New 3ft tank - Lighting recommendations please

[k0b0i]

Heya,

I've got a new tank coming in and I want this to be a planted tank now, and use it for marine later so the lighting needs to be good enough for corals. I'll probably end up going with a MH (later), but seeing if i can get away with anything else for now. the tank size is 3 x 18" x 2

Aqualina compact double 96W + moonlight seems to be the best option so far. It can fit easily under the hood and is priced very well ($270 on our lovely ASA site ;)).

I have considered obtaining a crown style hood so that i can add brackets to support an overhead lighting system so i could go for a 150W metal halide but it seems a bit much (light) right now.

Could anyone else recommend a nice unit? I'm interested in T5's, and i've seen a 3ft 4x34W for $90! but i'm unsure about the quality of the product. Or if you are currently using the one listed on ebay how have you found it?

Also if anyone is currently using the aqualina light how have you found it?

Thoughts please anyone.

Cheers,
Kevo

[tunafish]

Hi,

I'm setting up a new 3ft discus tank as well. 35 gallons, give or take.
I don't want it to be a heavily planted tank but would like say 15%-25% coverage in plants.

Which is the better of these 2?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Aquathrive-3ft-Triple-T5-Aluminium-Aquarium-Light_W0QQitemZ160069032164QQihZ006QQcategoryZ4631 4QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/T5-AQUARIUM-OVERHEAD-LIGHTING-4x39W-900-Long_W0QQitemZ140071637733QQihZ004QQcategoryZ46314 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Are these good deals or shold I visit my LFS for a better deal.

I'm thinking 2watts per gallon is all i'll need for light planting I plan to do. The first listing provides 63watts in total using 3 globes. The second listing provieds 156watts in 4 globes. That kinda rules out the second listing which provides what I consider to be too much light.

Let me know what you guys all think.

Cheers,
Tuan.

[k0b0i]

Considering you don't really need all that light for heavy plant growth.. Go for the triple T5's.

I've decided to set my tank up as marine instead so i've got a 250W metal halide unit with 2 T5 tubes and moonlights coming.

Good luck with setting up your tank :)

[tunafish]

Marine? Blasphemy! lol, good luck with it anyways.
I think i'll go the 4 tubes route and only use 2 tubes at a time. That would equare to roughly 70watts, or 2 watts per gallon and that shold be sufficient for the plant growth i need.
This gives me 2 spare tubes as well.

For a better looking unit and 2 spare globes, the extra $10 seems like peas.

My logic any good here?

cheers.

[Proteus]

Hi,

I'm setting up a new 3ft discus tank as well. 35 gallons, give or take.
I don't want it to be a heavily planted tank but would like say 15%-25% coverage in plants.

Which is the better of these 2?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Aquathrive-3ft-Triple-T5-Aluminium-Aquarium-Light_W0QQitemZ160069032164QQihZ006QQcategoryZ4631 4QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/T5-AQUARIUM-OVERHEAD-LIGHTING-4x39W-900-Long_W0QQitemZ140071637733QQihZ004QQcategoryZ46314 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers,
Tuan.

I wouldnt touch the 1st one as T5 tubes do not come in 21w (they come in 24w, 39w, 54w & 80w only). I doubt that it has any warranty and very unlikely that it has Australian approval (C tick & N number).

The second unit is very plasticy (sp?) but ofa higher quality than the 1st link.

My only concern with the 2nd light is this:


These fittings are equipped with electronic ballasts and are sensitive to power fluctuations and electrical storms. We suggest you run the light thru a UPS with a surge protector. Spare ballasts are available at $12.00/ea + transport. For this reason we can not warrant the ballasts.

Good quality Electronic ballasts are not sensitive as per what is suggested above. Obviously, with expensive equipment you take steps to protect them, i.e. surge arresters, safety switches etc etc. A UPS would be better served on your pump or filter rather than on a light.

[tunafish]

Oh wow, thanks for that.
I'll pop down to my LFS's this weekend and have a geeze.

Cheers.

