Juwel Rio 180 Blown Lighting Unit - Led Replacement?

[johnhutch2000]

Hiya folks,
I'm looking for some opinions, advice on replacing my Juwel 180 92cm T8 bulb lid lights. They've literally died on me today. I've tried new spare bulbs, fuses and the switch and nothing. So I want to change up to something better.
 
Has anyone got any good LED or T5 replacement suggestions for tropical planted tanks? I've looked before when I was just doing an upgrade and the options were limited with little evidence. Now I've got no lights I'm going to have to make wild stab in the dark.
 
Any help however vague is welcome.
 
JJ

 

[Livewire88]

There are so many options available, what is your budget and have you got any live plants in your tank?

 

[Zikofski]

T5 are a good option if you can splash out on the cash go for LED's but they need to be the right power PS3Steveo makes custom LED's on this site if you speak to him asking a quote he may be able to help you, but T5 maybe your safer option and it all depends on how much light you want i guess

 

[johnhutch2000]

There are so many options available, what is your budget and have you got any live plants in your tank?

Yep lots of live plants in my tank. Ideally I'd like to go for LED's for the power consumption but I could go T5 if it would look better. Ideally I'm after keeping the original style hood (where it sits inside the tank top). I can spring for expensive LED's if they are going to be the best though.

T5 are a good option if you can splash out on the cash go for LED's but they need to be the right power PS3Steveo makes custom LED's on this site if you speak to him asking a quote he may be able to help you, but T5 maybe your safer option and it all depends on how much light you want i guess

Thanks Zikofski, I will try and get in touch with this Steveo chap to get some options too. 
When you said T5 is a 'safer' option, could you elaborate? I only wanted LED's to move with the times but T5s are tried and tested. I only had T8s because they happened to be in the tank when I bought it. The T8 hood failure has just forced my hand a bit.

 

[Livewire88]

The thing you have to remember is that you cant just chuck a lot of light above the tank without changing other things like ferts and Co2 because you could run into issues. 
 
If you want to keep the tank low ish maintenance and you are not wanting to dose liquid Co2 or pressurized Co2 you would be better off going with T5 bulbs, if you go down the high powered LED route you are going to need to think about dosing ferts daily and adding a source of Co2 (ideally pressurized) a pair of T5's will be plenty to grow the majority of aquatic plants. 
 
T5's should fit under your hood and just take the space that the T8's were using, you would need to use a T5 ballast and retro fit the tubes to your hood but as long as you can do a bit of DIY this shouldn't be a problem, LED wise you can get so many different types so you could also fit certain LED units under your hood, so the choice is yours. 

 

[johnhutch2000]

you would be better off going with T5 bulbs, if you go down the high powered LED route you are going to need to think about dosing ferts daily and adding a source of Co2 (ideally pressurized) a pair of T5's will be plenty to grow the majority of aquatic plants. 
 
T5's should fit under your hood and just take the space that the T8's were using, you would need to use a T5 ballast and retro fit the tubes to your hood but as long as you can do a bit of DIY this shouldn't be a problem, LED wise you can get so many different types so you could also fit certain LED units under your hood, so the choice is yours. 

I'm not currently CO2 dosing or any daily fertiliser additions but the latter due to a relatively new substrate that reckons for 6 months you shouldn't dose ferts. I digress.. The T5 option is certainly much cheaper, I can get a full T5 hood and bulbs for the price of a single LED T8 replacement.

Anyone know if there is any power saving withT5s over. T8s or if its just more light output for the same power?

 

[Livewire88]

T5's produce more lumens per watt than T8's (ie more light for the same electrical power)
 
Taking into account the info you have provided I would recommend going down the T5 route.

 

[njw]

My original Juwel T8 bar died years ago, I replaced it with a T5 Arcdia I-Bar (direct replacement to fit the existing hood flaps). My tank has been empty for the last few years and now restarting it, the Arcadia unit has failed 
 
I'm getting LED this time, just working up what to do with the hood. It has to be enclosed to keep my cats paws out of trouble! I may just fit a shelf over the tank which sits just above it (low enough to stop feline access), hinge the front half for access. I get some storage space over the tank too this way. Just not sure what it'll look like at the moment.

 

[Livewire88]

My original Juwel T8 bar died years ago, I replaced it with a T5 Arcdia I-Bar (direct replacement to fit the existing hood flaps). My tank has been empty for the last few years and now restarting it, the Arcadia unit has failed 

 
I'm getting LED this time, just working up what to do with the hood. It has to be enclosed to keep my cats paws out of trouble! I may just fit a shelf over the tank which sits just above it (low enough to stop feline access), hinge the front half for access. I get some storage space over the tank too this way. Just not sure what it'll look like at the moment.

 
 
You could make this work, but depending on the distance between the shelf and top of tank you may find maintenence difficult as the shelf may get in the way.
 
A shelf that is easily removable would solve this problem.

 

[njw]

My original Juwel T8 bar died years ago, I replaced it with a T5 Arcdia I-Bar (direct replacement to fit the existing hood flaps). My tank has been empty for the last few years and now restarting it, the Arcadia unit has failed 

 
I'm getting LED this time, just working up what to do with the hood. It has to be enclosed to keep my cats paws out of trouble! I may just fit a shelf over the tank which sits just above it (low enough to stop feline access), hinge the front half for access. I get some storage space over the tank too this way. Just not sure what it'll look like at the moment.

 
 
You could make this work, but depending on the distance between the shelf and top of tank you may find maintenence difficult as the shelf may get in the way.
 
A shelf that is easily removable would solve this problem.

 
Yeah, I was considering the entire shelf wouldnt be fixed and could be lifted out for full access, but the front half could be hinged for regular access so I dont have to take everyting off it each time. Was considering pine for the shelf, and then varnish the bottom with a water resistant varnish to protect against condensation etc. Still not sure yet though, want to see if I can do something with the existing hood/flaps.

 

[johnhutch2000]

Having been looking today I think I'm going to try 2 of these units: Arcadia Eco-Aqua LED Tropical 19w
 
The 19watt version looks like the best fit for a Rio 180. I'm going to do some review searching but so far these appear to be the most suitable direct replacement. The main reason is the shape looks like it will possible to secure them under the original flaps and re-use the lid with the dead ballast & controller in. I've got no problem butchering the original lid provided it looks similar when shut and finished!
 
Any thoughts on these? *goes off googling*

 
http/www.swelluk.com/aquarium/fish-tank-lighting-28/led-lighting-1494/arcadia-eco-aqua-led-tropical-241147.html

 

[Livewire88]

I have not got any experience with these type of tubes, but can see that the LED's are not high powered so they would be good for viewing purposes but may not be much good for plant growth.
 
Hopefully someone who has used these before can offer some advice. 

 

[daizeUK]

Not used them but have been considering them to boost my lighting.  They're equivalent to T8s and come in two colours, daylight is 8000K+ (a bit on the blue side) and the tropical one is quite reddish.  One of each might give a good colour rendition.
 
I watched this vid http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMjJHVkGAJI and notice at 0:13 he changes to the Arcadia Eco Aqua lights... I didn't like the dull colour it gave to the plants.

 

[johnhutch2000]

Well seeing as I can't find a genuinely negative review I've ordered 2 of them. No one seems to have drawn a conclusion on them at the minute. Hopefully tomorrow or Saturday I'll be able to say what they look like first hand. If they're not suitable for plant growing I will find out the hard way in a few weeks. For now they are definitely better than darkness for the fish and my plants.

 

[Livewire88]

Cool, 
 
Be sure to post some pictures when they are fitted