Finnex Planted + versus planted plus 24/7
- Thread starter Bob
- Start date
I'd say a planted plus 24/7 used by a normal timer is going to be very similar to the planted plus. However in 24/7 mode it gives less light overall the to plants because the "max" light period is shorter than say 10 or 12 hours of max light.
I do find that the light makes fish look better outside of the peak time. Blue fish look better in the evening. And red fish look better during the sunrise.
I do find that the light makes fish look better outside of the peak time. Blue fish look better in the evening. And red fish look better during the sunrise.
Oh yeah. I definitely wouldn't replace a planted plus with a 24/7 model. Only makes sense when upgrading from a lesser fixture etc. For instance I'm heavily invested in planted plus and ray 2 lights. But can't justify switching no matter how cool it looks. I do have one on the 360 gallon with the mbu puffers though cause they look amazing when I get in, in the morning and when I'm leaving the shop at night.
I may end up putting the 24/7s on the tanks in the front window so passers by can lit up tanks 24/7
I may end up putting the 24/7s on the tanks in the front window so passers by can lit up tanks 24/7
I don't think that's a concern unless you're growing pretty difficult plants. If you have extremely demanding species, your situation might be different than mine.
I have two 36" 24/7's (purchased at the Co-op) and around 8 Finnex Fugeray's (used units, also from Cory). I also run T12's, T8's, compact fluorescents, custom LED's and cree bulbs from Home Depot.
First impressions: the 24/7 is fun. My interaction with my fish room is schedule based...I leave for work fairly early, and come home relatively late. The majority of my lights are on timers that start around noon, and turn off after I go to sleep. That way the majority of the time I get to spend in my office is also time I see the fish (and feed, change water, etc).
The clear benefit of the 24/7 is the different impressions of what you're lighting at 5:30am, 7:30am...(long pause while I work)...and then get home to put kids to bed (7:30pm glimpse)...9pm (maintenance), and midnight. The shortcoming is that all the time I have every weekday to stare at them...the tanks are barely lit. (If the light is mimicking the light your tank should have at 9pm, it will be relatively dark. Right?)
Before I got the 24/7's I had a few Fugeray strips plugged into non-switched outlets for a little 24/7 light. (I have around 30 tanks in my office, and it's a pain when the whole room clicks from crazy light to pitch black instantly via timer.) The 24/7 strips do a nice job of bridging that gap (there is always some light, and usually, it looks great). However, on their automated schedule, some of the fish I like to see the most are dark when I'm there to see them. To be fair, with two clicks of a remote you can set them back to max to enjoy the color...but that seems counter-intuitive to the purpose of the light.
Plant growth on my 24/7 tanks is good, but I have to assume a comparable light running full power all day (instead of starting low and finishing low) will do more for the plants, especially if you're optimizing with nutrient dosing and running co2.
I like them, and would recommend them. My only complaint is that they run fairly warm. In the future I'll buy at least several more 24/7's. I would have loved to see a few more features, but for their price range, these are some of the nicest I've used.
I have two 36" 24/7's (purchased at the Co-op) and around 8 Finnex Fugeray's (used units, also from Cory). I also run T12's, T8's, compact fluorescents, custom LED's and cree bulbs from Home Depot.
First impressions: the 24/7 is fun. My interaction with my fish room is schedule based...I leave for work fairly early, and come home relatively late. The majority of my lights are on timers that start around noon, and turn off after I go to sleep. That way the majority of the time I get to spend in my office is also time I see the fish (and feed, change water, etc).
The clear benefit of the 24/7 is the different impressions of what you're lighting at 5:30am, 7:30am...(long pause while I work)...and then get home to put kids to bed (7:30pm glimpse)...9pm (maintenance), and midnight. The shortcoming is that all the time I have every weekday to stare at them...the tanks are barely lit. (If the light is mimicking the light your tank should have at 9pm, it will be relatively dark. Right?)
