# Lighting advice for large paludarium



## dertien616 (Jul 28, 2011)

I'm in the process of building a new paludarium the size is 48in wide, 24in deep and 36in tall. I'm planning on 8in deep water on the front section of the tank and land in the back. For lighting I have 2-48in evo quads laying around that are 5 years old. I'm thinking they would work? Eventually I want to update the lighting so I can have dawn and dusk and maybe even lightning. The lightning is not necessary, would just be cool to have as an option. I was thinking about maybe using one of the evo quads and then adding a new light for the effects. I really need enough light to get 36in down and I'm wanting this tank to be full of moss growth even on the bottom floor of the aquarium part. Any recommendations?


----------



## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

Researching this myself right now for a 36" x 18" x 36" Exo-Terra.

I was leaning towards the Jungle Hobbies LL-4800N Double Advanced LED system to punch all the way down, but that's gonna land at around $900.00CAD ... 

... it puts out 14,000 lumens. A 36" Sunblaster LED strip puts out 3,900 lumens, so even multiple Sunblasters with say one Fluval Aquasky (programmable for dawn, dusk, lightning etc. although I won't use lightning) for effects would still be half the price or better.

What I'm not clear on is PAR ratings and how they would translate for multiple Sunblasters.

Fluval Aquasky is a lower cost method to get the effects but I'm pretty sure even the 36" at only 1850 lumens is useless in terms of penetration.

I have a couple of the smaller ones and my light meter has them pretty insignificant within 12" -- quite the drop-off.


----------



## dertien616 (Jul 28, 2011)

I forgot to mention I was looking at the spectral designs lights also. On their website the 44" X 8" LED SPOT (50W) & STRIP LIGHT PANEL 2X light look perfect for what I need but I have no experience with this company. I cannot find any info on lumens they put out. Anyone used this company's lights before


----------



## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Kurt doesn't list lumens, as his website explains. He lists watts, and since all LEDs are relevantly similar in terms of LPW, you can make comparisons to other fixtures you're familiar with. 

Many of us use SD panels -- you can search and find build threads and such.


----------



## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

If you're looking for something that can cover a 36" cube area look into Kessil's Tuna Sun in either the A360WE's or the 360X. If you want to do multiple 24" cube areas just go with the A160WE's. All can be run through a Kessil Spectrum controller for sunrise and sunset. You will also be able to tinker with intensities of the light.

I use the Tuna Blue models in my reef and have used a Tuna Sun for a planted aquarium and they are great lights that I highly recommend.


----------



## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

Tihsho said:


> If you're looking for something that can cover a 36" cube area look into Kessil's Tuna Sun in either the A360WE's or the 360X. [...]


Looks very nice -- just one of those would cover a 36" cube?

*Edit: actually I see that using a single point source may create issues in terms of shadow although the spread may be enough depending on the plants. Back to researching I go.


----------



## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Fahad said:


> *Edit: actually I see that using a single point source may create issues in terms of shadow although the spread may be enough depending on the plants. Back to researching I go.



I use all SD panels on all ten of my vivs except one: a 15g tall top-opener. On that one, I used to run 2 T5HO, which grew plants poorly (compared to SD). 

I switched to an AI prime FW, which has great color and dimming control and grows plants pretty well, but which has terrible coverage compared to SD. It sends out light in a cone shape, but vivs are rectangles.


----------



## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

Socratic Monologue said:


> I use all SD panels on all ten of my vivs except one: a 15g tall top-opener. On that one, I used to run 2 T5HO, which grew plants poorly (compared to SD).
> 
> I switched to an AI prime FW, which has great color and dimming control and grows plants pretty well, but which has terrible coverage compared to SD. It sends out light in a cone shape, but vivs are rectangles.


SD = Spectral Designs? Hadn't seen that website before, thanks. Looking at it now.

*Edit: So I pulled the trigger on the 34" x 6" LED Spot (50w) & Strip Light Panel 2X with Controller and Driver Combo. If anything it may be slightly more than I need but it'll give me lots of flexibility.


----------



## Tihsho (Sep 21, 2009)

When it comes to single point sources, you can get multiple to fix that issue or supplement additional lighting. If you found a panel solution that's great!


----------



## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

Tihsho said:


> When it comes to single point sources, you can get multiple to fix that issue or supplement additional lighting. If you found a panel solution that's great!


Yeah, as evidenced by this thread and many others in the archives, there are many solutions. The panel I went with incorporates a couple of spots. It was the best bang for my buck in the end.

Quite a few bucks actually but who's counting... LOL

Maybe dertien616 can find something useful with Spectral Designs as well...


----------



## GRAHM.AMEY (Oct 2, 2019)

Hi

as a newbie i was confused by the number of products out there! I only keep FBT so my lighting requirement is for plants/aesthetics only.

local reptile store recommenced Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED light bar over anything else. They use em on their own setups. It cost not shy of £70. yes its a lot but by the time i'd bought a Exo Terra canopy, bulbs etc i'd be close to this. So far i'm really impressed. 

This thing is awesome -141 lummens per watt. - really floods the tank with usable light. 141 lummens per watt. 

the colour temperature is as close to daylight as you get 6200k and high level of PAR. the higher this is, the more energy to photosynthesis.


----------



## Austindg13 (Aug 31, 2017)

GRAHM.AMEY said:


> Hi
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Did you end up getting these? I building a tank similar to yours and am trying to find the best light for it. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------

