Extra Lighting In Juwel 180

[jimbooo]

my preferred setup with 4 tubes is either

3 arcadia Freshwater - 7500K i think & one dennerle special plant - 4000K

the dennerle is very red so usefull to bring out red & brown in fish and plants. Freshwater only can look a little washed out.

or

2 Arcadia FW, one dennerle and one 8000K tube (arcadia original tropical or simillar) purple in colour. this brings the red content out even more. i have this arrangement now due to the vast amount of tiger lotus lillies in my tank.

the original juwel tubes are far from ideal so change them ASAP.

just to add, if your going with this much light you MUST add co2, minimum would be a nutrafin yeast based kit, ideally a pressureised system or algae WILL be a definate problem

 

[William]

An incredibly useful topic, very well timed as I was about to ask the same question.


My only question is, in one of the photos it appears that there might be two bulbs powered from one "unit". My existing system is very poor, and so I will be replacing it. On a minor point, it would be quite handy to purchase just one "twin" unit. Is such a starter unit available or would you recommend purchasing two separate arcadia starter units.


Many thanks,will

 

[jimbooo]

Hi Will,

mine are on 3 ballasts, the original juwel twin and 2 additional arcadia ballasts.

i have used a twin ballast on my cube tank but IMO they are not as good as arcadia. short leads etc.. works fine in a cube with cover glass but for a mod like on my rio180 the leads would be too short.

what tank are you upgrading, is it a juwel 180? if so i'd go my route and clip the tubes if you have cats or kiddies in the house.

 

[William]

Thanks very much for the swift reply. It's not actually a juwel, but a generic 36" aquarium with a "marina" hood http/www.aquatic-discounts.co.uk/NewShop...iption/hood.htm . The lighting bit has cover glass, and the dimensions are some 30.5 x 4 width x 2.5 heigh.

 

[jimbooo]

ahh ok, then a twin ballast should do the same job.

good luck with it.

 

[fishstick]

I now have some trouble with my Arcadia clips- they keep popping off the ends of the tube. If I squeeze the clips on to the ends of the tubes the lights come on but very soon after ( two or three minutes ) the ends pop off again and the light goes out. Has anyone else had this problem? I know when you fit the clips on to the tube-ends it says lift the flange to let out the air trapped, well I did that.

 

[SuperColey1]

Ther are twin starters for T8 and T5 models - loads on ebay

also Interpet do twin starters for power compacts as 2x18W, 2x24W, 2x36W and 2x55W

Whilst it may seem great to have 1 starter for all your lights I prefer to have 2 seperate so I can have more control over the lighting and have say 1 light on whilst the other is off to phase the lighting in morning and night i.e.

I have

1xT8 18W timed 12.00-00.00
1xPC 55W timed 14.00-22.00
Cold Cathode Moonlight 23.45-12.15

Not perfect phasing but at least its moonlight then not too bright then very bright etc. I find the stages seems to have all my fish schooling (in smaller than recommended groups) and also they are all very randy since I started.

Cheapest sites I have found for single PC starters is Tamaraquatics.co.uk
Cheapest for the bulbs surreypetsupplies.co.uk
Aquaessentials also supply single and twin starters and also the normal (not power compact) T5 twin Arcadia starters but are often sold out of the higer range bulbs and starters.

Andy

 

[grass569]

Changed my juwel original tubes for a 30w aquaglow at the front and a 30w floraglow at the back and cant believe the difference it looks like a different tank with all new fish in, the juwel tubes really are naff. Im gona stick with this settup for a while until i decide which way to go next. Just one question though (again) at what level lighting will i need to be looking at co2 in a medium planted tank i currently have 1.26wpg i think. Thanks for all the advice