Hi

hi , returning to the forum after a few years away.
 when i was active in the hobby i had a running 250 liter tank , sadly due to spending the last few years moving  frequently the tank was left at my parents and became very run down.

iam now in the process of getting ready to move this tank to my new house and  getting it back to its former glory over the next few weeks.

i  have some  plans of what i want to do the tank , iam thinking larger groups of smaller fish , with lots of plants and wood scattered threw the tank.
the tank runs two large external filters and 2 external heaters.
looking for suggestions on lighting due to the current lighting having seen better days .

its currently got 3 strip led light on it but i dont think its good enough to really grow plants on , i believe i may still have the box hidden away for it and will try to find more details tomorow , iam looking for something that would possibly provide more of a lunar cycle as i previously had a light light this , or at least something that could provide a blue night for evening times rather than having the full lighting on to much .

Welcome 

The problem with blue lights used in the evening is that they can cause algae. The lower lighting levels can be more readily used by single celled, less complex life forms such as algae rather than the more complex life forms of the plants we want to grow which require higher lighting intensity to ‘get going’. You might be best either replacing the bulbs in your current lighting set up (recommended every 12 months) and/or shifting your lighting timer so they are on more in the evening - a ramp timer which fades the lights in and out can be used to extend the lighting duration a bit too. What is your current lighting duration? 8 hours in recommended, though if your lights are not especially powerful and your tank heavily planted you could push this to 9 I’m sure.

Well after much looking around and a bit of research I have ordered a new 54 watt twin t5 unit with two day light white bulbs  which arrived last night and looks a decent set up .
Its like Christmas in my house this week as everything from lighting units to soil substrate is arriving.
New in line heaters have also arrived along with some fresh wood (currently soaking in a bucket ) .
I use to use unipac  silver sand in my tanks previously but would like to try something different this time around and use a black sand but I seem to be struggling to get this locally , does anyone know of a online place that I might be able to source this from , I have seen some on ebay but it has rather poor reviews .

Thank you , looks a really useful site