# LED light suggestion for Juwel Rio 240



## asifxiqbal (1 Jun 2020)

Hello lovely people!

I have a Juwel Rio 240 with standard t5 lighting. I am thinking of upgrading it to led.

I have looked into helialux, however it would cost about $800 with controller here in Australia. I have been looking at fluval plant 3.0, it seems more affordable at around $350.

My dilemma is, I want to keep the rest of the hood and therefore wanted to know how the fluval would fit in my tank. It would be great if someone is here with similar experience.

I am open to any other led suggestions as well that will fit in my tank. I have a planted tank setup with co2. I want to have a led solution with automated sunrise/sunset setup.

Thanks in advance.


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## Steve42 (2 Jun 2020)

Don't have the Fluval but have the older helialux on the Rio 240 and that fits perfectly.


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## hypnogogia (2 Jun 2020)

I second that.  Wonder if you can pick them up on a well known auction site?


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## alto (2 Jun 2020)

Fluval 3.0 (given tank height of 55cm, substrate PAR will be fairly low, so depending on plants and scape ....)

115cm 59w LED ~2350 lumens
https://www.natureaquariums.com.au/...ucts/fluval-plant-3-0-59w-led-115-145cm-45-57



Juwel HelioLux 1200

140 lm/watt white LEDs x 60watt ~ 8400 lumens
(not the best estimate of PAR but give Juwel some credit for selecting plant suitable lighting - certainly Juwel presented some outstanding planted tanks at Interzoo 2018)

https://www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/Products/Lighting/LED/HeliaLux-LED/HeliaLux-Spectrum/


Depending which T5’s you’re presently using (I assume 2 x T5 light unit),
 eg, Giesemann T5 115cm 54 watt   ~3400 lm/tube


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## asifxiqbal (6 Jun 2020)

Thank you for your replies. I agree with your points that changing to fluval wouldn't be much of an upgrade. I will try to save up and go for helialux.


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## alto (6 Jun 2020)

Lighting options would be greater if you weren’t keeping the rest of the hood 

Unfortunately with the cancellation of Interzoo 2020, new product releases will be delayed 
Unless you’re very unhappy with current lighting I’d suggest waiting for the next Interzoo 

If it’s just some sunrise/sunset effects you’re after, you might look at installing a relatively low watt, low cost programmable LED to a portion of the Juwel hood or placing some LED strips behind your tank 

Juwel NovoLuv LED and Day Control would allow some lighting flexibility (still not cheap but it seems Australia is relatively expensive) - this would just be for viewing effects rather than efficient plant growth


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## asifxiqbal (7 Jun 2020)

Yes, I am thinking of getting a cheap LED strip for now, I will keep it on most of the time. This will enable me to reduce the overall light on time of the T5s which is causing some algea issues. My current plants aren't very demanding, upgrade can wait I suppose.

I am thinking of getting one 100cm strip and placing it under the hood.


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## alto (7 Jun 2020)

You might find this video interesting (though it’s only a couple months so far)


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## asifxiqbal (29 Jun 2020)

Thanks for your help alto. 

I got a second hand blue planet led from Gumtree, I'm using it now for most of the day and have reduced the T5 time to reduce algae. I'll look into upgrading the light properly later, maybe next year


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## alto (29 Jun 2020)

Looking at the Blue Plant light pod system

120cm
- Comes with 8 x Cool White and 2 x Lunar Blue Pods (640 Lumens)

- Can hold up to 31 LED Pods (max output 2480 Lumens)

So depending on configuration, light may be rather low to low
(I couldn’t find any PAR listed for these pods, nor type/watt etc of the LEDS used, but suspect these are low energy LEDs ... which means that substrate PAR will be very low re 55cm tall aquarium)

In comparison, Juwel T5 fluorescent tubes
Day  1047mm 54w  3200 Lumens
Nature 1047mm 54w 3600 Lumens



asifxiqbal said:


> I have a planted tank setup with co2.





asifxiqbal said:


> have reduced the T5 time to reduce algae



I suspect that focusing on healthy plant growth, daily water changes, refining CO2 & fertilization (branded aquarium soil substrate usually makes the system less dependent on “correct” water column fertilizers) will improve algae more than restricting light to plants
Note that  2 x Juwel T5 even with reflectors will only deliver moderate light in a Rio 240

(I just don’t think that excess light is the dominating factor with algae in Juwel tanks with stock lighting)


If you want more input into sorting algae etc, why not begin a tank journal or some more specific topics


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## Nick72 (30 Jun 2020)

alto said:


> Fluval 3.0 (given tank height of 55cm, substrate PAR will be fairly low, so depending on plants and scape ....)
> 
> 115cm 59w LED ~2350 lumens
> https://www.natureaquariums.com.au/...ucts/fluval-plant-3-0-59w-led-115-145cm-45-57
> ...




