# 220 Gallon LED Lighting Suggestions



## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

Yes, that light will work, it's strong and will enable you to grow carpeting plants. Your issue is you have a deep tank front to back that will require you to have and additional light to get a good spread. I have a similar light and I believe it's has 90 degree optics.


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## charles-n-charge (Sep 18, 2016)

Nlewis said:


> Yes, that light will work, it's strong and will enable you to grow carpeting plants. Your issue is you have a deep tank front to back that will require you to have and additional light to get a good spread. I have a similar light and I believe it's has 90 degree optics.


Thanks for the feedback Nlewis. I recognize the width issue with the tank as well as the depth. I am looking to use the 2 50W LED Floodlights along with the 72" LED, to hopefully help overcome this problem. However, I am not sure just how good the floodlights really are, as the existing plants have been struggling with them. I am not sure if that is the fault of the lights, or if it is the fact that the two floods together only add up to 100W thinly spread over such a large tank, assuming that they are actually producing the 50W that they advertise.


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

What led fixture do you have currently? Judging by the picture you posted the tank looks pretty well lit. It very well may be something else causing your plants to faulter.


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## charles-n-charge (Sep 18, 2016)

Nlewis said:


> What led fixture do you have currently? Judging by the picture you posted the tank looks pretty well lit. It very well may be something else causing your plants to faulter.


The current lights are the 2 50W LED floods and a 72" Beamswork with 280x 0.5W LEDs, which I figure is just providing decorative light rather than usable light for the plants. I believe it is composed of 252x 10,000K White LEDs and 28x Blue Actinic 460nm LEDs. It was a cheap fixture that I bought a long time ago for when I used to keep small saltwater rays in this tank. I don't think it was ever intended to do more than just look nice.

I am also currently fighting with high pH. I run a drip system on the tank that replaces roughly 4-8 gallons of water per day, that is being fed by a holding tank connected to an R/O system. My tap water has a pretty high pH, and I'm finding that the water coming out of my R/O purifier is coming out at about 7.8-8.0, resulting in my tank pH being around 7.7-7.9. I have been using Seachem Neutral Regulator for about a week and have not noticed any change whatsoever, and just added peat moss into my trickle filter a few days ago to see if that will eventually help. Ultimately, I think it might be time to change the membranes in my R/O, but I'm not sure of how much this will help. I am hoping that once I start using CO2 that it will help bring my pH down to a better level, but once again am not sure of the effect to expect. I'm definitely open to suggestions.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

charles-n-charge said:


> The current lights are the 2 50W LED floods and a 72" Beamswork with 280x 0.5W LEDs, which I figure is just providing decorative light rather than usable light for the plants. I believe it is composed of 252x 10,000K White LEDs and 28x Blue Actinic 460nm LEDs. It was a cheap fixture that I bought a long time ago for when I used to keep small saltwater rays in this tank. I don't think it was ever intended to do more than just look nice.





> Includes 280 LEDs
> 12000 Lumen


Beamswork is fine for a planted tank but you have a huge tank.. Second one is def. recommended to overcome shadowing and also deal w/ the 24" f/b measurement..
30" is 36PAR @ 24" depth.. 2 wouldeffecively double is in many areas, though you'd want to spread them a bit to avoid the center shadows..










charles-n-charge said:


> I am also currently fighting with high pH. I run a drip system on the tank that replaces roughly 4-8 gallons of water per day, that is being fed by a holding tank connected to an R/O system. My tap water has a pretty high pH, and I'm finding that the water coming out of my R/O purifier is coming out at about 7.8-8.0, resulting in my tank pH being around 7.7-7.9. I have been using Seachem Neutral Regulator for about a week and have not noticed any change whatsoever, and just added peat moss into my trickle filter a few days ago to see if that will eventually help. Ultimately, I think it might be time to change the membranes in my R/O, but I'm not sure of how much this will help. I am hoping that once I start using CO2 that it will help bring my pH down to a better level, but once again am not sure of the effect to expect. I'm definitely open to suggestions.


Once fully stocked and once CO2 is added pH has a good tendency to drop.. At least that is what I find the most likely scenario.
some plants do not like pH changes though.

There are few LED's that are run at the stated wattage. May be system watts but not diode watts.

nothing wrong w/ adding the 50watters .. if you like the look..


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## charles-n-charge (Sep 18, 2016)

jeffkrol said:


> Beamswork is fine for a planted tank but you have a huge tank.. Second one is def. recommended to overcome shadowing and also deal w/ the 24" f/b measurement..
> 30" is 36PAR @ 24" depth.. 2 wouldeffecively double is in many areas, though you'd want to spread them a bit to avoid the center shadows..
> 
> 
> ...


