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Filtration, Lighting and any other advice for a new 6 x 2 x 2 cichlid tank


SophSixx

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If your short then a small step ladder is the only way. lol

I do 30% water change every other week by vacuuming gravel/substrate only, wipe glass if needed and I always move atleast one item (rock) in the tank to stir up and create a new zone for my mbunas.

Your tank should be perpetual, a total failure or pull down would be the only time your tank will be empty.

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You could also consider twinwall polycarbonate (thread here) for lids for your sump. I made them for my tank as well and had remarkable benefits over glass.

I will look into this also, or have one of the handyman boys look into it for me! Some of us girls just aren't so, well not to sound degrading to any females reading this, but cluey when it comes to things like this! Hopefully with what I'm learning on a daily basis I can give some advice to the next newbie starting out in this hobby some day. Tomorrow is lights day for me and fingers crossed I make the right decision. I was considering the Aqua Zonic Sirius slim LED's, I'm spending a fair chunk of change on the set up of this tank so don't want to ruin it with insufficient lights but don't want to spend thousands of dollars neither. Any feedback on these would be great if anyone has used them.

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If your short then a small step ladder is the only way. lol

I do 30% water change every other week by vacuuming gravel/substrate only, wipe glass if needed and I always move atleast one item (rock) in the tank to stir up and create a new zone for my mbunas.

Your tank should be perpetual, a total failure or pull down would be the only time your tank will be empty.

By my calculations the top of the tank sits at nearly 1.6m, I'm 1.74, pretty sure the step ladders gonna come in handy! We were joking about me putting on my bikinis and a snorkel to get in there and clean it... Im going to need it just to feed the fish lol.

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I have no idea on a good LED to suggest, but to begin I would say look at the Aqua Zonic Miracle if you have any yellow fish.

Color spectrum your looking for is 12K White & 445nm Blue, but may wash out yellow colors in your tank.

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I'm not a pro at lighting but I've had a few ranging from cheap to expensive.

I've gotta be honest, I dont see much difference in lights other than the colour range.

I've had cheap led's (a review here) and bought expensive purpose built ones for my planted tank (a review here)

At the end of the day if you can buy cheap led's in the 6500 to 10k spectrum range, you'll likely be happy. The worx lights are a pretty good deal though you'd likely have to buy 2 3 foot lights and split them across your tank (I did 2 4 foot across my 8 foot and still happy with the lights)

I bought 12k spectrum for my tropheus tank and I'd suggest not going above 10k. Above 10k adds green led's into the equation and for me personally totally ruins the colour of light. Basically my 10k looks natural but the 12k starts to make everything look green. maybe just a personal thing though.

Alot of company's imo try to profit from specializing in spectrum range (sales pitch) when in reality alot of the time the typical hobbyist wouldn't notice the premium.

I think you can buy premium and recieve premium but also you can buy average and get something that is not so far off premium that you would notice.

[edit] lol Buccal, I think he (Sam) was joking that you double posted and the emphasis might be that hopefully it might mean double nitrite removal

[edit2] just re-read and noticed your double post was removed so that why it doesn't make sence]

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Please keep us updated on your light choice and review as I'm also looking to upgrade from a Glo T5 HO 54watt.

I will definitely keep you updated. Tank gets installed in 3 weeks so I in the meantime I am doing a lot of research on lights.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all,

So tank gets installed weekend after Christmas and I have made up my mind on lights. I am going for a 5 foot Malibu S400Plus. Was going to go 2 x 3 foot but was told this 5 foot unit will light the whole 6 foot tank. ( hopefully so ).

If anyone has had any experience with these please let me know... It may be a little overkill as I am not planning on having a planted tank but have found them at a decent cost and like the features it comes with. Will upload pics when everything gets installed.

Specs

5ft (150cm) Malibu S400 Plus, LED Salt Water Aquarium Light (Black)

WiFi control Malibu S Plus LED Aquarium Light.
  • Black S400 120pcs 3watt LED 1500(L)*200(w)*48(H)mm (59″*7.8″*1.9″)
  • New controlling system for Android devices (Smart phones and Tablet PC ), program multi lights at the same time
  • Each light has built in Wifi
  • Customizable 380-780nm full spectra and minimal colour banding LEDs fully adjustable
  • Aluminium, brushed metal and anti-corrosion.
  • Toughened-glass front panel maximized light penetration.
  • Ultra slim (4.5cm) casing
  • 4-level quiet fans (fan speed adjusting according to brightness)
  • 2 types of Optical lens 60° & 120°
  • Fully programmable 4 channels resulting endless colour combination for good coral growth and appeal.
  • 8 settable time points to resemble natural light conditions
  • CE ,FCC approved MW driver with built-in fans ensures sustaining stable, safe voltage supply.
  • 4 mounting options : hanging kits (Included with each light), retractable stand, acrylic stand or extendible brackets.
  • 2 Year Warranty

Each Package includes:

  • LED Aquarium light with built in Wifi
  • 240v transformer
  • Power cord with AU plug
  • Wire hanging kit

LED AQUARIUM LIGHT SIZING
Dimensions from 24~150 cm long with power output 80W~400W

S80 24pcs 3watt LED 240(L)*200(w)*48(H)mm (9 1/2″*7.8″*1.9″)

S120 40pcs 3watt LED 400(L)*200(w)*48(H)mm (15.7″*7.8″*1.9″)

S150 48pcs 3watt LED 600(L)*200(w)*48(H)mm (23.6″*7.8″*1.9″)

S200 72pcs 3watt LED 900(L)*200(w)*48(H)mm (35.4″*7.8″*1.9″)

S300 96pcs 3watt LED 1200(L)*200(w)*48(H)mm (47.2″*7.8″*1.9″)

S400 120pcs 3watt LED 1500(L)*200(w)*48(H)mm (59″*7.8″*1.9″)

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If all the features it has can actually be put to use, then I can see value in it,, it's basically fully automated and corrosive resistant (for real in this case).

