# Lighting over a 30g Cube?



## jrs (Mar 18, 2006)

I will be setting up another high tech tank with my chemistry class but I want to go in a different direction rather than just a standard 20g. I bought a 30g cube 20" wide and 20" deep and will be running pressurized CO2 and full ferts checked daily.

I require high PAR levels at the substrate level as we will be carpeting with either HC or UG. The other plants will be mid to high light requirements.

In the past I have used 24" quad pc's over a tank such as this but I want to switch over the lighting system.

Basically, I am looking at either 1 or 2 Finnex 24/7 OR a quad T5HO OR a 120W full spectrum LED; links are below.

Thoughts or suggestions?

http://www.amazon.com/Finnex-Planted-Automated-Aquarium-Controller/dp/B00U0HMX1C

http://www.petsandponds.com/en/aquarium-supplies/c5813/c231289/p17722568.html

http://www.petsandponds.com/en/aquarium-supplies/c5813/c293075/p17707089.html


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

Being in the planted scene for over 20 years now, I still have not trekked into LED.. I have such great results with T5 ho and the unknown of future long term use of the LED that still have not switched. I hate the fact that I cant change bulbs with LED, its inevitable that one or more will blow out at some point, and who knows what heating and wear will do to their par values over longer term use, not sure if the value is worth the initial startup costs... Plus you get less penetration.... my 1penny

ps: enjoy the plants take lots of pics


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## jrs (Mar 18, 2006)

Over the years I have used PC's and T5HO's with great success.

The next generation of lighting however for planted and marine are the LED's; so I chose to go with the full spectrum 125W LED pendant with dual dimmers.










The penetration of the light is just as good as T5HO's which can be easily referenced from a number of different youtube videos where PAR meters are used to measure penetration at different depths.

My main interest has always been mosses and carpets so we will see how this tank progresses.

Here are some carpets from previous tanks:

Utricularia graminifolia


































Glosso


















HC 'cuba"


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Hi John, I`m currently researching lights in the LED world, the one that stands out at this time for me is the Kessil Tuna Sun, there is a A160WE & the A360WE.
The appealing factors for me is the ability to tune the spectrum from 6000K to 9000K, Coverage & intensity.
The prices are a bit up there, but can be obtained in Canada & priced similar to the US pricing in CDN dollars.
Regards


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## jrs (Mar 18, 2006)

I had checked out the Kessil Amazon Sun 150W but decided to go with this somewhat less expensive one first. 

I want to get some experience with amount of hours, light cycling and distance above the tank first because these pendants remind me a lot of the metal halides. I know that things can get quickly out of control with that type light intensity even if I am tracking water parameters daily.

I will probably run this one for the next 6 months or so to see if I can figure out all of the variables and then sell it off and go with one of the Kessils.

You also have to take into consideration that this tank is in a high school classroom and all of the equipment is purchased by myself, so if anything is damaged I am SOL.


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## jrs (Mar 18, 2006)

Here is the initial setup taken with my low res phone


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

A bit of an investment but you can't go wrong with the Kessil
The only lights that I run

http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Kessil-a160we-Tuna-SUN-Controllable-Freshwater.html


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## default (May 28, 2011)

The Kessil LEDs are great for a cube of this size. I'm currently running the exact same sized tank with an Ecotech XR15FW and the results have been great. I wouldn't recommend going with 24" T5HOs as it wouldn't match the tank length properly, however, the 20" T5s wouldn't have enough penetration to reach the entire 20" height.


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