Urget Help Needed

[cardinal sinner]

The lighting unit on my Juwel Vision 260 has just died, a week out of warranty(typical), should I replace it with the same or get one of the Arcadia I bar light units they cost round about the same, but the tubes for the later are very expensive. I 'm a bit out of my depth here!! HELP!!!!!! My tank is heavly planted, how long can I keep the lights out for??

 

[lotsoffishies]

that happened to mine but it was under guarantee, bad luck! As I was on holiday at the time my lights were off for probably about a week and all the plants were fine so I shouldn't worry too much about them, they'll survive for a few days. The tubes will probably last a lifetime so it's likely your only going to have to pay once. Unfortunately I don't know much about lighting so I couldn't say much about those one in particular.

 

[vinylman]

that happened to mine but it was under guarantee, bad luck! As I was on holiday at the time my lights were off for probably about a week and all the plants were fine so I shouldn't worry too much about them, they'll survive for a few days. The tubes will probably last a lifetime so it's likely your only going to have to pay once. Unfortunately I don't know much about lighting so I couldn't say much about those one in particular.

For a company that makes such good looking tanks, their lighting units seem to be pretty average, to say the least. I'm glad I didn't buy one when I was thinking about it.

 

[DevUK]

Might be worth getting the equivelant Juwel "high light" T5 units that they're doing now.

Do you know the light set is definately dead? Sure it doesn't need a new starter thingy (technical term ) or its not the fuse in the plug? If its the fluorescent starter they cost no more than a few £ from LFS or probably cheaper from a DIY store (they're nothing special, so don't get duped by "aquarium specific" starters or anything).

The plants will probably be OK for a little while, depending on what they are. Stem plants might struggle a bit

Good luck

 

[dave_gray2077]

Do you know the light set is definately dead? Sure it doesn't need a new starter thingy (technical term ) or its not the fuse in the plug? If its the fluorescent starter they cost no more than a few £ from LFS or probably cheaper from a DIY store (they're nothing special, so don't get duped by "aquarium specific" starters or anything).

Good luck

Juwel lights are pants. The starter and ballest are what blow all the time in juwel tanks. And they are in a sealed compartment so you have to pull the entire hood apart to get to them. You can get replacement ballests from juwel however then only sell the complete unit for about £60 upwards for the larger types.

I just bought 2 Arcadia ballests and lights from my LFS for about £30. The lights dont need any specials fittings an a juwel tank. just rest then on the centre brace. Duck tape the ends to the hood if you want extra stability. Worked for me

 

[Amerce]

Might be worth getting the equivelant Juwel "high light" T5 units that they're doing now.

Do you know the light set is definately dead? Sure it doesn't need a new starter thingy (technical term ) or its not the fuse in the plug? If its the fluorescent starter they cost no more than a few £ from LFS or probably cheaper from a DIY store (they're nothing special, so don't get duped by "aquarium specific" starters or anything).

The plants will probably be OK for a little while, depending on what they are. Stem plants might struggle a bit

Good luck

My T8 unit for the Rio125 died shortly after the warranty period as well, one year seems to be a default for all of their lighting units.

The problem with the new T5 units that have come out is that the tubes to go in these are not availabe off the shelf tubes, I believe that the fitting on the tubes are non standard so you are tied to Juwel tubes.

I have this same predicament cause my 2nd light bar is coming up to the 1 year warranty expiration, so do I buy an old style T8 or go for the new T5 high light unit and buy tubes which will probably cost more from a Juwel only supplier

 

[cardinal sinner]

I got it wrong guys!!!! The unit still works, it was just the tube that had blown!!!! Silly me!! I didn't realise that you had to put 2 tubes into test it My predicamont now is which tubes to replace them with. I had Interpet Daylight Plus in , I really liked the colour the gave me. Trouble is, the new Daylights have built in reflectors which are no good for Juwel tanks as the reflectors are the wrong way round when you fit them in the tank Any suggestions for this poor helpless woman!!!!!!

 

[RadaR]

I understand your problem with the Daylight bulbs. You could still buy them but also buy juwel reflectors (always reccomend them if you want to grow plants) to direct the light into the tank. However you could go for the Zoo Med Ultra Sun Super Daylight Lamp, which is very similar.

 

[DevUK]

I have a Zoo Med ultra sun on my Rio 180, along with 2x Arcadia Freshwater lamps. The Zoo meds are lower wattage I believe. My rio takes 36" tubes (usually 30w) but the zoo med tube is 25w. The arcadias are fine Good light spectrum for plants. Basically find a tube that is full spectrum and you should be ok with your plants. Check the planted forum for the sticky thread on lighting. Its an old thread but still relevant

 

[cardinal sinner]

Thanks to everyone that has replied to this post. My lights are working at the moment I have some crappy Juwel tubes in that I keep as spares. I've noticed that they are starting to go on 'n' off so perhaps the light unit is on its way out. I think I am going to upgrade to the Arcadia T5 I'll have a look at the weekend. Thanks again!!

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

Just for everyones interest.

JUWEL are admitting there was a design fault on a certian batch of T8 Light ballasts.

Ring juwel and tell them. I did and they replaced mine.

My LFS told me to do it, apparently they have had loads of people back with them broken.

Chris

 

[Amerce]

Thanks to everyone that has replied to this post. My lights are working at the moment I have some crappy Juwel tubes in that I keep as spares. I've noticed that they are starting to go on 'n' off so perhaps the light unit is on its way out. I think I am going to upgrade to the Arcadia T5 I'll have a look at the weekend. Thanks again!!

That's exactly what happened to mine last year, I bought new tubes and everything and then it stopped working altogether and I had to rush out at the weekend to buy a new unit.

 

[cardinal sinner]

UPDATE

Hi Guys, just got an email from Juwel. They will replace my light unit free of charge as its warranted for 2 years. Just waiting for the supplier to get in touch now.