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LED lighting suggestion for 530 l aquarium?

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nicklassandager

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Hi. After having abandoned the idea of switching to LED on my 530 l tank, I’ve started looking into it again. I‘d love to have some suggestions on lighting for the particular size of aquarium I have and my use case - if anyone’s up for it 🙂

My aquarium is 530 liter, with dimensions 160 x 60 x 55 (length x height x depth). It’s placed on a cupboard in my living room, 3-4 meters from our living room couch and dining table. It’s currently fitted with a 4 x 80w t5 lamp, that delivers enough light for the sort of plants I want to grow.
I’m looking for a LED lamp setup that is hanging from the ceiling, that delivers a similar level of light as the current fixture, isn’t noisy and doesnt have an excessive amount of light spillage that will bother us from the couch or dining table. I don’t necessarily need fancy configuration options for the new lights - basic on and off is fine - they just needs be able to grow the type of plants and have to a colour reproduction pleasing to the eye.

Any suggestions for which lights I should be looking at?

Cheers 🙂
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

I'd be looking at Horticultural Grow-lights.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...
Hi Darrel

Thanks for the suggestion. Hadn't thought of that. Question is though - whether I can find lights that look presentable in a living room. I'll definitely have a look 🙂
 
Maybe some garden floodlights will do... See the thread below 'The Beast' and the results later. 🙂

(NO MORE) 2,000L High tech BEAST

I see no reason for the 6500 pump?If it is in series behind the 10,000 pump?The 10,000 will still only pump 10,000 regardless of if the 6500 is there or not? I can see a reason why I would try it ;) , the total output will be 10,000 regardless OFC, But as long as a bypass is fitted so the water...
www.ukaps.org www.ukaps.org

You can DIY it with some really crazy light sources such as the Lustreon COB 50/100/150 Watts, which provides Luminous Flux: 105LM/W.
I did build a few floodlights with these 100 Watts in the past to use outdoors, and the amount of light is nuts. But then you can forget about silence because the temperature gets scorching, thus needs a large heatsink and preferably a forced fan cooling as well if you like to get to the so-called 50.000 burning hours.

The light is rather cheap, but the proper heatsink is a tad more expensive and it requires some DIY skills to put it in a floodlight housing with a fan cooling.
It did cost me +/- € 60,- to build one.

If you like it plug-and-play and affordable then factory-made floodlights might be the last resort to go for. They don't need to be ugly and still can be painted if you wish, that's a matter of taste vs. functionality. 🙂
 
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hypnogogia said:
I used have Giesemann metal halides about 20 years ago and they were fantastic. Good, solid build quality.
Click to expand...
Yeah.. I've been using Giesemann T5's for years also.. Some of the best T5's when it comes to color reproduction in planted aquariums. I've bought a Pulzar G3. I have a lot of confidence in Giesemann - hope they will also come though here. Not a whole lot of reviews around for the tropic version of the it.

Thanks again for pointing me in that direction 😀
 
Hi. A short follow-up on the Giesemann Pulzar G3. I've had one 160cm freshwater units for a couple of weeks now . So far I really like it. It provide a lot of light - sufficient for most applications - although I would expect that two units would be necessary for growing demanding high-tech plants. It has a nice simple look, no active cooling (no noise) and as expected by Giesemann; a really nice color reproduction (at least to my eyes). My plants are clearly transitioning right now, as I've been hit by algae - primarily BBA. I expect it will rectify itself given a little more time. I'll report back, once everything has stabilized.
 
Any updates on the Pulzar G3's?
I am currently looking into those.

I was also wondering what is better. To have multiple lights spread over the surface. Or is it no problem to have one very strong light like the G3 only above the middel of the tank.
Greetings
 
nicklassandager said:
Hi. After having abandoned the idea of switching to LED on my 530 l tank, I’ve started looking into it again. I‘d love to have some suggestions on lighting for the particular size of aquarium I have and my use case - if anyone’s up for it 🙂

My aquarium is 530 liter, with dimensions 160 x 60 x 55 (length x height x depth). It’s placed on a cupboard in my living room, 3-4 meters from our living room couch and dining table. It’s currently fitted with a 4 x 80w t5 lamp, that delivers enough light for the sort of plants I want to grow.
I’m looking for a LED lamp setup that is hanging from the ceiling, that delivers a similar level of light as the current fixture, isn’t noisy and doesnt have an excessive amount of light spillage that will bother us from the couch or dining table. I don’t necessarily need fancy configuration options for the new lights - basic on and off is fine - they just needs be able to grow the type of plants and have to a colour reproduction pleasing to the eye.

Any suggestions for which lights I should be looking at?

Cheers 🙂
Click to expand...
Replacing with LEDs requires looking for fixtures designed for plant photosynthesis that offer full spectrum or RGB+ white light configurations.The total light output of a T5 lamp is close to 25,000 lumens, and the total luminous flux when it comes to LEDs should be roughly in that range as well, and you may also need additional white light to make the water feature more pleasing to the eye. You mentioned that you don't want light spilling over onto the sofa and dining table, so it's important to choose fixtures with shades or adjustable beam angles.
T5 fixtures may come with fans, and LED lights that are cooled with aluminum heat sinks won't have a problem with noise.
These are a few suggestions that come to mind, I hope they help you out😉
 
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