How a marine aquarium is created-Part 7: The light

30.07.2018

Light is life. These three words have been used many times before! No wonder, you can't express it any more aptly than that. Light is truly life in a reef aquarium and extremely important for the well-tended corals and co. Here you can find interesting facts about light and also see the installation of the Reef Light LED 120cm from Aquaristik Singer.

Light in the reef aquarium

Light is life. These three words have been used before, and we'll do it again here.
No wonder it couldn't be expressed more aptly. Light is truly alive in a reef aquarium and extremely important for the well-kept floral animals.

Since we have now described everything in the initial phase, light undoubtedly comes before the further steps of technical equipment.

Which lighting should be used in a reef aquarium...?

This question will undoubtedly be asked above all by those switching from freshwater, as well as by newcomers, of course. The newcomer should be told that most of the T5 tubes used in fresh water should better be replaced by tubes suitable for seawater.

General information about the types of lighting:

As a rule, in 2018 - when this report is being written -  either T5 Röhren, or LED lighting, or even hybrid lighting, i.e. a mixture of both.
Before the year 2000, HQI was preferred, followed by T5 Röhren and then, towards the end of the 2000s, the first LED lighting to be taken seriously.

Today, the trade has many different systems that are more or less suitable.
There are many factors that influence the intensity of the light that reaches the bottom, be it reflectors for the T5 luminaires, for example, or the light distribution of the LEDs, flat or spot. The cooling of the LEDs also has its part to play.
Not to be forgotten, all of the light sources used naturally age as well.

For T5 R&O luminaires, there is a need for a more efficient lighting system.

In the case of T5 tubes, under demanding conditions with colourful corals, it is often necessary to replace them after 6 months (blue) or 10 months (white).

.

LEDs also age naturally, but we cannot and should not make any concrete statements about this.

You should do some research beforehand and know what you want to maintain. It is important to provide your animals with optimal light, which is not always easy, as some species (e.g. Acantastrea) need little light, while others (all SPS corals) need much more. The blue component also has a strong influence on the colour development of some corals.

Now we come to our LED light, the Reef Light 120 cm

.

The key data are:

High quality LED lighting for marine aquariums,

Aluminium housing IP65, passively cooled

.

4 channel WiFi control computer, input voltage: 100-240V AC , 50/60 Hz 

112 CREE led chip, 3W each (60 blue, 36 white, 6 UV)

Lens 90 

Top bracket and wire suspension

Dimensions: 1200x217x23 mm

Weight: 10.1 kg

Current consumption max: 200 Watt +-10%

This LED comes from Aquaristik Singer, a quite well-known and also sympathetic shop in the Upper Palatinate. (We have already made a video there where the shop and also the LED were presented. If you like, you can find the video on youtube here:

At the Interzoo in May you noticed that we were starting a new tank and then kindly offered us your own LED. The LED costs 699 euros in the 120 cm version. However, it is also available in smaller sizes of 60 cm and 90 cm. Of course, there are many LED luminaires that are considerably more expensive. +

But now to the video and the installation over our aquarium:

 

 

Contact the manufacturer: https://www.reeflight.de/

 

 

 

---

How do you like this article? 3 0