My light setup and mods

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I would share

So I bought a Beam Works light and I currently am also using JBL CO2 (Tuval Reactor) with Seachem fertilizers

Plant Growth has been good, but always room for improvement

Initially I had a Zetworks 80cm dimmable led light bar (White/Red) - 1600 Lumen - I had this before my organic decor and plants.

Now when I went to a fully planted aquarium I went to a Beam Works FSPEC 90cm LED Light bar, I really thought it was good and it has been. But looking on how I could improve my setup I soon realized this was an entry level light meant for basic plants or tank illumination

Its spec is multicolour producing 2000 lumen.

So further research I found this



Now I have a 3ft tank and empty it has about 108 liters max and I fill it quite a bit

So the lumen per liter with my Beam Works on an empty tank is 18.5, which is good if as this was without fish, full water level, substrate and decor.

My Beamworks light setup (Take note of the reflection on the water)



Anyways I could make it better, some of my plants in the back werent getting the full light so I decided to add my Zetworks light which produces about 14.8 lumen on an empty tank.




I also angled it and put this light in the front of the hood and the plants in the back are now getting good light



So basically together I am getting 33-39 lumen per liter depending on water level, substrate and decor

Had this for about a week and the plants have gone wild !!!

It really helps, but today I didnt stop there I noticed that there was quite a bit of reflection on from the water to the Hood.

So I came with the Idea of using marine silicone to stick foil to the inside of the lid and it seems to have helped a bit as now it go from light to water, water reflects to hood and hood reflects light back to the water. Also I think it will help with the keeping the heat in the tank and do some minimal power saving costs




Inside view of the reflection



My end result need more plants now lol



***The lid of the tank is only for day to day so it has a few mods on it like feed vents and soon to have moisture vents in the rear. I normally show it off with an open tank and only the Beam Works light on it, however I had to seal my Beamworks light to avoid moisture going in***

Basically the pint of this is upgrading from low lighting to medium lighting, which is beneficial for a planted aquarium

Thanks for viewing hope this helped someone out there

 

Very cool ... BTW - painting the inside of the lid with a high gloss white enamel paint will give you better light reflection that the tinfoil.

If you are going to do more light experiments - see if you can not invest in a cheap lux meter, you will be surprised what light push out more lux than what you really think.

Later Ferdie

 

seconded on the paint v tinfoil, much better reflection and less chance of focus issues because of folds etc.
where did you find the beamworks btw

 

Looking great @FMN716

The lights came out very nice!!

 

Despite the fact that I have always hated these black lids, I like the idea of the vents @FMN716 for cooling and feeding.


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