# New (deep) tank lighting LED lighting options, Low tech



## James Fawkes (25 Jan 2015)

Hi there,

I've just got myself a shiny new 4ft x 2ft x  2.5ft deep tank. It has a 30 gallon sump in the cabinet. Planning on stocking it with discus in July when the fish are grown nicely.

I was going to fill it with loads of root feeding, low light plants like crypts etc... 

So, I was thinking going the LED which has worked well on my marine and planted shrimp tank. 

Being that this tank is so wide and deep I was hoping someone could recommend me some cheapish options?

I have seen the TMC Aquabars, was thinking maybe 2x 100cm 6500k strips or perhaps one white and one coloured, to bring out the discus' colours.

Any help would be great,

Cheers


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## Jan Larsen (25 Jan 2015)

Hi James,
That sounds like a nice tank.

I can't remember the name of the damn thing, but a friend of mine in California recently got a LED system where you can control the colour mix, that would be just the ticket for you if your primary concern is hitting a colour mixture that pops your fishes colours.

So far he is mightily impressed with the quality of it, I will ask him what the brand was called next time I speak him.


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## Michal550 (26 Jan 2015)

Jan Larsen said:


> Hi James,
> That sounds like a nice tank.
> 
> I can't remember the name of the damn thing, but a friend of mine in California recently got a LED system where you can control the colour mix, that would be just the ticket for you if your primary concern is hitting a colour mixture that pops your fishes colours.
> ...


Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED ?


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## James Fawkes (26 Jan 2015)

Thanks Jan that would be great! Primary concern will be enough light of the right spectrum for low light plant growth, but the discus really need to be shown off too.


Michal550 said:


> Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED ?



I will look into that brand of LED Michal, thanks


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## ceg4048 (26 Jan 2015)

James Fawkes said:


> Primary concern will be enough light of the right spectrum for low light plant growth


Be advised that:
1. There is no such thing as right spectrum for plants.
2. Folks who worry about having enough light inevitable have too much - and that's typically where the troubles begin.

Cheers,


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## James Fawkes (26 Jan 2015)

Yeah, last thing I want is algae. 

That's why I thought perhaps two 100cm tmc aquabars would do the job well. Over a shallow tank I imagine they would be quite high light for a non CO2 tank, but over a tank my size they might do quite nicely.

There's also the aquabeam 600s, which would probably show off the fishes colours a bit better but might be a bit short in length.

Decisions!

Cheers


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## ceg4048 (26 Jan 2015)

Hi,
   Unsure of your budget, but if you can afford it, any reputable LED such as the aquabeam you mention will be fine as long as you also get the dimmers. It doesn't matter how powerful the unit is if you can control the intensity. For longer lengths you might need a couple of them. I'm not sure if the Aquabar can interface with a dimmer. It's better if you can see the colors in real life. If they are too blue they will wash out reds and greens in the fish. A PAR meter is a very useful instrument to have. Too bad they are hideously overpriced.

Cheers,


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## alto (26 Jan 2015)

Given the depth of your tank, look at the PAR diagrams for the various LED's (I prefer to have excess light that I can dim re controllers), also consider the "shape" of the light spread if you want fairly uniform coverage of your tank bottom ... it won't really be uniform re PAR values, but decide where you want light/shade across the tank area.  
Some LED's offer intensity & spectrum control, but then you generally pay more for these options, also look at the controller costs, some controllers do multiple lights, some don't.

A local shop is having a 20% clear out on their Aquabeams so I'm wondering if something new is about to be released


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## James Fawkes (26 Jan 2015)

ceg4048 said:


> I'm not sure if the Aquabar can interface with a dimmer. It's better if you can see the colors in real life. If they are too blue they will wash out reds and greens in the fish.



Ceg, the aquarbar does have a dimmer, it's about £14, just a simply dial, but it does what's needed. I have seen them in my LFS on a display tank and they looked great. So perhaps 1x 6500k strip and 1x colour plus strip (to bring out the reds and greens) both with dimmers would do a good job.



alto said:


> Some LED's offer intensity & spectrum control, but then you generally pay more for these options, also look at the controller costs, some controllers do multiple lights, some don't.
> 
> A local shop is having a 20% clear out on their Aquabeams so I'm wondering if something new is about to be released



Alto, the Aquabeams look great, you can get a pair of them for £135 and I think they would show off the colours of the discus best. The only problem is they aren't very long so they would have to be mounted alongside each other. I worry they wouldn't have the spread to light 2ft.

Thanks for your help guys, I can now rest easy knowing my plants won't be starved of light


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## James Fawkes (26 Jan 2015)

Typo, I meant GroBeam not AquaBeam. TMC name everything pretty much the same lol, the AquaBeams are for marines


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## alto (27 Jan 2015)

I'm in Canada & the lfs just lists them as Aquabeam marine/freshwater etc, same with the tiles ... this shop typically "clears" stock when something new is coming in & given that Kessil & a couple others have recently introduced new LED's ...

Be sure to read the feedback on the dimmers (here & other forums), some don't play well with timers, so you might want to look at controllers - where you can set on/off, ramps, midday, evening, intensity, spectra etc.
When you're looking at LED, the lens will greatly affect "spread" (eg 60, 90, 120, 140 etc degrees), then there is also the intensity of the LED  (as your tank is deep, I'd be looking at high energy LEDS) - this company has a video presentation that does a decent summary (sorry cant find the direct link atm, but presentation was at MACNA)


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## Jan Larsen (27 Jan 2015)

James Fawkes said:


> Thanks Jan that would be great! Primary concern will be enough light of the right spectrum for low light plant growth, but the discus really need to be shown off too.
> 
> 
> I will look into that brand of LED Michal, thanks



That was indeed the one yes! Had a remote for setting stuff and everything. Very fancy.


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## James Fawkes (27 Jan 2015)

alto said:


> I'm in Canada & the lfs just lists them as Aquabeam marine/freshwater etc, same with the tiles ... this shop typically "clears" stock when something new is coming in & given that Kessil & a couple others have recently introduced new LED's ...
> 
> Be sure to read the feedback on the dimmers (here & other forums), some don't play well with timers, so you might want to look at controllers - where you can set on/off, ramps, midday, evening, intensity, spectra etc.
> When you're looking at LED, the lens will greatly affect "spread" (eg 60, 90, 120, 140 etc degrees), then there is also the intensity of the LED  (as your tank is deep, I'd be looking at high energy LEDS) - this company has a video presentation that does a decent summary (sorry cant find the direct link atm, but presentation was at MACNA)



Ah I see, well as I'm not filling the tank till July I may wait a bit to see what comes out. I will definitely watch that presentation after work, thanks for the link. The aquabeams have a 120 degree spread which might be alright.

Thanks for the information, looks like the Aquabeams with controller might be the best option.


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