Could be a waiste of money if these features aren't being used,,,,,,,, salt water tanks in most cases need specific settings to control the life forms in balance.

Fresh water not so much.

But hey I can't talk,,,, I'm a classic over kill Bill at times.

Hah ha,,, I like your raw realist responses PlecoSam.

Controversy always gives birth to multitudes of disscussion. :)

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Ah yeah, my posts have been lazy lately, but about the light, I just do not think any light is worth over 1000 dollars, I have two 5' makemyled lights on my 7x2x2 and I run them at 30 percent max, they make the tank look two washed out with light if run any higher.

I have never had a planted tank or a marine tank, but overly expensive LEDs are just hype, they are just a Cree or similar type of bulb placed in a fancy enclosure with gimmicky features. A bit like a mobile phone, how many use all the gimmicky features on a mobile, we buy them and most of us use about a tenth of what they can do, especially once the novelty wears off.

Don't get me wrong I love technology but the features above can be made simply with components from J car for a fraction of the cost. To each their own and it's purely my opinion, but I would hate to see someone spend that much money and in a few months go meh, they are but a light.

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really you dont need most of the stuff on that light and your paying an exorbitant premium for features your unlikely to use.

1200 bucks is not really good value for money on a light for cichlid or community tank. Or planted for that matter. A 10k spectrum will do all of them happily.

I also have makemyled lights. Very good light also using 3w leds. Power consumpion is quite high but any led using 3 watts an led is going to add up in consumption.

I bought mine and added a time controller for around 650 dollars (from memory) (I think a 6 foot light with time controller is about 700 dollars for yours). Was 6 months ago though before the dollar fell on the US. You are never going to change spectrum ranges or sit on your phone with an app changing settings etc. You just want a 10k spectrum range and you can add in a time controller to set how you like the setup. for example I have my tank lights coming on at 30% at startup and it progresses up to 100% strength over 2 hours. It then sits on 100 percent strength for 4 hours before reducing down to 0% (off) over the next 4 hours. Fred (the owner of makemyled) might suggest a 12k spectrum range for a cichlid/community tank but I would recommend against it myself. It adds a green led into the equation (which is a marine range led) and for me it ruins the colour of the light range on my tank. If you have no interest in migrating to marine then there is no reason to go above the 10k spectrum.

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I have two overlapping 5 foot makemyled lights, they run at a maximum of 30 or 40%, they cost around 400.00 with an auto dimmer and power supply, to be honest the dimmer is cheap Chinese rubbish but it works and overall I am quite happy with them. I went with two five footers to save a bit of money and power, at 100% they use around 120w, but at 30% this drops to ~35w, I had 2 three foot blue planet LEDs on my six foot tank and they are not very good at all, tank looked dull and fish colour looked dull and boring.

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Yeah the powerglo pretty much rates average for brightness or intensity.

It's the measures or balance of colors that's set into the spectrum which I think is the ultimate combination that suits showing off every color on all fish.

Some people seem to judge lighting based on how bright it is,,,,,,, as time passes, most people begin to realise it's type of light produced and not amount of light produced.

And those blue planet LEDs that you spoke of being crap PlecoSam,, I've heard reports from others exactly the same.

I believe a good light will make every color possible in fish improve dramatically vivid wise.

Won't say cheap,,, but crap lights will only eccentriate a few colors in fish.

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Oh lord, I did say I had no idea! Another LFS was trying to sell me these Zetlight units at almost $1900, I thought I was getting a good deal with these ones!

Hanging my head down in shame atm...They saw me coming from a mile away. Fingers crossed they now live up to my expectations! :grrr:

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Holy cow...look at the price on these :shock: 1200 dollars on ebay. Thats one expensive lighting solution.

I must say I got them under that price delivered after speaking to the rep but after reading all the above replies I feel like a complete idiot!

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Not necessarily,,,, a person who buys a standard Holden sedan,,, doesn't think the person who bought a Ferrari got ripped of.

Sometimes expressions are more personal than anything else.

Precision or better quality parts is what increases price, some people like the higher price.

LEDs have come a long way,,,, at the beginning they were quite weak and not that bright,,,,

then they evolved and became much brighter, but the harder working brighter led lost a good part of its lifespan,,,,,

Then they solved the lifespan and now they're brighter than ever with a very long lifespan.

The way I see it, comparing units of the same model class,,, the cheaper ones are closer to the technology of the shorter lifespan and the costly stuff Is the longer lifespan and very bright.

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