# Lighting Help



## bolram (May 17, 2011)

*c/p*

This follows on from the discussion on my foreground planting so I can keep up with my own ramblings lol. If you go by logic and theory i'm currently on 1.3wpg with my current lighting, take in factors i'd be looking at the lower end of 1.0 if not less. I want to bulk this out to supply optimum environment for plant growth as well as the fish of course. 


This one is the 6 tube t5 lighting (ignore the blue bulbs it comes with as i'll replace these with appropriate bulbing). Going by this i would achieve a value of approx 2.7wpg (double what i get now)
T5 OVERTANK AQUARIUM LIGHT UNIT FISH TANK LIGHTING 6 TUBE LAMP SET ULTRA BRIGHT | eBay



This is in comparison to an LED alternative. I don't have a clue on the total output i'd get as LED figures confussle me as the light/PAR range exceeds that of any normal tube bulbs so i'm not sure whether one of these units would create the optimum amount needed or would not be sufficient enough
Marine Beamswork Green Element EVO 36" LED light



Any help and advice would be well and truly appreciated. I'm giving myself a total budget of approx £150 (so i don't go overboard and spend far to much). If anyone can recommend other alternatives that would provide what I require then please please please share now.

Or please post on which of the two above you'd choose if you was me. My mind is split so input is very much needed

*c/p*


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Wow both are the same price?That would send me in the LED direction as you could only save after intiall purchase.The 10K is a plus to me also as it is a whiter(more blue/less yellow)light.I think there are dimmers for the led if it was too bright.
If the flourescent was too bright you could just pull a bulb or two.
Watts per gallon means nothing these days especially with T5 HO and LEDS. It is all about par and the depth of the tank.
Here's one link on par;
PAR vs Distance, T5, T12, PC - New Chart
and here is the one linked in the previous link(this one has specific lights and results);
Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Your tank length is ? 36" ?

You probably aren't going to get the PAR you need at your substrate with that LED, more than likely. 2 of them may. You need PAR data on them.

Personally, I like the 6-bulb fixture.

Distance to substrate?


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

Going by things I have found online would definitely need 2 of the 36" evo LEDS to get the required PAR at the depths just done a quick google search and seems you definitely need 2 to get a decent reading on it for tanks of roughly the same size as mine.

So going by that i'm more swayed for the 6bulb t5 unit at least until I have the sort of money to go into a couple of LED fixtures


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## woody019 (Oct 4, 2012)

If your handy rapid led has DIY kits. Only downside is unless you also get the lenses to focus the LED you won't get penitration on deep tanks. Also WPG is a very broad term and should only be used as a reference point. What it really comes down to is the intensity in luminans the fixture will give off the higher the better. Which is not an easy thing to calculate. Watts is the amount of energy the bulb uses in a given period of time it does nothing to tell you how much light the bulb is giving off. 

True 3 CREE LED's will put any bulb for aquarium use to shame with the intensity it puts off. I have a retro fit kit from rapid led on my tank.

For example I have 36 watts of CREE LED's that if you calculate to WPG is way under minimum. But if you calculate intensity in lumins it's comparable to roughly 3-4 T5HO or a 250 watt metal halide.


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

Im not a very handy person so I don't think I'd be much use putting an LED based fixture together. Otherwise I'd give it a shot as LED lighting does look impressive


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

So I got paid today and decided to get the awaited boosted lighting system.

I decided to go slightly DIY with this and got a twin T5HO starter unit and the 2 bulbs. I have attached these to the existing hood so it now houses 5x39wt T5 bulbs.

All I can say is wow the difference. The difference in clarity is amazing. You really do see the difference around the substrate where all of a sudden there is light lol. The plants looks amazing in the boosted lighting. Now hopefully I should see a big improvement in growth as the Co2 seems to be doing well, and now with much better lighting the plants should thrive












The end result looks like this










(i didnt add a before as my camera takes in the needed light to show clear so it looks quite the same lol)


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