arcadia overtank luminaire

[ronsterrc]

Hi

Is anyone using these

http://www.arcadia-uk.com/en/180overtank.html

Are they any good?

Ron

[magnum4]

To make the luminaire worth the cost you need to like the look of it. It's nothing special. T8 is the only one worth using for fresh water as the T5 bulbs are still at the moment onlt made for marine. When the T5 are made for fresh water then i might consider one.

But IMO go with halide lighting as it well worth the cost.

Or ASL T5 system which is made for freshwater and has a good reputation and much better price.

[joern]

Hi Ron,
i use that device in a smaller version in T8.

As i didn't like the two tubes, I changed them to Osram 840 and 860. This works fine (and much cheeper as those from the pet shop).

[ronsterrc]

So are you saying that it is best to use a more intensive light output for fish that are sensitive to light? I have a tank that has mainly catfish now and i'm using a T8 bulb. I also have a Marine Blue Actinic bulb. Would switching to T5 bulbs be better?

Ron

[joern]

Hi Ron,

this is a generell question.....what sort of tank do you want ?

Looking at the natural habitat of plecos in the Amazon River they don't live in habitat with plants, it's more a "dark" environment...

Plants need much light, even more than plecos....and some plants need very much light...

For plecos one tube in T8 would be o.k.

but for flowers you need some more....so you can use T5, which brings more efficiency than T8...

Think about it, what you want (or your plecos really need), but this may be different from that what your dealer what to sell or advertising tells you...