So would you recommend purchasing the light that I included in the link in my original post, and using it along with the current 72" Beamswork that I have? (This would leave no room up top for the floods) 


As far as the pH goes, the current tank stock is fairly light. There are 2 angels, 3 large plecos, 2 fire mouth cichlids, 6 red hump eartheater cichlids, 1 large clown loach, a small school of zebra danios and a couple miscellaneous tetras. There are also 12 red hump eartheater fry in the basket in the top right corner of the tank. Today I actually have an order being shipped in via PetSolutions to finish stocking the tank. The order includes 1 rainbow shark, 14 different varieties of cory cats, 4 Chinese algae eaters, a dozen more zebra danios, 6 glass catfish, a pearl gourami, 5 oto cats, and 6 more clown loaches. Other than that, the only other fish that I intend to add are 1-3 more angels. So hopefully with the addition of the new fish, and the addition of CO2 (some time this month) I will start to see my pH move in the right direction. 

Oddly enough, the fish came in the mail while I was typing this. Subtract 2 loaches and 4 corys from what I originally said for DOA... 

I greatly appreciate the input so far, and I'm really excited to be getting back into freshwater and relearning a lot of this. I started with basic freshwater tanks, then got into keeping large predatory fish, and then started messing with saltwater rays and small reef tanks for a few years. This is my first FW set up in quite some time, and I have never before tried to mess with freshwater plants. I figured it would be a cakewalk in comparison to reef keeping, but I am slowly seeing that planted tanks have their own unique sets of challenges.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

> So would you recommend purchasing the light that I included in the link in my original post, and using it along with the current 72" Beamswork that I have?


That would probably be enough alone. 90 lenses for depth 4 rows for spread..
Look at the 15" EVO above.. That is basically what you have in the 4 row 3w quad..
Another measurement 2 duals side by side (effective quad)









130PAr @ 17" enough to grow corals.. 
normally that is the first choice but times change. I do like the new .5 5 row lights for one simple reason.. diode efficiency is increasing all the time and I 'believe" those small emitters watt/watt emit more photons
than the old "Bridgelux" 3W ers.. The advantage of course is the optics.. 



> I figured it would be a cakewalk in comparison to reef keeping, but I am slowly seeing that planted tanks have their own unique sets of challenges.


True dat..  But it actually is a lot easier and less demanding..but def. different.. Of course w/ anything you can make it simple or complicated.


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

Don't worry about the ph. You may want to start another thread regarding the RO system. I've never used one, but I believe you are supposed to be remineralizing the RO water. Straight RO water is not good for a planted tank as you are removing some of the stuff the plants need to grow. Also while your gathering all your stuff to get this going, you should pick up some dry fertilizers.


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## charles-n-charge (Sep 18, 2016)

jeffkrol said:


> That would probably be enough alone. 90 lenses for depth 4 rows for spread..
> Look at the 15" EVO above.. That is basically what you have in the 4 row 3w quad..
> Another measurement 2 duals side by side (effective quad)
> 
> ...


I will go ahead and set it up with both of the 72" LEDS (the current fixture with 280x0.5W LED's and the new one with 96x3W LED's) and will just plan on ditching the floodlights all together. I think it will be a cleaner looking set up, and it sounds like I will have the best results that way. 

I'm sure that once I get adjusted that it will be much easier than reef keeping, but I do have quite a learning curve to overcome first. 



Nlewis said:


> Don't worry about the ph. You may want to start another thread regarding the RO system. I've never used one, but I believe you are supposed to be remineralizing the RO water. Straight RO water is not good for a planted tank as you are removing some of the stuff the plants need to grow. Also while your gathering all your stuff to get this going, you should pick up some dry fertilizers.


I will have to do some more research about R/O water's effects on planted tanks. I had always used R/O water with my marine set up, and just made the assumption that it was a good idea in a freshwater application also. I can see how that assumption would be wrong though, now that you mention it. 

As far as the pH goes, I had always thought that the pH would have an effect on plant growth/health. I may be overthinking it (coming from the dark side of this hobby where every aspect of the aquarium was crucial), but is it really something that I don't need to be concerned with? 

I don't know a whole lot about fertilizers either. I regularly use products such as Flourish Excel, Kent Plant Pro, and API Leaf Zone, but so far that is as far as I have gotten with plant additives. 




I really do appreciate the advice so far, as I am still trying to dive deeper into this side of the hobby with the small amount of free time that I have (thus why I gave up on marine tanks for awhile). I still have quite a way to go, but all this information is a great help as I try to re-familiarize myself with the freshwater basics as well as learning more about plant keeping on this level, which is a new area for me.


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

charles-n-charge said:


> As far as the pH goes, I had always thought that the pH would have an effect on plant growth/health. I may be overthinking it (coming from the dark side of this hobby where every aspect of the aquarium was crucial), but is it really something that I don't need to be concerned with?


Not really, you just want to keep it consistent. CO2 will cause the ph in your tank to drop and you want to target around a 1 point drop, so this will put you around a ph of 7. 

