Fluvial Roma Lighting

T8s are still available in most shops I've been in recently.

If you have T8 sockets obviously you can't use T5 tubes. LEDs have their own power supply. Some will use the T8 sockets as supports but not the power supply. Other LEDs are on 'legs' that slot over the side of the tank and hold the tube a few cm above the tank though this style might not fit under the lid of your tank.
There is one LED tube, by Arcadia, which uses the T8 sockets and the power supply but not if the ballast is electronic. I couldn't use these on my main tank as the controller instructions said it was electronic.

I went for Superfish retrofit LEDs. These have end caps that are shaped like the ends of fluorescent tubes so they can slot in to the T8 sockets for support. But they have their own power supply. My main tank had a power supply that wasn't wired into the lid so I just took that out and put the LED cable in its place but with the 50 litre tank I used have I carefully disconnected the fluorescent light's mains lead, labelling every wire so I could reconnect it if necessary. I had to take the lid off the 50 litre to do a water change so the old cable got in the way, but if you don't need to remove the lid of your tank you could just leave the wire there.

My main tank is a custom build as I didn't want it too tall to make it easier for me to work with. It is 18 inches (45 cm) tall with a water depth around 16 inches. I find the LED light reaches the bottom of my tank, I've had to get water sprite to float on the surface to cut down the light for my fish. But I have only slow growing, low light plants in my tank.

A lot of people would go for replacement T8s. Do you have 2 tubes in the lid? If you do, someone on another forum who knows what they are talking about recommends one 5000 K and one 6500 K T8 tube as being the best combination, with the slightly redder 5000 K tube being good for photosynthesis. They don't have to be 'aquarium' branded tubes; as long as you go by the Kelvin rating you can get tubes from any lighting shop.

Hi.

Thanks Sue - I'm pretty sure I have 2 different colour tubes in my tank. I can't remember what, but noticed when doing a bit of sorting that I had cut the spectrum graphs off the boxes, so I didn't have to remember!

Thanks Andy. Your comments have reassured me that LEDS should be fine. To be honest, my current tubes are so old that even like for like replacements are going to look bright!

Now I just have to decide if I want to make the capital outlay of LEDs. I have read enough articles showing that the lifetime cost is about the same (if not better), but at the back of my mind is that no-one has actually had decent quality LEDS for 10years, so if they don't last as long as they should, then they are more expensive.

But I do like the idea of not having to change the tubes again till my youngest is at secondary school! (He's not 2 yet!)

I know everyone likes to see photos, so here's my tank with the new lights.

I'm quite enjoying the colour effect, but have decided that I'm really disappointed with the Fluval controller. Considering that it is the one recommended for the lights, it doesn't do much - one fade up and one fade down per channel, for 2 channels. It doesn't allow for automatic control of the blue and white lights separately, have to use the remote for that.

I'm considering sending it back and reverting to my old fashioned analogue socket timer. 

I'm considering sending it back and reverting to my old fashioned analogue socket timer. 

I went with the Fluval Aquasky LED's when I upgraded two second hand tanks including a Fluval Roma 90.  They were recalled earlier this year as being an electrocution risk.  Woot!  This unit doesn't work with an analogue timer.  The Fluval Fresh & Plant 2.0 LED's are quite pricey but great lights and do work with an analogue timer (which is great because the timer designed to be used with them is an app and is rubbish).  Fortunately the analogue timers are inexpensive so it's easy to test.

And here's the photo (now I've reduced it's size!  )

So many great pics of so many great tanks.  My MTS is in overdrive.  *Explodey head*

like of look of it, but I don't like tanks where you can't see the fish because there's so many plants.

Sorry if im staying the obvious here but watch your water parameters over the next few day as you've just significantly increased the bioload in your tank and even if there are any bacteria in the filter from before they may take some time to reawaken 

Fortunately you have a large volume of water to play with which should help smooth any fluctuations in water parameters out