JBL LED Solar Natur Aquarium Light - 22 W x 438mm

JBL LED Solar Natur Aquarium Light is JBL's main LED aquarium luminaire, the white light that lights the tank and grows the plants.

Key Features

• The main light in the range: This is the white luminaire that does the work. Everything else in the LED Solar line, the Effect light, the remote, the controller and the hanging kit, is an addition to this.
• High PAR for plant growth: JBL quote over 220 micromoles per square metre per second. PAR is the part of the light plants can actually use, which is the figure worth comparing rather than lumens, since lumens only measure what the human eye notices.
• Three white tones: Warm white, daylight white and cool white, so one luminaire can be set warm for a blackwater biotope or cool and crisp for a planted or marine look, without buying a different light.
• Dimmable, by handset or by phone: Adjustable with the IR remote, or from an app once the Smart Controller is fitted in place of the infrared receiver.
• Seven lengths and outputs: From 438 mm at 22 watts to 1449 mm at 68 watts, so the light is matched to the tank rather than the tank worked around the light.

Matching The Length To Your Tank

• Measure the inside of the tank, between the rims, rather than the outside of the glass. A luminaire a few millimetres too long will not drop in.
• Aim for the longest unit that fits. A short light over a long tank leaves the ends dim, and dim corners are where algae collect and plants give up.
• Light falls away quickly with depth. A PAR figure is measured close to the unit, so the substrate of a deep tank receives considerably less than the headline number.
• On a tank deeper than about 50 cm, or an unusually wide one, two luminaires side by side give far more even coverage than one long one. The Y-cable runs both from a single supply.
• If you are between two lengths, send us the internal measurement and we will tell you which one fits.

How Long To Run It

• Light duration drives algae more than light intensity does. Six to eight hours a day suits a new tank; an established planted tank running CO2 and fertiliser will take eight to ten.
• Put it on a timer from the first day. A light switched by hand runs a different length every day, and plants and algae both respond to consistency.
• More light on its own is not more plant growth. Light, CO2 and nutrients work as a set, and raising one without the other two simply hands the surplus to the algae.
• If algae appear, shorten the photoperiod before you change anything else. It is the quickest and cheapest variable you have.
• One unbroken period is simpler than splitting it. A midday break is sometimes used to hold algae back, but for most tanks a single clean on and off works.
• Fish need a real dark night. Do not leave a blue or coloured effect light running into the small hours.

How The LED Solar System Fits Together

• LED Solar Natur is the main light. It is the white luminaire that lights the tank and grows the plants, and it is the one part of the range you cannot do without.
• LED Solar Effect is a second, slimmer light that adds RGB colour and weather effects. It runs alongside a Natur rather than instead of one, because on its own it will not light a tank properly or grow plants.
• Control is either the IR remote handset or the Smart Controller, not both. The Smart Controller takes the place of the luminaire's infrared receiver, so fitting one puts the handset out of use.
• The Y-cable runs two luminaires from one supply, and the hanging kit suspends either light from the ceiling instead of resting it on the tank.
• Despite the name, nothing in the range is solar powered. LED Solar is simply what JBL call their aquarium luminaire line, and these are mains powered lights for an indoor tank.

Wiring It Safely Near Water

• Leave a drip loop, so the cable hangs below the socket and water cannot track along it into the plug.
• Keep the driver and every connector dry, ventilated and up off the cabinet floor where spills collect.
• Switch off at the wall before connecting or disconnecting anything.
• Do not use a unit with a damaged cable, a cracked connector or bent pins.
• An RCD on the aquarium's supply is a sensible precaution on any tank with electrical equipment above it.

Good To Know

• Seven options: 438, 549, 742, 849, 1047, 1149 and 1449 mm, at 22 to 68 watts. Send us the tank's internal length and we will match it.
• Dim it for the first few weeks on a newly planted tank. Plants grown in a nursery under lower light melt if they go straight under full output.
• Over pale sand a bright light bounces back up off the floor and washes fish colour out. Floating plants, or simply a dimmed setting, suit shy and wild caught species far better.
• The LED Solar range has run through several generations with different connectors and drivers. Send us your model and we will confirm what matches before you order.
• Indoor aquarium use. It is not weatherproof and is not a pond or garden light.