Oh an here's a link to a fert package. Dry ferts are cheap and will last awhile vs. the Seachem line which are expensive and don't last long, especially in a large tank. You may actually consider getting 2 packages due to how large your tank is.


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## charles-n-charge (Sep 18, 2016)

Nlewis said:


> Not really, you just want to keep it consistent. CO2 will cause the ph in your tank to drop and you want to target around a 1 point drop, so this will put you around a ph of 7.
> 
> Oh an here's a link to a fert package. Dry ferts are cheap and will last awhile vs. the Seachem line which are expensive and don't last long, especially in a large tank. You may actually consider getting 2 packages due to how large your tank is.


Thanks. I'll have to see what happens with my pH when I start adding CO2. I'm currently working on researching various CO2 setups, trying to decide the best route to go with my tank. I think I'm coming close to having it figured out, and will be ordering the supplies as soon as I come to that conclusion. I'm planning on buying 2 10lb CO2 tanks from my local welding supply company (so I can constantly swap them out and refill them), using a Premium Aquatek CO2 Regulator w/ a simple bubble counter, and having an inline CO2 reactor connected to a powerhead within the tank. The only thing I'm still trying to figure out is what inline reactor is going to be the best bang for my buck. 

I'd definitely be interested in researching and trying out dry fertilizers. I'm all for better and cheaper! I don't see any link on your post though. What fertilizers would you recommend?


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

Ha, my bad the links below. 

EI based NPK + CSM+B with GH booster - NilocG Aquatics

Personally building your own reactor is probably the best. You can look into building a Rex Griggs or a Cerges reactor. I've never made or used a Rex before but a lot of the people here use them and they are efficient. I have a Cerges reactor and it's pretty simplistic as the main component is a common whole house filter. I think by the time I bought the filter, ball valves and pvc fittings it cost me around $40.


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## charles-n-charge (Sep 18, 2016)

Nlewis said:


> Ha, my bad the links below.
> 
> EI based NPK + CSM+B with GH booster - NilocG Aquatics
> 
> Personally building your own reactor is probably the best. You can look into building a Rex Griggs or a Cerges reactor. I've never made or used a Rex before but a lot of the people here use them and they are efficient. I have a Cerges reactor and it's pretty simplistic as the main component is a common whole house filter. I think by the time I bought the filter, ball valves and pvc fittings it cost me around $40.


After researching further, I decided to take your advice and build my own reactor. I have built plenty of other filtration devices out of PVC in the past, so I said what the heck. So I started looking at different designs and setups, and decided I wanted to use a clear tube instead of PVC for the main body. The only problem was that I wasn't sure where I could find a clear tube that would work, other than buying a cheap gravel vac and using that. So I made the brave decision to look in my attic (the fish equipment graveyard) to see if maybe I already had an old one and LO AND BEHOLD I find a Large Lee's Protein Skimmer (cheap POS skimmer), still brand new and in the box. I had forgotten it was there, as I got it for free years ago because it had some defects. I think that the housing will be the perfect platform to build my reactor with. It was as if a guardian angel was sending me a sign that DIY was the way to go... Now I am just trying to decide exactly how I want to put it together


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

I'd start a new thread on this. As far as I know a Griggs reactor consist of the main body and 2 elbows. Some others on here can probably walk you throu the build.


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## charles-n-charge (Sep 18, 2016)

Nlewis said:


> I'd start a new thread on this. As far as I know a Griggs reactor consist of the main body and 2 elbows. Some others on here can probably walk you throu the build.


I agree. This thread has progressively gotten pretty far off the topic of lighting... lol 

I don't think I'll need any help with the build. The concept seems pretty simple and straight forward. Just make all the bubbles disappear before leaving the chamber, and voila. I'll take some photos of the build process and start a separate thread for it. Since I have been searching for plans to build one, I have noticed that theres only a couple existing threads out there showing the construction. So who knows, maybe it'll help somebody out someday.


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## charles-n-charge (Sep 18, 2016)

Hey guys, 

I wanted to share that I did order the light we discussed, and it came in the mail today. I have added it to the tank, and am pleased with the appearance. Now we will just have to wait to see how the plants like it. The original Beamswork light should be roughly 140W, and the new Green Element light should be 288W, so I should be dealing with about 428W total now, or roughly 1.9W per gallon (if that rule even means anything).

And, on a side note, I am currently constructing my CO2 reactor for the tank, and my new regulator will be here next week. So hopefully I will be injecting CO2 within the next 7 days. And, I have purchased a bottle of Osmocote Plus to put in the substrate, and plan on ordering some dry ferts soon as well. I will start separate threads for these, and will keep posting tank updates elsewhere on the site.

Anyways, here's a few (bad) pictures of the new light and the tank


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Hmm...thought about reversing the light order?
Reason being putting the 90 degree in front. 120 in back.


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