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best low budget light- fluval aquasky vs popbloom vs nicrew

low tech betta

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16 Mar 2023
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uk
I'm looking to upgrade the lighting on my 130 litre tank from T8 Bulbs to LEDs, however i dont have a huge budget. does anyone have experience with either the aquasky, popbloom or nicrew lights. I will be growing some stem plants, ludwigia repens, rotala roundifolia, rotala indica, a carpet of pearlweed, dwarf sag and monte carlo and various mosses and epiphytes. The tank is 80 cm long however the light cant be much longer than 60cm (the 61cm aquasky is my limit), so light will need a wide surface area coverage.
I also would consider the fluval plant 3.0 if i was able to get one second hand. What would you recommend?
 
Hi, I have several of the nicrew lights from the basic ones through to the RGBW with sunrise/sunset etc and I think they're pretty good value for the money. I also have success with cheap growlights over my low tech betta tanks :) but you do have to turn those on and off manually which is a pain. I can't compare to the other options though, but I grow all the plants you mention (bar the MC) with nicrew.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, do you have a specific model that you would recommend? im currently looking at the nicrew skyled plus
 
To be honest, it depends what you want. I have the C10 which is perfectly good, has a timer and is dimmable but I also have the RGB+W 24/7 which has more ability to alter the colour and has the sunrise/sunset. If your budget is tight, the C10 gives better value than the skyled in my opinion
 
I'm looking to upgrade the lighting on my 130 litre tank from T8 Bulbs to LEDs, however i dont have a huge budget. does anyone have experience with either the aquasky, popbloom or nicrew lights. I will be growing some stem plants, ludwigia repens, rotala roundifolia, rotala indica, a carpet of pearlweed, dwarf sag and monte carlo and various mosses and epiphytes. The tank is 80 cm long however the light cant be much longer than 60cm (the 61cm aquasky is my limit), so light will need a wide surface area coverage.
I also would consider the fluval plant 3.0 if i was able to get one second hand. What would you recommend?
What is causing the 60cm restriction?
Rimmed or rimless tank?
Can you do " clip on" type lighting?
 
the tank has a built in water tight unit in the hood where the old bulbs are, this is where the new light will go as the lid cannot be easily removed
 
the tank has a built in water tight unit in the hood where the old bulbs are, this is where the new light will go as the lid cannot be easily removed
So no clip- ones either..got ya.

So how many t8's are you planning on replacing?
Did you consider just replacing the 8's with new ballast, tombstones and t5's.

You gave the length but not the width.
If the lights you mentioned " fit" they are all "sort of" similar.
Is the cavity sealed totally?
Heat buildup can be an issue for LEDs.
Might rule out the popbloom for this and other reasons. Need some height.
 
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I'm replacing 2 T8 bulbs, i haven't really considered T5s as they are more expensive to run and generally need to be replaced more often (correct me if i am wrong).from memory the tank is 85Lx40W and the unit (which is totally sealed and has ventilation on top to prevent heat buildup) is 61Lx25W.
The nicrew lights are what i would ideally choose however after looking at the sizing, the 30-36 inch (72-90cm) is too long to fit in the unit and i don't know if the size down 18-24 inch (45-60cm) will provide enough light. Could i try 2 of the smallest 12-18inch lights?
Alternately the aquasky will fit pretty much perfectly, is this as good for plant growth as the nicrew lights?
 
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I wonder...
I've noticed that most of you employ lighting devices many many times more expensive than I do. I'm very poor worker when it comes to any crafts (I'm a lawyer by profession, good with tongue, abysmal with hands). Still, I've managed to buy a few GU-10 LED bulbs, fixed them in a wooden board, connected in parallel, and that's that. I don't really see any need for a more advanced lighting, spectral specifics, dimming, ... all that seems to me pretty unnecessary. And I'm not restricted to keeping "easy" plants, oh no sir.
So, @low tech betta , you could consider a DIY lighting, if you're budget wary. I'm sure you can make it better than I did, and still for a few pence...
 
I wonder...
I've noticed that most of you employ lighting devices many many times more expensive than I do. I'm very poor worker when it comes to any crafts (I'm a lawyer by profession, good with tongue, abysmal with hands). Still, I've managed to buy a few GU-10 LED bulbs, fixed them in a wooden board, connected in parallel, and that's that. I don't really see any need for a more advanced lighting, spectral specifics, dimming, ... all that seems to me pretty unnecessary. And I'm not restricted to keeping "easy" plants, oh no sir.
So, @low tech betta , you could consider a DIY lighting, if you're budget wary. I'm sure you can make it better than I did, and still for a few pence...

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As the chart shows, regular consumer LED has a lot of green as that is the spectrum of light the human eye is most attuned to. Based on the photos of your tanks, you are primarily growing green coloured plants, in which case, standard LED will do fine, so you have made the correct choice for your tank.

On the other hand, a wider spectrum LED is great if:

(1) If you like keeping red plants or Buces with their wonderful metallic sheen, a wider spectrum LED really improves their presentation.
(2) you have colourful fish like neon tetras, rainbowfish etc in their planted tanks, the enhanced RGB LEDs really make the colours of the fish pop out.



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Yellow is not an easy colour for consumer lights to reproduce well. The colours look more washed out under 'standard' consumer LEDs compared to WRGB2 Pro.



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