Bright Light Clarification

Hi,

I'm in the process of setting up my first planted tank (been keeping tropicals for five years or so but never paid the plants much attention), am a little confused about lighting upgrade options....

I've bought a Juwel Rio 180 which I'm cycling with plants only at the moment, running both internal and external filters, standard 30 Watt tubes and I've got a bio CO2 injector running. I'm choosing plants that need bright light conditions so it looks like I need to provide a minimum of 120 Watts lighting to give me around 3 WPG?

From what I've read on these forums it seems that I can:

1. Upgrade my standard tubes to Daylight plus ones, add reflectors and then add two additional tubes front & back to give me 120 watts. I know other people do this but the idea of balancing tubes on the center brace makes me a little nervous - is it really safe to do that?

or..

2. Buy one of the Arcadia I bars and use the 'extra bright' T5 tubes (I think I've seen these at 55W?). This seems the tidier option but the T5 tubes are shorter so won't light the full length of my tank?

Hope I've understood all that correctly - anyone give me some advice on the best option? (or tell me if I've got it completely wrong?)

Thanks,
Rob

You understand well Rob and its a refreshing change to have someone making intelligent, informed questions having done their research (not like when I joined, idiot that I am!)

Either of the two light options sounds good to me, but you're right about the light needing to be spread over the whole of the tank.

Do you know what CO2 level you've got? With that much light you'll need lots, 30ppm or over I would say. Also you got a plant substrate?

Sam

PS - Welcome to the forum

Wow....informed newbie....I'm scared!

OK, your're not really a newbie, just to this forum.

Welcome.

You're right about not wanting to balance a tube on a single cross brace. I'd suggest either trying to fashion suplimentary bracing bars eithe side of the existing or fastening the extra light tubes to the underside of the lid.
As you very well know, electricity plus water = very still fish (or even very still fish keepers).
The T5 tubes are so much more intense than T8s but I'm believe that you will have 39W tubes on the I bar for your tank. I'd check on that though. You could go for the I-bar and extra lighting! A pair of power compact T5's would really kick out some light or there may be room for 2 more 39W T5 tubes either side of the I-bar.

WK

Hi Rob,

Welcome to the TFF.

I've got a jewul260 which i recently upgraded. I bought an arcadia light t8 ballast. All i did, was buy some plastic ties from homebase, and attached the new light to the central ballast in the middle. I haven't (touch wood) been electrocuted!

I'll post a picture later when i get home as it'll make more sense that way.

Russ

Hagen do a twin T8 starter in 20w, 30w and 40w, can get them from aquatics online.

Thanks for the welcome and advice guys

Have replaced the Juwel tubes with two Interpet Triplus 30W this afternoon and added reflectors which really brightens things up! I like the idea of attaching additional light(s) to the I bar or lid so I’ll think on that one for now…

Sam, I have JBL Aqua Basis Plus as my substrate (black glass ‘beads’ on top which look pretty cool), and my CO2 is a Red Sea Turbo Bio system - just mixed the powders last night so it’s not putting anything out yet.
Please excuse my ignorance but what’s ppm? And how will I know when I’ve got 30? (the only adjuster I have is on the pump rather than the CO canister itself)

Also – the instructions say the pump should be placed where the bubble flow has an unobstructed path to the surface, which presumably means where no plant leaves will get in the way. The only convenient space I have is close to the outlet pipe for my external filter – will this just suck the CO2 out with the water and so defeat the object? Sorry - science was never my strong point!

Cheers
Rob

Here is how i attached my extra light







Russ

fazerob said:

Have replaced the Juwel tubes with two Interpet Triplus 30W this afternoon and added reflectors which really brightens things up! I like the idea of attaching additional light(s) to the I bar or lid so I’ll think on that one for now…

Click to expand...

Glad to hear you changed to plant tubes and added reflectors. I have just got one of those tubes, but they do tend to look a bit pink to me, dont you think? Can I suggest if you add another tube or two you get Arcadia freshwater tubes, as these are a bit whiter and make the tank look more natural? Its just my personal taste thou, you might like a the slight pink hue to things (Thanks for the tip George )

fazerob said:

Sam, I have JBL Aqua Basis Plus as my substrate (black glass ‘beads’ on top which look pretty cool)

Click to expand...

Never used this before but I have heard its good, and what I have briefly just read seems to indicate its a decent substrate, quite cheap too. Think Chris (Craynerd) has used it with good results.

fazerob said:

my CO2 is a Red Sea Turbo Bio system - just mixed the powders last night so it’s not putting anything out yet.

Click to expand...

Again Ive not used this kit before, but it appears to be for tanks up to 160lt so you are probably at its limit, but see how it goes for a while, you may just need to kits. The only thing I would say with this kit is that it seems to me to be expensive at 6quid for a months supply.

Don't worry that its not produced bubbles yet, the ready made mixes often take a few days to get going.

fazerob said:

Please excuse my ignorance but what’s ppm? And how will I know when I’ve got 30? (the only adjuster I have is on the pump rather than the CO canister itself)

Click to expand...

It means parts per million, i.e. for example 10 parts per million of co2 in the water or 2ppm phosphate, its just a way of expressing how much of something there is in the tank water. It also equates to 1mg per liter.

You can work out your CO2 level using a chart or calculator such as the one on this page. You just need to know the KH and pH of the tank.

fazerob said:

Also – the instructions say the pump should be placed where the bubble flow has an unobstructed path to the surface, which presumably means where no plant leaves will get in the way. The only convenient space I have is close to the outlet pipe for my external filter – will this just suck the CO2 out with the water and so defeat the object? Sorry - science was never my strong point!

Click to expand...

Quite the opposite in fact! (BTW do you mean intake and not outtake? I.e. the water goes into the pipe and then the filter? Thats the intake ) If the bubbles get sucked into the filter they'll dissolve more into the water which is good news and just what you're after. The longer they are in contact with the tank water the long there is for the CO2 to dissolve into the water that said they dont want to sit under a leaf the whole time as they dissolve better if they are moving around in the water.

russellbrooke said:

Here is how i attached my extra light

Russ

Click to expand...

Interesting DIY fix there Russ, might give that one a try myself

Sam

Thanks Sam,

Yeah I did mean the intake tube About a third of my bubbles are getting sucked into there so I’ll leave it as it is and test the CO2 level in a week or so, see how it looks. You’re right about the light too – it does have a very slight pink tinge to it. Have got most of my background plants in now so gonna see how they develop over the next couple of weeks and then if I do add extra tubes I’ll try one of the Arcadia ones you recommend

Russ, thanks for the pics I’ll definitely try that if I add more lights – looks very stable

Cheers
Rob