Lighting Suggestions - 235g

[RockyProndoa]

Hello everyone,

Excuse my multiple posts - I'm new here and trying to determine the best way to ask all of my questions!

As I have stated in a few other posts, I am starting a high-tech, 235g planted tank. Tank dimensions are 72" L x 30" W x 25" H.

I'm still working out many of the details, but for now I plan to make this a South American themed tank centered around a few Electric Blue Acara. And yes, I know they'll dig I don't plan to have a ton of red plants, if any, in the tank, but I do want a light that has potential in that I can use it in any situation should I choose to redo/rescape the tank a few years down the road.

My requirements:

1. Must be able to be mounted via hanging kit/pendant mount
2. Dimmable
3. Usable App for initial setup with customizable channels - I typically loathe preset specs.
4. Reliable
5. Budget - nothing set in stone - but I would assume somewhere around $1,000.00 USD would be sufficient.

I'm an old school T5HO fan, but I thought I would change it up a bit for this tank and see what I am missing out on.

My current top choice is the Week Aqua (version 3) P900 Pro x 2.

I welcome any input on these specific lights (is 2 enough?) as well as any other lights that would be comparable and fit the criteria noted above.

 

[Kwyet]

I have that over a 68 gallon and the 1200 over a 75 gallon. They can do all of the things you listed. I don’t care for the presets either, but you can easily customize the settings. I love them.

 

[Koan]

Lots of Week Aqua and Netlea fans here

Here's a couple interesting discussions to get you started

Thread 'Using house hold/industrial lighting vs aquarium fixtures.'

Apr 17, 2026

I took some comparison pics of the aquarium today using some spare room lights lying around so I thought it will be interesting for folks to see.
There is some uneven lighting with the desk lamp and Hygger as they are a bit too small to light the whole tank evenly.
What I thought was interesting was that the photographs with better visual color appear sharper, but all the photographs are actually the exact same sharpness.

Desklamp 6500k



LED flood light 6500k



Hygger smart LED [35w]



Netlea AT5, red setting



Netlea AT5, 45R 32G 25B...

• Dennis Wong
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Planted Aquarium Discussion

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• 

Poll Thread 'The Great Planted Aquarium Light Poll'

Jul 5, 2025

One of the many benefits of our growing community is the ability to share and use our collective knowledge and experiences. Let's start to capture the lights that we are using so that future members can reach out if we have the same light they want to use.

Please select your light manufacturer (you can select more than one) and then make a post with your model numbers.

"Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity, so be honest." Bonus points for who knows where that's from (don't Google or AI it ).

• Art
• Replies: 79
• Forum: Equipment Discussions

 

[JayP]

Well, due to tariffs, the price has gone way up recently, so two of the medium Skylight Hyperspots which is what is recommended for a 180cm tank, would run nearly double your $1000 budget, but they are pretty much cream of the crop right now. If you watch any newer Green Aqua videos on Youtube, you'll see they have them on many of the tanks in their gallery. @Naturescapes_Rocco uses one. MJ Aquascaping (also on Youtube) also uses them on some of his tanks in his new gallery.

 

[JayP]

Also, I have both Week Aqua and Chihiros lights, and while I think the P900 would perform well for you and is a little more budget friendly, I personally feel the Chihiros performs better.

 

[Kwyet]

Also, I have both Week Aqua and Chihiros lights, and while I think the P900 would perform well for you and is a little more budget friendly, I personally feel the Chihiros performs better.

Is the customer service better on one or the other? The one time I needed customer service from Chihiros it took months to get the problem addressed and the replacement part. I haven’t needed anything from Week Aqua.

 

[Capraquaria]

Is the customer service better on one or the other? The one time I needed customer service from Chihiros it took months to get the problem addressed and the replacement part. I haven’t needed anything from Week Aqua.

I am currently using two Chihiros Vivid 3’s on my 60” tank. I agree about customer service from Chihiros, or lack thereof. While I haven’t had any issues with their WRGB II slim lights, the Vivid 3's over my 150U are driving me crazy, as is their flaky app. The more I use Chihiros, the less I like them. The convenience of integrating multiple devices through the same flaky app simply isn’t worth it, and when the app fails to find a lamp, that light becomes a $700 paperweight, as it won’t function without the app. A few weeks ago my Chihiros app mind-wiped itself after an update, and all my devices over three tanks disappeared. One of the two Vivid 3’s I have has a flaky Bluetooth controller, and even though both lamps are installed side by side, when set to the same spectrum, the colors rendered by both lamps are inconsistent. Even with the straight up stock ‘nature’ spectrum setting on the Vivids, I have a rather red looking end on the right side of the tank, and that is the light that I struggle constantly with to get Bluetooth to even find it. The left side light has been fine, but the lack of consistency between both of them is irritating, as is my ability to get the Bluetooth controller replaced on the flaky lamp (customer service’s answer to everything is to reset the lamp, reinstall the app, or it’s a problem with the bluetooth settings on the device, even when the settings are wide open). If the light turns on, Chihiros doesn't seem to consider it broken. For $700 each, without the shades, honestly, I would have just been better off spending a smidge more and purchasing the Hyperspots.