Up Aqua U series LED

[Mark49]

Hi everyone, im looking for a suitable led 4 ft light for my new shrimp rack.It will be mainly moss and was wondering if anyone has used the newer U series led yet.Is is worth the extra $100 over the Z series.Would the extra brightness be beneficial to the shrimp as it would promote more algae on the glass for them to feed on.

Look forward to any comments.

 

Cheers Mark.

[ineke]

Mark if you have a look through the equipment and DIY section there are quite a few articles on lighting

This quote from Bluebolts

There's several theories on light intensity/colour, vs shell thickness/colour. Ive noticed better shell thickness with 10000k, vs 6500k, whereas colouration (depth of red/black) would be more of a genetic trait/selective breeding. IMO, lighting between 6500-10000k would be ideal.

Good lighting is also responsible of biofilm...etc, which is a important food source.

 

There is a good article by Dean -former owner of Boss Aquaria- I will look up the link and put it here for you.

 

We Discussed this quite a bit and even the mosses grow differently with reasonable lighting but have found that if you have a break of lighting during the day of at least an hour you can help break the algae cycle somewhat. I put my lights on for no longer than 4 hours then switch them off for a few hours in the middle of the day then put them back on for another 3-4 hours in the late afternoon and apart from the tanks that get light from windows I don't have any algae issues. I use Aqua One Plant Glo LED's but they have 2 switches and when I use both the shrimp go into hiding as the light seems a bit too bright for them. Once I only put the 1 light on they venture out again. I don't understand the lighting numbers etc so can't help

 

http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/index.php/topic/4329-led-lighting/

 Hopefully that works I'm not good at putting in links but it's under Boss Aquaria and is a locked thread. It is a few pages back on the Boss Aquaria thread sometime 2013 so it talks more about the Z series but you might find it interesting. 

 

Edited April 28, 2015 by ineke

[Mark49]

Thanks Ineke,you have been very helpful.I have noticed that my crystals do better with better lighting and enjoy the biofilm as a result.Need to do a bit more research before making my final decision this week.

 

Cheers Mark.

[lodo]

For our shrimp rack we are going to be using pro u lights.

As it's two 6 foot racks side by side we are going with 6 4ft lights. Longest we can get are 5ft so preffer 3 4fts per shelf rather than 2 5fts and 1 2ft.

[Z-Aquatics]

The light grows moss very well for me. I think it's worth it. Moss will grow quicker, healthier which translates to extra surface area and better filtration

 

[Morgan]

I've just recently changed to an Aqua Pro U Planted, I was using a Worx. I don't have a break, the lights are on for 12 hrs straight but then I've never had an outbreak of troublesome algae like bba etc and the DAS and DRN are eating keeping the plants and mosses clean.

I like to leave the lights on for a while to encourage algae growth for the shrimp, but they're eating it before it becomes visible. Not sure how that would go if it were just cherries or crystals, I don't think they have the algae eating capacity that the natives do. The mosses, crypts and buces are all doing well under it.

[newbreed]

I have the U series for my new rack. I have sold these to a couple of customers who have reported them to be really good. Just no direct comparison I can report as yet.

[jc12]

I've just recently changed to an Aqua Pro U Planted, I was using a Worx. I don't have a break, the lights are on for 12 hrs straight but then I've never had an outbreak of troublesome algae like bba etc and the DAS and DRN are eating keeping the plants and mosses clean.

I like to leave the lights on for a while to encourage algae growth for the shrimp, but they're eating it before it becomes visible. Not sure how that would go if it were just cherries or crystals, I don't think they have the algae eating capacity that the natives do. The mosses, crypts and buces are all doing well under it.

 

Any reason why you switched from Worx to Aqua Pro?

[Morgan]

Partly because the Worx looks a bit cold to me, I wanted something a bit warmer to bring out the colours of the shrimp and plants more. I also wanted to see if it would make a difference to some of the stem plants I've been trying to grow. No luck there, I think the problem is that my tank is a little taller than average and the light isn't penetrating enough for them.

The Worx was fine for the crypts and mosses though, they grew quite happily under it.