A lighting question

[WhistlingBadger]

So, the LED light fixture on the 150 gallon died recently. I'm thinking about getting two 36 inchers instead of a 72 incher. The old 72" sagged in the middle, which I never really liked. Thoughts?

 

[Uberhoust]

One of my 48" LEDs sags a bit too, It bothers me but functionally still works well. With two lights it might be more possible to knock one into the tank when doing maintenance but you could also have them on different cycles. I would like a split light for my 60 tall. I don't see why two 36" fixtures couldn't work well overall with the exception of the support at the middle of the tank might make getting them to rest correctly might need some modifications.

 

[noobfish]

So, the LED light fixture on the 150 gallon died recently. I'm thinking about getting two 36 inchers instead of a 72 incher. The old 72" sagged in the middle, which I never really liked. Thoughts?

What was the one that died? Planted tank?

 

[noobfish]

What was the one that died? Planted tank?

Oh is this the Rio? 2 - 36" could be good, never have to worry about being stuck with no light. I mean, what are the chances both would die at once?? And two would in theory be less heat and therefore longer lifespan.
I'm still loving the aquasky. Just need to get it the way I want. Heard good things about nicrew on here too.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Does the 150 have a cross beam in the center?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Yes, this is for the Rio Negro. And yes, PK, there's center brace. The one that just died was this one: Beamswork. Thinking about getting 2 either Hygger or Nicrew 36 Inchers.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

After reading the reviews, I think I'll get the nicrews. I might have to offset them (one toward the front, one more toward the back, to fit the braces in, or redneck injuneer something, but I'll make it work.

 

[Uberhoust]

I have a NICREW SkyLED Plus for Planted 48", it gives the best color for viewing and enjoying the fish of all my lights except for a spot light I have for one of my small tanks, and the plants seem to be doing ok. It is on my tall 60gal. It has a narrower frame than some of the other models and doesn't seem as robust. It has about 10mm of sag in the middle. The Nicrew ramp timer seems to work ok on this one. This one is 6 months old.

I also have the 48" Nicrew ClassicLED G2, but an older model, 2 years old. I struggled to gets sags growing at the bottom of the tall 60g, 26" tall, with this light, but it is now on my 75g which is 20" tall, and the same sags are doing better than before. My Ludwigia and Echinodorus are growing well with this light. This light seems more robust than the SkyLED. The model I have has two separate channels for the white and blue and requires the two channel ramp timer which doesn't have as many ramps as the other systems. I have also tried using a single ramp timer before the control unit, which works but you cannot ramp the light. When the ramp timer is dimming the light when you get near the end of the ramp, ie the light just turning on or off it causes the light to flash, it ramps nicely till a point then you get a few flashes before it goes off. The flashes do bother the fish so for this tank I have a more abrupt ramp which prevents the flash from occurring. The biggest issue with this unit is that the color is definitely blue and is missing the reds and yellows so the fish do not look as nice.

I also have NICREW RGB Plus 30" on a 20 gallon long. It is on the daily color cycle which does seem to work for both the fish and the plants, but the tank is only 11" deep so it really doesn't take as much. I like the changing colors most of the time but sometimes it can be frustrating towards evening or morning. Also the timer circuit in the unit is very inaccurate. The cycle seems to lose or gain time so I have to constantly reset it. It only fully turns off for about 2 to 4 hours a day but the evening and morning the light is dim. Its kind of picky to work with, I don't care much for the IR controller. Doubt it would be to the task on a larger tank. The construction of this lamp is similar to the G2.

Just my experiences with the NICREW lights. When choosing the lights I mostly looked at the PAR rating trying to get something over 90.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I'm thinking that two lights, as opposed to the one, might give you more flexibility if you want to play with settings. Plus, if one pops its clogs, you'll still have light from the other one.