2ft light for planted tank

[reddyones]

Hi all,

Need some help in selecting my light for a 2ft tank.
I am looking for a acrylic kind of lighting. I have shortlisted:

1) Chihiros A series
2) Chihiros Aquasky
3) Odyssey Trend 600

Any expertise, differences or user experiences on the above models are greatly appreciated.
Info might involve watts, color temperature, user friendliness, price comparisons and locations to be bought.

Cheers all

[Apistoinka]

Im using chihiros a series.. can say is awesome plus point comes with dimmer.. they do have the height extender sold seperately.. price wise quite reasonable..

[reddyones]

From some info i find,
A series comparing with aquasky,
It is 39w vs 36w
Lumens is 5800 lm vs 3500-3600 lm
But it is priced almost half of the price or less than aquasky.

Apis, can i know what type of plants u have using a series any foreground plants thks

[reddyones]

Sounds like a good choice for a series.
But i am still wondering how come aquasky can price out a series by so much.

Any aquasky users can give some views on their lighting sets thks.

[Urban Aquaria]

The chihiros aquasky version has that ADA-style acrylic stand and all though... i guess the "design" add a premium on the price.

Yeah, i'm also using the A-series for a few of my tanks now and so far it works well. The 7-step dimmer function makes the light very versatile as it can be tuned to the intensity i require. I can easily use the same lightset with low-tech tanks (less light) and high-tech tanks (more light), no need to keep changing different lightsets whenever i do rescapes.

[reddyones]

For the dimmer advantage, the Aquasky does have it also like the A series.

With regards to the ADA style, it might be causing the price to be steeper.
But in terms of specs, does Aquasky really have a upper hand against A series ?

Another thought of the lighting to be used,
will the level of brightness cause any bad effects on the fishes in the tank....

[Urban Aquaria]

I also went through the same analysis when deciding which series to get for my tanks too.

At at the end i went for the A-Series as its listed at 160% the max. lumens comparared to the Aquasky, which allows for more flexibility in usage, while only consuming 3W more. A big part of the decision was also the price, especially when its costs is so much lower than the aquasky version (i ordered in all my units online from TaoBao). Those costs do add up when i have to buy a few sets for my tanks.

The only disadvantage i could figure was just forgoing the ADA style acrylic design stand. I actually personally prefer the simpler minimalist aluminium bar design of the A-Series anyways, so it was a no-brainer for me.

As for high light intensity possibly causing bad effects on fishes... it will depend alot on the types of fishes you keep. For those species which prefer dim environments, you'll just have to tune down the light intensity and/or add more plants which can provide shade for them. It's all a matter of how you setup the tank and choosing livestock which are suitable for your intended tank environment.

[reddyones]

Thanks urban for your user experience and decision making part.

It is funny that Chihiros prices A series to be lower but has a better lumens.

With regards to the adjusting aquascape to suit your needs in terms of lighting power,
it is a human factor that we can control which is nice.

Next will be the heat, which of the factors like watts or lumens that affect the heat of the light ?

[Urban Aquaria]

For heat it seems to depend more on watts, generally the higher the watts the more heat generated. It also depends on how much passive cooling (ie. casing material and surface area) or active cooling (ie. inbuilt fans) are on the lights, which can make quite a difference.

You can feel the variation in heat generated when tuning the intensity on the A-series lights. At max. intensity it can get quite warm over a period of time (but still can hold the lightset and move around)... at least not so super hot like traditional T5 light tubes, those will literally burn fingers.

That being said, i've seen some people DIY extra cooling features like installing additional aluminum radiator fins to dissipate heat or even mount on PC fans to blow away the heat. I guess those could be interesting mod projects to try out if further heat reduction is a priority.

[reddyones]

Cheers Urban on the sharing of knowledge on heat and the ways of minimisation.

The part of acrylic of Aquasky still do seducing me (:P) although it is much more costly and lesser lumens.
I will give a deep thought of which light to be chosen.

Are there any bad experiences to share using the above lights and precautions to be taken in using them

[Ivan Choo]

I'm using the chihiros aquasky knockoff. My only gripe is the acrylic tend to bow downwards at the middle over time, causing a slight gap between it and the led sink. This is probably due to the quality of acrylic and heat causing it to bend over time. At certain angle you can see the led lights showing through the gap, nothing major. I believe this issue is not prevalent for anything lesser than 2ft. It's a good light for planted tank, I'll still consider it for my next tank.

[reddyones]

Finally a Aquasky user speaks up, appreciate ivan for sharing a wear and tear issue of the acrylic stand over time.

If Chihiros have accessories which include the acrylic stand, it might be beneficial for the current existing users and the others who are tempted on trying a acrylic stand and improvising it.

[Urban Aquaria]

Forgot to mention an additional point about the A-series, if you do plan to use it in a paludarium or riparium setup with emersed plants, there is an adjustable tall metal stand fixture accessory that is sold separately for it. So you can vary the height of the lightset to create extra space for emergent plants.

I ordered a set of the metal stands to try out a while back, it works well (though it can also get abit wobbly at the tallest setting), just have to adjust until its stable. So far, i've only seen it on sale from TaoBao sellers though, so you'll have to order it from online.

Here is a photo of the adjustable tall metal stand accessory for the A-series:



Photo from TaoBao.com

[reddyones]

Looks like A series has got the upper hand in customiziation more "Lego" :P which Urban brings up.

Emerging scape tanks will greatly make use of the "Lego" A series metal stand.
But just to take note : Having tall light is that the tank itself should be shorter in order to make good use of the light penetration.

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, light intensity and height can be adjusted according to requirements... so for example if you usually set the dimmer at level 3 or 4 at normal stand height, if the height is raised, you could adjust the dimmer to level 6 or 7 to compensate for the extra distance. There are various combinations to try out.

[reddyones]

Too bad Aquasky lights do not has the holes to insert the metal stand like the A series.

Sounds like urban is a Tao Bao holic
How much shipment costs normally for such item, are they trustworthy ?

[Apistoinka]

Just bought my extend at sunpets.. i had seen them using those extend on aquasky too.. you might wanna go there check it out..

[reddyones]

Apiso thks for the tips, btw how much it cost on your A series ?

Do you have any pics to share on the metal stand ?

[Urban Aquaria]

How much shipment costs normally for such item, are they trustworthy ?

Shipping costs will depend on the shipping method, i usually choose "economy air" on Ezybuy.sg (formerly 65daigou), the 2-3 day delivery speed is quite fast and it only costs abit more than the much slower 10-14 day sea shipping.

Based on my previous orders, the total international shipping and agent fee cost for an A-Series A601 unit (including the tall stand accessory) worked out to around just SGD$5+. The actual cost also depends on whether you order other stuff in the shipment too, which can help to further spread out the shipping and agent fees.

I've been ordered stuff from TaoBao through agents for the past few years, they are quite reliable and no issues encountered so far. Items arrived on time and in good condition.

Beware though... buying stuff on TaoBao can be super addictive!

[reddyones]

Thks Urban for seducing us into TaoBao haha.

Shall consider all the points and user experience provided by Urban and Apiso, appreciate your sharing of information.