Ulfsark
Member
I've encountered a difficulty to find a reasonably priced light for a 120 cm hightech tank. I've tried chihiros A series 1201 plus and was terribly disappointed. Could anyone recommend a light for me? Preferably LED.
I think It depends how much you're willing to spend or class as 'reasonably priced'I've encountered a difficulty to find a reasonably priced light for a 120 cm hightech tank. I've tried chihiros A series 1201 plus and was terribly disappointed. Could anyone recommend a light for me? Preferably LED.
Tank dimensions?
If you want "high" light at substrate & tank is over 45cm tall, you're not going to manage this with a budget LED
Look at T5 setups from IQuatics ? They are certainly high light, in fact very high light for the 4 tube version.
That's a bit different to the cost of the Chihiros! There are options in the LED world for that kind of money like the AI Prime freshwater, Ecotech do a freshwater version of the Radion XR15 but I think that's a bit more and with both of those you get full control. I have no experience with either of these but other people may have so worth a search if you like the look and cost.I'm willing to spend roughly 500 eur
Have a research on these and you will quickly find many people are dead against dimmable T5 fixtures, probably better looking on a reef forum like ultimatereef.netThinking about ATI Dimmable Sun Power T5 - 4x54W
I had a twinstar pendant and I thought it was rubbish; purely because of the way in which it can only be hung through one hole either end. This means it is very unstable and I found the slightest touch left it not sat level and it relied upon the power cord being wedged into a certain shape to maintain anything like stability which is a real shame. If they were to have put 2 holes at either end I think this would cure the problem or at least go a long way in helping.
As stated by the tube manufacturers... My T5 tubes are over 4 years old and show no sign of reduced light output.On the downside you need to replace those tubes as often as every 6 months to get the full benefit from them so costs soon add up over time.
I'm not going to argue; only going by experience with T5s on marines.As stated by the tube manufacturers... My T5 tubes are over 4 years old and show no sign of reduced light output.
That's a bit different to the cost of the Chihiros! There are options in the LED world for that kind of money like the AI Prime freshwater, Ecotech do a freshwater version of the Radion XR15 but I think that's a bit more and with both of those you get full control. I have no experience with either of these but other people may have so worth a search if you like the look and cost.
Have a research on these and you will quickly find many people are dead against dimmable T5 fixtures, probably better looking on a reef forum like ultimatereef.net
The benefits of a T5 fixture is the fitting can be cheaper, you can always get a fitting where you can control channels independently and for example run channels 1+3 for 8 hours a day and just add in 2+4 for 4 hours day - It's kind of like dimming.
On the downside you need to replace those tubes as often as every 6 months to get the full benefit from them so costs soon add up over time.
I had a twinstar pendant and I thought it was rubbish; purely because of the way in which it can only be hung through one hole either end. This means it is very unstable and I found the slightest touch left it not sat level and it relied upon the power cord being wedged into a certain shape to maintain anything like stability which is a real shame. If they were to have put 2 holes at either end I think this would cure the problem or at least go a long way in helping.
On the other hand I have 2 tank mounted Twinstar S lights and I think they are great. You can dim them but only with the addition of an inline dimmer which they sell separately.
According to their info it would easily cope.Do you think 2x of those lights would be enough for 120x45x45 tank?
The hanging of these lights just ruins them - utter rubbish for the money in my opinion.I would go for 2 x twinstar 600 sp
NoI've looked into AI Prime freshwater and am considering buying it. Do you think 2x of those lights would be enough for 120x45x45 tank?