what kind of lighting for a new 1200L, 240cm long aquarium?

[snowman1235]

Hi all,
I am currently in the process of building a new ~1200L aquarium (240x60x70 dimensions) and am struggling to decide what kind of lighting to choose.
The aquarium will be planted and populated with a group of ~12 discus and "maintenance crew" of ottos and other small hard workers.

I've always had T5 lights, but am really interested in LED lighting options, particularly to allow also for dimming effects of morning/evening etc. - to make the aquarium as "natural" as possible.

But there is a flood of options, all quite different as this seems to be rather new and evolving field of tech. For instance, I am looking at:

GHL's Mitras line:
https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/products/ghl-illumination/led-illumination/

Kessil's LED lights (would probably need few of these):
http://www.kessil.com/aquarium/Freshwater_A360.php

Hydra FiftyTwo HD:
http://www.aquaillumination.com/lighting/hydra/

Aquamedics:
http://www.aqua-medic.de/index.php?r=catalog/product&id=351&cid=102

Maxspect Razor 420r 320w:
http://www.cmcaquatics.co.uk/maxspect-r420r-led-module-320w-15000k

TMC's GroBeam:
http://www.aquarayusa.com/grobeam.html

Euroquatics E5 lamps:
http://www.euroquatics.com/e5-lamps/

...and many others.
So difficult to choose. And in particular as my aquarium is indeed very large.

Is there a clear advantage of LED over T5? I realise there are also some dimmable options for T5, but I have not seen any nice ready-made products; many are sort of DIY variants...

Please can you help me choose a suitable lighting system for a 240cm long 1200L planted aquarium?

Many thanks!

[Ryan925]

I'm running a finnex planted+ 24/7 for my planted tank. My plants grow like crazy. I actually removed a lot of them. I run mine in the 24/7 mode. It is dimmable by choosing a custom color but then you are locked into the one color.

24/7 mode changes on its own.

The question you probably would want to ask first is what type of plants you want? That will determine how much light you need. Keep in mind there are not a large array of plants that can take the discus temps.

Also buy larger fish or grow them out in another tank. I've quick learning 12w the struggles of growing them in a planted.

[snowman1235]

The question you probably would want to ask first is what type of plants you want? That will determine how much light you need. Keep in mind there are not a large array of plants that can take the discus temps.

Also buy larger fish or grow them out in another tank. I've quick learning 12w the struggles of growing them in a planted.

Thanks for response. Yes, Finnex was also one of the brands I was looking at. Good to hear you have good experience with them.
My demands will not be that high and as you say - not many plants are happy with higher temperature water as is preferred by discus fish... Usually I like to keep my plants growing nicely, but not like an "Amano" jungle. Some cryptos here, some swords there, anubias, rotala, etc. Nothing very fancy and difficult - I just like the fish to feel like in a natural environment.

I'm not sure I understood your last comment: "12w the struggles of growing them in a planted"?

[Ryan925]

Thanks for response. Yes, Finnex was also one of the brands I was looking at. Good to hear you have good experience with them.
My demands will not be that high and as you say - not many plants are happy with higher temperature water as is preferred by discus fish... Usually I like to keep my plants growing nicely, but not like an "Amano" jungle. Some cryptos here, some swords there, anubias, rotala, etc. Nothing very fancy and difficult - I just like the fish to feel like in a natural environment.

I'm not sure I understood your last comment: "12w the struggles of growing them in a planted"?

Sorry the "12w" was autocorrect typo :).

My swords were growing like crazy and sending off runners. My pygmy chain swords got out of control so I removed them. I just completely minimized my plant load and fish seem to like it much better. I removed the majority of my swords. I left the two red ones I had. I left a couple crypt wendtii. The red/bronze variety. I then built an anubias island with about fifteen pounds of seiryu. I have a few different varieties of anubias growing from the rocks.

I like this setup much better for the fish. It's very apparent that they are enjoying much more of the tank now.

I do like the 24/7 mode of the light. Makes it easy for me to feed and does ferts early am without giving the fish shock from lights on.

Here's a couple before and after99833
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99835
99836

I've repositioned the manzanita a bit since photos