lighting a 240

has any one added extra lights to a rio240 or similar? if so can you help me in the installation. all i can find is that people tend to balance the extras on the cross member which to me is askng for sparks to fly if it falls in the tank
also the standard lights will have to be upgrded but as to what i dont know :roll:
will t5/t8s fit and what is the differance?
regards
mralgae

i looked into upgrading to t5.....in the end the t8 lights i bought were 38w and the t5s were 39watt so i didnt see the point and stuck wit hthe t8s :wink:
(got different tubes)

I am in the process of adding lights to my 230l tank. It came with 2x25w T8s which are pretty useless when it comes to plants. I'm sure your tank probably has the same. The 25w is the longest T8 bulb that will fit into a metre long tank.

The difference between T8 and T5 is the diameter of the bulb. T5 is 5/8ths of an inch in diameter and T8s are 8/8ths or one inch. The T5s are also far more powerful - up to 80% is claimed. They are also more economical. T5s have more watts for the same length bulb - I think the highest wattage T5 you can get into a 1 metre tank is 39w as opposed to 25w in a T8.

However, T5 bulbs use a different ballast (or starter) than that of a T8 bulb so you just can't plug T5 bulbs into your existing Juwel set up. You would need to buy a different ballast. Arcadia do these, but they are expensive - around €70 for a ballast to power a single T5 39w bulb. You can get dual ballasts that will power 2 bulbs for around €100.

Arcadia also do an I-Bar which essentially replaces the whole lighting unit in a Juwel tank. The standard Juwel flaps supposedly fit as normal. These are also availalble in T5. I'm not too sure how much these cost, but I'm sure you're looking at well over €150 for a T5 version.

Another route (and the one I took) is to use the Interpet Compact T5 bulbs. They give off a lot of light and are especially useful if you're tight for space. I got two 24w versions. They also come in 18, 36 and 55w. I mounted one of the lights on the inside of the rear flap of my tank. I has really made a difference. Only downside is that it makes using the flap more difficult. I have another which I planned to fit to the front flap. However, I use this flap a lot and am not sure a light attached to it would be practical. I'm looking for another way to mount this close to the font of my tank.

Here is a link to the Interpet Compacts on Aquaristic.net:

www.aquaristic.net/shop/shop.php/sid/dd9...5%20Power%20Compact/

At the moment, you have about 1 watt per gallon, adding the same again will give you close to two watts per gallon which is where you need to be to grow plants with a low to medium light requirement.

thanks for your help on that gents, learn something new every day.
will let you know how it goes.

ken the rio 240 is 1.2 metres and so the t8 bulbs are 38w.
are the t5s really more powerfull at 39w?
i suppose if its a bigger tube it could be ..... what do u think ken?

anyone else have any experience on the matter?

can we go back to feet & inch? its easier.
the 240 is 121cm long. 2x38w tubes standard, tube length is 1047mm. as per jewel hand book.

The T5s are thinner tubes and supposed to give up to 80% more light. They are also more economical to run (and more expensive to buy).

The T5 compact I have in my tank is 24w and it definitely gives off more light than the T8 25w.

I didn't realise the Rio 240 was 1.2m long. My Aquatlantis is 230l and is 1m long. However, mine is a bow front which explains that equivalent capacity, but shorter length.

Any tanks I've seen that come with lights give you enough light to see the fish. They don't provide enough light to grow most plants. Therefore, a light upgrade is necessary.

Still wondering what to do with my second Interpet 24w Compact. Should I mount it on the font flap and give myself a pain in the arse everytime I'm doing maintenance or should I mount it at the rear with the current T5 compact and use a reflector to project light to the front? Anyone any opinoins? Here's a drawing of my tank:

www.aquatlantis.com/uk-frame-produtos.php?id_produto=51

pain in the butt that they havnt come up with an ideal lighting system for planted tanks with all the techno they have these days but profit is what they are after.
with regards to your tank: where would it benifit most to install it. i.e. if you havnt many or any plants at the front it is a waste of time putting it there. it would be best suited over the plants that need more light.
just my thoughts.
regards

Thanks Algae. Come to think of it, most of my plants are near the back, nothing much right up the front. I'll try it on the back and see how it goes.

Cheers.