Help me choose an LED!

[pleco4me]

Hi All,

I'm having an internal struggle with selecting an LED unit for an upcoming 60P nature style aquarium.

Candidates:

- Chihiros A Series Plus
- Chihiros RGB
- Twinstar 600E

What would you pick, and why? Thanks in advance!

Craig

 

[tmiravent]

Hi.
i've seen top quality layout with all these fixtures, they are all good!
My personal impression of each one:

- Chihiros A Series Plus:
very light
very small
nice build
very cheap
powerful
with dimmer included
stays very cool.
Light colour a bit green for my taste, but that's subjective.

- Chihiros RGB:
Small unit, larger than SerieA,
thinner than Twinstar,
no so good build as serieA,
diffuser is crappy (easy to take out),
very powerfull, with dimmer,
very cheap, good deal for the money
eats a lot at fullpower
color is wonderfull (if you like it), the closest to ADA rgb IMO

- Twinstar 600E
the best construction of these 3 fixtures (much better),
very good colour rendition,
stay's relatively cool,
it's the biggest of the fixtures, better light distribution but also big on the tank (for maintenance)
very good design (it's a matter of taste),
acrylic (lateral stands) can easily get water spot's (this can be annoying)
you can't adjust to other tank dimension (only 60cm) and no height variation (here Chihiros solution is clever)
take a look at new version without the acrylic stands (better option, i think),
the new version is also more powerful, and you can hang it (i prefer that),
the new Twinstar heat's a lot (better to buy a dimmer) and give toons of light

My advice is go to a shop, look at these fixtures in live, feel the material and construction.
Buy the one that you prefer (colour maybe), you'll be well served with any one.
Cheers

 

[pleco4me]

Hi.
i've seen top quality layout with all these fixtures, they are all good!
My personal impression of each one:

- Chihiros A Series Plus:
very light
very small
nice build
very cheap
powerful
with dimmer included
stays very cool.
Light colour a bit green for my taste, but that's subjective.

- Chihiros RGB:
Small unit, larger than SerieA,
thinner than Twinstar,
no so good build as serieA,
diffuser is crappy (easy to take out),
very powerfull, with dimmer,
very cheap, good deal for the money
eats a lot at fullpower
color is wonderfull (if you like it), the closest to ADA rgb IMO

- Twinstar 600E
the best construction of these 3 fixtures (much better),
very good colour rendition,
stay's relatively cool,
it's the biggest of the fixtures, better light distribution but also big on the tank (for maintenance)
very good design (it's a matter of taste),
acrylic (lateral stands) can easily get water spot's (this can be annoying)
you can't adjust to other tank dimension (only 60cm) and no height variation (here Chihiros solution is clever)
take a look at new version without the acrylic stands (better option, i think),
the new version is also more powerful, and you can hang it (i prefer that),
the new Twinstar heat's a lot (better to buy a dimmer) and give toons of light

My advice is go to a shop, look at these fixtures in live, feel the material and construction.
Buy the one that you prefer (colour maybe), you'll be well served with any one.
Cheers

Thank you! This is great advice and really summarises the research I've done so far.

Is it possible to attach a dimmer to the Twinstar E series? The newer S series are lovely but just more than I'd like to spend.

 

[Danny]

I can only comment on the ADA 601 which I am using on my signature 60x45x30, it is a brilliant light and seems to be getting fantastic results of growth so far.

 

[Daveslaney]

Thank you! This is great advice and really summarises the research I've done so far.

Is it possible to attach a dimmer to the Twinstar E series? The newer S series are lovely but just more than I'd like to spend.

Yes aquarium gardens do dimmers for the 600e.