T8 Interpet Daylight Plus Changes

[DevUK]

Has anyone seen these Arcadia "Classica" (I think) lamps? Pets at Home have started stocking these exclusively by the looks of it. Can't find any info on Arcadia's website about them. The two types stocked are "Fresh Water" and "Tropical" or something along those lines. Helpfully there is absolutely no information about colour temp etc on the boxes. Useless!

 

[The-Wolf]

Has anyone seen these Arcadia "Classica" (I think) lamps? Pets at Home have started stocking these exclusively by the looks of it.

AFAIK they are just P@H own name for the std arcadia orginal tropical and freshwater lamp.
apparently some genius in P@H marketing didn't like the sound of arcadias names for the tubes,
so they did a deal to put their own names on the packaging.

 

[DevUK]

Bizzare. So the "tropical" would be the Arcadia Original tropical, and the other one would be the "Freshwater" (this is the one for planted setups right?)

Think I'll support my LFS instead, he's probably cheaper too

 

[SuperColey1]

I doubt he's cheaper for equipment but if so then defo use him.

I think P@H were suffering from Arcadia reviews on many sites that stated about the Original Tropical Lamp

'This is Arcadias budget entry lamp' and a lot of people didn't buy it and rightly so as it is rank hence the £7.50 price tag, but also the freshwater got the same rep and therefore change the name.

I use freshwater T8s as well as daylightplus PC tubes and the freshwater are still a good lamp, nice colour and seems to work with the plants.

The Original Tropical has been locked away for the last 6 months as a back up only lamp.

Andy

 

[doubledee]

Doh! I just ordred the Daylight plus and Triplus to replace my standard tubes. Does anyone know if AE are stocking the new versions or the old ones? If they are the new ones, can anyone suggest any alternatives?

 

[SuperColey1]

As above Arcadia Freshwater for cheapish or you can go silly and buy better but costs more.

Andy

 

[sophos9]

Easy to solve this - use Hagan Life-Glo 2's.....

 

[SuperColey1]

Aaaagh Hagen. Hope they're a lot better than the ones they put in their tanks.

Andy

 

[DevUK]

Check the sticky on lighting. Theres a list of 5 or 6 brands and which model are suited for planted tanks

 

[sophos9]

Aaaagh Hagen. Hope they're a lot better than the ones they put in their tanks.

Andy

lol - they are actually rated quite good I beleive!

 

[SuperColey1]

They need to be. The ones in the Fluval Tanks when you buy them are absolutely rank (AquaGlo and SunGlo)

Andy

 

[George Farmer]

It may be worth checking out the Zoo Med Ultra Sun 6500K from Aqua Essentials. At £10.99 you won't find cheaper either. It's what I'll be using from now on, probably.

 

[doubledee]

My tubes turned up today. The Daylight plus is the non reflector model but the Triplus has the built in reflector and it's no use. It shines the light either at the front or the rear of the tank. I will send it back and order something else. Shame.

EDIT: Richard suggested using reflectors, would that work? I am going to go to my LFS later to pick up some shrimp and some rummy nosed tetras so might try a couple.

 

[JamesC]

Has anyone who contacted Interpet heard anything back? I emailed them but haven't got any response. Looks like I'me going to have to ditch using Interpet tubes and find an alternative.

James

 

[doubledee]

I emailed Interpet about this issue and they sent me a replacement tube. It now reflects the right way i.e. down into the tank so they must now be selling Rena/Juwel compatible tubes.