Before I got the 24/7's I had a few Fugeray strips plugged into non-switched outlets for a little 24/7 light. (I have around 30 tanks in my office, and it's a pain when the whole room clicks from crazy light to pitch black instantly via timer.) The 24/7 strips do a nice job of bridging that gap (there is always some light, and usually, it looks great). However, on their automated schedule, some of the fish I like to see the most are dark when I'm there to see them. To be fair, with two clicks of a remote you can set them back to max to enjoy the color...but that seems counter-intuitive to the purpose of the light.
Plant growth on my 24/7 tanks is good, but I have to assume a comparable light running full power all day (instead of starting low and finishing low) will do more for the plants, especially if you're optimizing with nutrient dosing and running co2.
I like them, and would recommend them. My only complaint is that they run fairly warm. In the future I'll buy at least several more 24/7's. I would have loved to see a few more features, but for their price range, these are some of the nicest I've used.
Clifford, couldn't you just shift the schedule of the 24/7? It's a fixed schedule, but you tell the light what time it is, so if you tell the light it is 9 am at when it is really noon, the whole schedule will be shifted 3 hours later into the day . . . Am I understanding It correctly? Thought about getting a few of these, but probably won't specifically because I want more scheduling flexibility.
Hoping they are still actually working on the Planted Plus Elite to fit some of the features that didn't make it into the 24/7.
Hoping they are still actually working on the Planted Plus Elite to fit some of the features that didn't make it into the 24/7.
Yes, you can definitely switch the schedule, so I could choose between morning and evening. So far I've just been clicking the max button on the remote when I want to spend some time on those specific tanks. I forgot to mention...another thing I've noticed is that both my lights have a slight (almost unnoticeable) flicker around once every 5 min, and none of my other lighting exhibits the same symptom. If I didn't have one of the lights right in front of my laptop on my desk, I doubt I would have even noticed...but now that I have, it's slightly annoying. I'll still pick up a few more...not a deal breaker. I wish they were chainable, but most of the products that handle that well creep into the $300+ range.
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PokeSephiroth
Member
Vicmacki said:
Yes, Finnex has announced two other light fixtures, Planted+ Elite being one of them, and Planted+ II being the other (assuming that this data is still correct...)
Source: http://aquathusiast.com/news/finnex-ann ... ted-elite/
I think the 24/7's are using standard RGB led chips (and probably less wattage worth), where as the planted + is using separate chips for each color. Typically and I don't know if this is true on the 24/7 the red in RGB chips is a 630nm and the Blue is a 460nm. The planted plus last time I read the specs is using 660nm Red (which plants use much more effectively) and 440nm Blues, also used better by plants. In my experience with my custom led lights I built, the 630nm reds did poorly for plant growth, when I switched over to 660nm red's my tanks all exploded with plant growth. By the way when I switched to 660nm reds I actually lowered the total wattage used, instead of increasing it. So in theory less light overall, but more of it is being used by the plants than before.
flamechica
New Member
I love my 24/7. I had huge algae problems before getting the 24/7 because I was trying to use a ray 2 I bought for my hex tank in my 20g L until the 24/7 came out. Now, I don't get algae unless I forget to fertilize for a few weeks, which is rare. I love seeing the different times of day. My frogs seem more active than they were before. They also seem to like that they aren't under a beacon of light for 8hrs a day. The best part is that I am not being blinded sitting in my chair since I had to raise the ray 2 up like 6-8in (since it was much too bright and short for the tank I was trying to use it on lol!). Most of my plants in this tank are fairly high light plants and they seem to do really well. They don't grow quite as fast as with the Ray 2, but I am happy with that because I don't have to fertilize quite as much or trim quite as often either. So, less maintenence, which is nice now that I am working. Overall, I am really happy with it and if I want higher light, I can put it on full brightness, but I actually haven't used that much because I enjoy 24/7 mode much more. I think one of the best benefits though, is that I get to see my elusive pleco a little more than I have in the past 4-5yrs that I have had him. He must like the light too, because he makes small appearances now and then to chase the frogs out of his cave or just to sit in the bottom of his cave, which he never did before I got this light. He still doesn't come out of his cave, that I ever get to see, but at least I get to see him a little bit.