[Mr_K]

Hi all,

Just for anyone who is following this discussion I would like to make a correction to this statement


I wouldnt touch the 1st one as T5 tubes do not come in 21w (they come in 24w, 39w, 54w & 80w only).

This is not exactly true (sorry Proteus) as T5 lamps come in 2 ranges:

T5 HE (high efficiency, same light output as T8, lower power consumption)

T5 HO (high output, more light output than T8, corresponding higher power consumption)

In the aquarium industry you generally only see the T5 HO tubes as it is the easiest way to get a lot of light over your tank. I believe Mozoo make a T5 HE fitting and tubes though (not saying they are any good, just that they are making them).

As stated above the HO versions come in 24W, 39W, 54W and 80W

The HE versions come in 14W, 21W, 28W, 35W.

As stated above, just for information so that if anyone comes across fittings using these lamps in the future they can be confident that they are standard lamps (i.e. not locked to one manufacturer) and can be sourced reasonably readily.

I hope someone finds this helpful.

[Proteus]

(i.e. not locked to one manufacturer) and can be sourced reasonably readily.

The point of my post is they are not T5 tubes as most people know them, and replacement tubes in the low output variant are almost non existent in Australia. (yet to see a name brand have HE tubes available here)

In regards to only one brand being available, that is totally incorrect. There are 4 mainstram brands of T5-HO tubes available in Australia, plus another 5-6 other lesser known brands.

[Mr_K]

Sorry, my last post seems to have created some misunderstanding.

How I meant it to read was that the fitting in question used legitimate tubes which are made to a standard, I did emphasise that they weren't common aquarium tubes.

Though if you weren't too fussy Philips do make 6500K 80+ CRI variants (Do they count as a name brand? probably not :) )

As far as I am aware I did not ever state that HO tubes were only provided by one manufacturer, that would be silly. I was backing up your earlier statement to stay away from light manufacturers that had unfamiliar wattage tubes (i.e. only made by them).

I hope this clears it up.

[ILLUSN]

tunafish, I have the 120cm version of the second light bought from the same seller (my id is Illusn7) and have not had a problem with the balasts over the past 14months despite several blackouts and thunder storm surges in my area, just a note the globes supplied are 4x 39w 14000k and are useless for growing plants, they survive but dont do well, i had good results using a mixture of 6500k and 10000k tubes. also the light only has one flat reflector for all 4 globes and is in NO WAY as efficient as other t5's such as aquamedic sunbeams or aquaforce lights which have indivdual reflectors, I have 1 2x54w 6500k Aquaforce T5 ($220 inc postage) which outshines my 4x39w ebay item and makes plants pearl and uses just over 1/2 THE Power. PLEASE learn from my mistake and spend the extra for individual reflectors.

[glennske]

After seeing this topic, I definitely wanted to add my 2c and make everyone aware.

I purchased the T5, 4 x 39w 900mm on Ebay, as described by Tunafish in the second post.

The light is absolute garbage, the only good thing going for it is the actual housing. As ILLUSN mentioned, the light is fitted with 14k tubes which have to be swapped out after purchase. Mine turned up DOA with a faulty electronic ballast. The lights are provided with no warranty by the seller, however, the seller was good enough in the beginning to send a replacement ballast. The light was hardly used (after a few weeks) and both ballasts have now blown. The seller is ignoring my emails. I've just swapped it out with an Atco electronic ballast which is much better quality, and cost me $60. The other ballast will have to be swapped out as well in the near future, which will be another $60. The originals are rubbish!!!!

As Proteus said, good quality Electronic ballasts are not sensitive as per the sellers requirement for UPS equipment. The seller is using this as an excuse. The seller is now even selling the lights with the option of replacement ballasts for $12.00 each. I think this says everything?!

Learn from my mistake, this light isn't worth the hastle. Spend your money on good quality aquarium lighting. The money you save initially will be spent further down the track getting this light up to scratch.

[Proteus]

Sorry to say this, but you get what you pay for...

There are some great bargains out there, but a lot of research and questions need to be asked...

I am not saying spend your money on the marquee brands, just have a good understanding of what you want or get, and share as much information as you can as that is the only way others will know if a product is cheap and cheerful, or cheap and nasty.