much while others have grown carpets of glosso under them.

I have actually bought a Pacific Sun "Metis" led unit and it was pretty expensive but around the same as what a few TMC tiles and dimmer would cost. It is more powerful, has better light rendition which is controllable and also programmable. I have measured PAR at 80% output from 30" above the base of my tank and it reads 55 PAR. I dont want it higher than that, more like around 40, but obviously at 100% output its going to be significantly more.

I have not set the tank up yet so I cannot give a review of actually how well plants do under this unit, but I will do in due course. 

So ask whats "best" and you will get lots of different answers. If you already have the Gro beams, then use them. If you havent and want led, then I would personally advice to look broader, I looked around over the last few months and decided Pacific Sun Metis came out tops from a visual, practical and functional angle. The vertex leds are comparible, but the look of PS was better for me.

Dont go for Maxpect leds from China, they have had return rates of around 40% or so.

Key leds from China are cheaper than european models and seem to have reasonable reviews and you should be able to get a freshwater spec. 
Coventry Aquatics is the UK distributor, but you can also order direct if you wish.

Ecotech KR94s (Freshwater) seem pretty good, i used to have the KR92 over my reef and it blew the TMCs away. Think Superman vs Mr Bean haha. No thats a little unfair, but you get the idea. The Uk distributor for these is Weston Marine Life.
However since i had my KR92s the prices have gone silly and I would rather pay for a european brand which have generally better quality control and warranties.

European wise are the Pacific Suns and Vertex leds, both are comparible quality wise.

UK obviously TMC, Aquariumled, Coraled and Reef-beam.

USA have several producers, I know Orphek has a distributor in the UK, but I think just reef oriented models. 

The K4s look like they are upto the job, but then dont seem to be as good an overall package as the two european makes ive mentioned. I have seen coraleds over a reef and they seemed pretty nice, but comparitively expensive in an expensive led market. Not that keen on reef beam on a few fronts and i dont think they make freshwater versions although im sure it is possible. 

Anyway you know my preference, but nobody will be able to tell you what is categorically "best". They are questions you have to ask yourself. I have ATI powerchrome lighting over my 8 footer and that is raised some 18" above the water surface of a 28" deep tank. Still gives me healthy PAR at the substrate. So T5 lighting in the right luminaire is easily suitable for growing plants in a 30" deep tank. The ATI units are also now dimmable and about half the upfront costs of comparible led units. 

A few links:

http://www.coraled.net/
http://www.vertexaquaristik.com/Products/Lighting/LED/Illumina/IlluminaSR200.aspx
http://www.pacific-sun.eu/index.php...&id=66:phobosdeimos-lamps&catid=1:latest-news
http://www.fish-street.com/key_aquarium_led_lighting_us_version?category_id=118


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## sanj (2 Sep 2011)

Lol oh after that massive rant ive just realised this question was posted weeks ago... :~


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## clonitza (2 Sep 2011)

Nevertheless a good read!


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## foxfish (2 Sep 2011)

I read every word too...  & enjoyed the experience very much


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