camtang Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Right plant geeks I need some advice on lighting. I am about to change my main display tank from big nasties to planted. Tank is 2200 (L)x500 (W)x 680 (H). I am planning on using the EI fert system as I have had good success with it in the past. Plants will be various swords, crypts, anubias, maybe a stem or two for good luck, barclaya and other plants I am desperately looking for, I am hopping to get a carpet plant going. Currently is has two Current Satelite Plus unit over it, but I am unsure if they will be strong enough for plants. I am willing to go MH as I have two 4 foot units currently, but I would rather avoid it. Any light suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 maybe halides for light penetration, 3 x 150w plus leds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted February 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Was tying to avoid MH if possible as I do not want to drill more holes in the ceiling, but if I have to I have to. I have not used LED for plants yet, so they are a possible option. I have started looking into the Giesemann range of LED's, they look impressive, with a price tag to match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanityChelle Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 @Cam - How are the Satellite Plus going? Looking at getting one for my african tank. Are the settings fun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted February 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Yeah they are good, I like the tone of light. After the first few weeks the novelty of the changeable stuff wears off, i have found 3 settings I like and change it depending on my mood and sometimes time of day. The remote is a very good bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 If using leds you will need at a minimum 3w chips with quite a low degree optic to be able to penetrate that deep, honestly your best bet will be the halides on a tank that deep especially if wanting to grow a carpeting plant dude. You could possibly get away with using a few HO T5s but my advice is just use the halides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishop Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 680 is quite high for LED's ?, T5's would be pricey assuming you would be replacing all the bulbs etc. Metal Halides and t5's seem the best fit. Can get a light rail to hang your lights off for around $100 I would say if holes in your ceiling are the only thing holding you back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanityChelle Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Yeah they are good, I like the tone of light. After the first few weeks the novelty of the changeable stuff wears off, i have found 3 settings I like and change it depending on my mood and sometimes time of day. The remote is a very good bonus. This still gives me a giggle from time to time, so I'm sure they'll be worth it. It's more the being about to pick the levels of the RGB. I've found my rusties look amazing with red mixed in there. It takes the males from brownish to bright orange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted February 13, 2015 Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 I'm a big fan of the Giesemann T5HOs. I heard the Sat + Pro is pretty good, too. BuildMyLEDs are also very impressive from what I've seen. Finnex are around the same price as the Sat+ but with slightly higher PAR - our Ray II does really well lighting our 60cm high tank - if you felt like running multiple units, that is. Edit: BML for example allows you do select the beam angles for deeper tanks, making running 2 units easier on a deeper tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted February 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 Are you using Giesemann's alexyay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 I now have Gisemanns on 3 tanks. Since switching from some cruddy ~18 month old Aqua Zonic stock tubes, the growth has been pretty cool. Actually struggling to stop my plants from growing so low (RTL is growing bushy, rather than to the top like I want - R rotundifolia and L repens both grow along the ground, then up - the L repens is growing over my crypts, driving me nuts!) On Dad's 450L I'd go for a quad unit rather than the twin that we're using, but his tank also has pretty dense floating vegetation which blocks a lot of the light. We'd probably be able to grow carpet plants but with the clowns, hoplo, SAEs and fire eel they don't stand a chance They're relatively cheap here (for in NZ lol) if you want to test a couple of smaller units out - http://www.barkingbuddies.co.nz/index.p ... ath=20_114 Well regarded overseas I believe, only complaint is that they're too expensive - here in NZ they're a pretty similar price to other brands so well worth it IMO over other brands available here. Only problem is I can't find any PAR data for them :nilly: Wanted to try Catalina for example to compare them to, but they wouldn't ship here. Aquaticlife (also kinda popular) won't ship here either. Compared to other NZ brands though I imagine they shine in quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 I've started to change to Geismann on my Red Sea -250 and with one tube of the six in, I love them. Main reason for the change was that I didn't seem to be able to get the -250 tubes (not much thought on that one Pet Ware, bringing in a tank but no replaceable parts). As Alex says Barking Buddies has them at a good price. I'm looking into LED from Valray for my 450 planted. It is possible that they can use the current T5HO light casings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted February 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 If I avoid a carpeting plant and stay with medium light would my current led do the jobbie? My only worry to that would be keeping the red swords red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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