First Question From A Newbie.

johnnyboy1965

New Member
Dec 22, 2018
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Solihull, West Mids, UK
If you have seen my "Intro Thread"
I keep used to keep a Marine Reef aquarium and Im thinking about converting it into a planted (no fish) aquarium.
Question ...are my Metal Halide 2 x 150W 17K lamps too powerful. These are very expensive to run and dont mind buying the right lights for a plant only tank.
The display tank is 24 inches deep?
The lamps are postitioned 12 inches above the water level (this can be adjusted) but are 4 years old so the PAR is not as strong...or should I just bin them and buy the correct lights
 
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Phishless

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Metal Halide can be costly to run and I've seen them on large planted tanks.
Return on investment of new LED vs electric bill over time?
What lights have you thought of purchasing?

Do you have a PAR meter or any PAR data from your reef setup?
Have you decided on plants you like?
Will you be running CO2?
 

johnnyboy1965

New Member
Dec 22, 2018
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Solihull, West Mids, UK
I haven`t got that far with my research into a plant only aquarium and you`re right MH`s are very expensive to run. The lamps are £70.00 each and need changing every 12 months (SPS Marine Reef) thats the main reason I chose to close down my reef tank.(22 years)
New LEDs v leccy running MH is a no brainer.
LED lights, your thoughts on which type/brand would be greatly appreciated. Even if I spend £200-£300 on lighting it will save me money over time.
 

johnnyboy1965

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Dec 22, 2018
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Solihull, West Mids, UK
pucks?...sorry I have no idea. Im looking for some lights with enough "punch" to hit the bottom of a 600mm deep tank.
What wattage should I be looking for, for a 320li tank that is 60 cm deep?
Thanks
 

Farmhand

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Apr 7, 2010
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Kingsburg, CA
I'll chime in with basically the same lighting questions.
I was considering buying 4 x 30w LED flood lights and hanging them 6" or so above a 75 gallon, but I not sure this is a good idea. I've seen some other use these on you-tube.
 

johnnyboy1965

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Dec 22, 2018
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Solihull, West Mids, UK
Im struggling with the lighting level needed for plants in a freshwater system. I totally understand that different plants need different lighting levels. There doesnt seem to be any "guidelines".
This may have come across wrong.,
Farmhand...How deep is your tank?
 

Farmhand

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Apr 7, 2010
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Kingsburg, CA
This is my second go around with planted tanks, but lighting has changed radically since my last tank. Hence I joined your post as I saw you as having similar questions.
I have two tanks I could light;
-75 gallon = 19.5" deep
-60 gallon = 16" deep
Subtract your substrate depth and add the height of the light above the tank.
I prefer to overpower my lights and hang them higher which makes the par level more uniform at different depths of the tank. Fewer hot spots to grow algae.
 

Farmhand

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Apr 7, 2010
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Take a look at this guys setup;
If I had your tank, I would be thinking 4x 50W or 60W LED flood lights and hang them for adjustable height, but I'm here looking for advice, not giving it.
I am looking for advice if people here think these flood lights are a good idea or not.
 

Greggz

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I am looking for advice if people here think these flood lights are a good idea or not.
If that video represents your goals, then those lights should be fine. Not knocking the tank in the video, but I'm not even sure I would call it a planted tank.

My advice is to first find tanks that demonstrate success. Find ones that are similar to what you would like to create. Then see what they are using. Lots of journals here and on other sites.

Myself I like high tech tanks with lots of fast growing flowery stems. None of the tanks I follow use that type of lighting. There might be a reason.

And yes it can be confusing, as there are lots and lots of options. In general, high quality LED lighting is not cheap. And don't forget there are quite a few of us still using good old fashioned T5HO as well.
 

Farmhand

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Apr 7, 2010
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Kingsburg, CA
If that video represents your goals, then those lights should be fine. Not knocking the tank in the video, but I'm not even sure I would call it a planted tank.
It's kinda hard to honestly argue this point, but even though I try not to be a ***, it's just so easy. That's why I purchased 2x 10W 6000K LED floods for 25 bucks to try on a 20 long.
 
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Phishless

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I try not to be a ***, it's just so easy.

I am trying to understand the implied variable here " *** " ?
Should it state "an *** " to indicate a piece of text that begins with a vowel, such as "Jack *** ". :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
Maybe I'm lost in the context of things here and the " *** " should have been preceded by a consonant? :D:D:D
 
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Greggz

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It's kinda hard to honestly argue this point, but even though I try not to be a ***, it's just so easy. That's why I purchased 2x 10W 6000K LED floods for 25 bucks to try on a 20 long.
Nice tank for a low light low tech set up. Not my cup of tea, but we all have different goals.

I would guess those lights probably work best in a very shallow tank like in the video. The deeper the tank, the more light spillage into the room. Some may not care, for others a deal breaker.

And it also brings up another topic for discussion with lighting........color rendition. If you follow folks with high tech high end planted tanks full of stems and showy flowers, you will see they put quite a bit of thought and effort in creating the right "color" of light. It makes a huge difference in how the tank appears to your eyes, and brings out the best plant color in a high tech environment (and best fish color too!). For many people, all 6.5K bulbs is way too yellow. But that is a matter of personal taste.

Good luck with your new set up. You should start a journal and show your progress. I am sure many would be interested to see pictures of how successful you are with those lights.
 

Phishless

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That's why I purchased 2x 10W 6000K LED floods for 25 bucks to try on a 20 long.

I've thought about the flood light approach too. But they are 10 watts each.
Yeah I know they come in higher wattage but still.
I have 294 watts over my 80G frag tank, 7 pucks @ 42 watts each.
Each puck has 4 different LED combinations, with the floods I can't very well alter the spectrum.
Dimming is also incorporated with the usage of the pucks.
 
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Clappies

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Oct 17, 2017
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South Africa
Dont know if this is helps, but heres my tank... 5 x 30w floodlights 3 x t8 led tubes.

Tank is 1.2m x 45cm x 45cm roughly 65gallon.
Photo period is 7 hours and co2 is 8 hours.

Ferts are kno3, kh2po4 and k2so4. With micros.

I had 2 move so thats why i broke down the tank and have it currently setup at my new home.

Side note: the 5 floodlights alone was not enough to grow monte carlo thats why i added the 18w led tubes.

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echocinco

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Sep 19, 2018
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I've used 20W floodlights from Lowes on a 12cm tank (ADA 30C) and grow carpets of DHG. IME unless you are working with very high light demanding plants, which very few plants truly exclusively are, you can get away with lower lighting levels.

For your deeper tanks, you probably want to worry less about wattage and more about the light density with the floodlights. Tighter lens angles will get you more PAR at your lower levels.

I use both custom built (built by me) and retail LEDs lights. I've found the cheap China 10W and 20W LED lights to be the best value. $17 for a 10W led light that will last me at least a year if not more is good enough for me.

I have an ADA 120P that's run off 5 of these cheap lights that does well with CO2. The main reason I have algae is because my CO2 is inconsistent because of lapses in getting my tanks refilled, problems with my solenoid, etc.

Maintenance on my custom built LED lights is about a dollar per 42W strip per month because LEDs burn out, etc. Dont know if that is acceptable as a norm, but it beats replacing a comparable $200-$300 light fixture every 2 to 3 years in my book.
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