I have the Fluval Plant 3.0 - 90cm 46W (3300 lm) on my 900x450x450

It's currently set at 85% power, and growing S.Repens well on the substrate at the front of the tank (not directly under the light fixture).

I would say this light is just powerful enough for my needs (Hi-Tech CO2 injected), substrate 17 inches below the light, and 17.5 inches front to back.

You would be getting the longer 59W (4250 lm) which I think would more than make up for the extra 10cm depth of your tank.

Pros
Cost effective
100% water proof at 1 meter (I've accidentally tested this a couple of time)
Good full spectrum for growing plants
The advertised 120 degree spread is good (at 17.5 inches front to back, I have no problem at substrate, but there are dark areas at the top front and top back of my tank)
Fantastic App and very programmable for timing and settings
Normally comes with long guarantee (When my Plant 2.0 broke Fluval gave me a free Plant 3.0)

Cons
The colour rendition makes all greens look yellow and dull.  I have trouble living with it.
Border line enough power for your needs (although I think it would be fine). 

Honestly I love Fluval's build quality and reliability, but I will be moving over to the new generation of RGB overhead lights (ie. Chihiros Vivid II) when I can.  I need better colour rendition than provided by the Fluval.

I here Twinstar is also very good.


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## oreo57 (30 Jun 2020)

Nick72 said:


> The advertised 120 degree spread is good (at 17.5 inches front to back, I have no problem at substrate, but there are dark areas at the top front and top back of my tank)
> Fantastic App and very programmable for timing and settings
> Normally comes with long guarantee (When my Plant 2.0 broke Fluval gave me a free Plant 3.0)


Yes the Juwel hood appears quite low.
The normal light has 2 tubes (or 2 led tubes with more than likely 120 degree lenses also) spread out to mitigate this but makes it hard to find any single light replacement for it.

Begs to be DIY-ed including cutting the ballasts out of the orig unit..
Narrowness makes it hard to picture driver/power supply but drivers would be OK..

Crude but fairly effective I suppose. Would depend on the diodes..



Found this but need to look into it more.
https://www.aquasabi.com/daytime-adapter-for-juwel-aquariums-juwel-120


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## oreo57 (30 Jun 2020)

15min edit time isn't enough..
https://www.aquasabi.com/daytime-matrix-Module-Ultra-White-1x

Modules to go w/ the above adapter and spread would probably be only slightly better than the Fluval.
Overpriced in my opinion but the adapter would make DIY fairly simple and keep the hood functioning.

Prob. can't get it in Australia???


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## alto (30 Jun 2020)

oreo57 said:


> Prob. can't get it in Australia???


Yes, definitely look at what’s available there when making recommendations


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## alto (30 Jun 2020)

Nick72 said:


> You would be getting the longer 59W (4250 lm) which I think would more than make up for the extra 10cm depth of your tank.


Not sure where you’re getting the lm data, if you check the link above - Australian shop - “115cm 59w LED ~2350 lumens”


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## Nick72 (30 Jun 2020)

alto said:


> Not sure where you’re getting the lm data, if you check the link above - Australian shop - “115cm 59w LED ~2350 lumens”



From Fluval's website:

https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/plant-spectrum/


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## DaveyC (5 Jul 2020)

My Rio 180 came with the Multilux LED light but it was a nightmare, I just couldn't control the algae, way too bright.

I wound foil around the LED tube to cut the light intensity but after a month or so the light unit blew so that was that, it was only 3 months old - guess it overheated. 

Really like the Juwel tanks and filters and the Juwel EccoSkim is brilliant if you haven't tried it.

So got some Optiwhite panes cut which fit nicely into the groves around the top and my Arcadia Stretch LEDs are just placed on top - I like the colour rendition of these.

You will see the Lego bricks being used to adjust the intensity (white bricks are available if you want to colour co-ordinate!).

I find it useful being able to move the light to exactly to where I want it. 

Hope this helps.


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## DaveyC (20 Dec 2020)

Six months later and the cryptocorynes have really established. Life is good after your Juwel unit has failed.


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