Maxspect or Radion lighting

[Nicholas01]

Gents/Ladies,

Not sure if this thread will get any bites - time for new lighting, the choices:
> Maxspect Mazarra @ adjustable/various 'K'
> Maxspect R420R @ 8,000K
> EcoTech Radion XR30 @ adjustable/various 'K'
> Kessil A150W Amazon Sun @ '6700K'

My tank specs and requirements:
> ADA 90p (90x45x45) say 3 foot tank
> Medium to high lighting requirement
> Discus/Planted tank

What is your experience or advise with any of the above lighting systems?

[ILLUSN]

SERIOUSLY ALL THE LIGHTS YOU'VE MENTIONED ARE JUST TOO BRIGHT AND POWERFULL FOR A PLANTED TANK!

Some things to concider, are you going to ceiling mount the light over the tank or have it on a stand ontop of the tank?

If you are going to hang it from the roof a single Maxspect R420R 8000k 120w will be overkill just make sure the distance from the substrate to the light is atleast 4 feet and dim it right down.

All you want in a planted tank is 40-60 PAR on the substrate MAX, even then you NEED CO2 to keep algae down and dense planting (not a great idea for a discus tank). the 4 lights youve listed will all smash out 100PAR+ in your tank unless you can get them nice and high.

Bang for your buck if you have a hood of some kind is the AQUARAY Grow beams, at 6500k they will give great colour, and plenty of light for a 45cm tall tank. Heres an example of how they have been used, the con is they can get expensive single tiles are ~$400 you'd want to use 2 to get good coverage. To use strips you'll need alteast 3 for nice even coverage (they come in packs of 2). on the plus side you can save a bit of money by buying them online from the UK as the voltage is the same as australia (240v)

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24161

you could also DIY a light , my DIY 50w with red blue green bridgelux chips and 6500k XML chips puts out enough light to cover my 4x2x16tall in a sheet of green spot algae. great effort since the NH4,NO3 and NO2 are 0 with daily 50% water changes. i'm going to have to strip the tank and bleach it to kill the algae, it wont come off with a razor blade!

[Nicholas01]

Interesting point of view however those lights arent what Im after appearance wise, it will be an open tank. Lights will be suspended over the tank via bracing attached to the bottom stand.


you NEED CO2 to keep algae down and dense planting (not a great idea for a discus tank).

Do you say no to CO2 because of oxygen levels?

[ILLUSN]

CO2 is fine O2 levels will always be at 89-99% saturation with surface movement and you canuse it control your PH.

Densly planted is bad besause discus like to swim.
Open top tank is also bad for discus they like to jump.

If you need a particular look for your tank, thats your call the Maxspect R420R @ 8,000K 120w would be a good choice just try and get it nice and high

[TheFish]

I believe the link is to my tank :D

I have grobeam tiles over my planted tank, and I also have maxspect's over my reef tank (bar the k's are for corals...derr)

Grobeam tiles can be mounted, hung etc, so you've got no problems there. I actually think they look nicer and sleeker than maxspects - depends if you prefer a silver aluminum look vs black plastic though.

Grobeams going to cost $400 per tile, and from memory $300 for controller (allows ramping up in 1% intervals) - pretty good for discus IMO.

Also as ILLUSN said, I would not go topless... they will jump out (especially if you place the tank anywhere with a hint of natural light, where shadows from planes can cross the tank and startle them.

[Nicholas01]

Grobeams going to cost $400 per tile, and from memory $300 for controller (allows ramping up in 1% intervals) - pretty good for discus IMO.

May I ask from where did you purchase these from? I assume online somewhere?



I actually think they look nicer and sleeker than maxspects - depends if you prefer a silver aluminum look vs black plastic though.


I think the Maxspect R420R looks good...? its thin and modern looking IMO.