LED Lights for Planted tanks?

[Lamental Jester]

When I seen the FLUVAL for planted tanks someone flipped it up into my eyes. I thought i was being buzzed by an alien starship or something. It had SO MANY lights & all different colors, blues, red, white , dang bright!

Yes, it is very bright... way too bright for my little bookshelf tank, I'm gonna be using it for a 15 tall in the near future

 

[MorganEA]

which Fluval was it Lamental Jester?

 

[Lamental Jester]

I believe I have the "Eco-bright" one:

http://www.petco.com/product/122549/Fluval-Eco-Bright-LED-Aquarium-Strip-Light.aspx?CoreCat=MM_FishSupplies_HoodsLighting

 

[BillHN]

Honest best bet, would be cory's finnex's. good price and closer.

 

[MorganEA]

I wish Cory's shop was closer! I live south of Seattle

 

[Lamental Jester]

I wish Cory's shop was closer! I live south of Seattle

A car is an amazing thing

 

[MorganEA]

It is but gas costs an arm and a leg!! I've been driving on an empty tank all day!! I'm going to do more research, if I decide to get the finnex I will drive up there.

 

[MRTom]

I hear Cory is donating one to the swap meet You could go for that. Or other members may be willing to drive it down for a ransom (I'm heading down south Thursday)

 

[MorganEA]

That would be awesome if I could win one at the swap!

 

[Flyfalcons]

I just got a Beamswork 48" dual row 36x3watt light and it's pretty cool. It was $129 shipped from Topdogsellers on Ebay. The power supply does get a little warmer than I thought it would but the light is great. Looking forward to seeing how the plants do with this light.

 

[Cory]

Yeah, is it 72 or 36 leds? At 36 leds that fixture uses 108 watts of power. The same as 2 54 watt t5HOs. Not much power savings but you do get the shimmer effect :cyclops: 

 

[Flyfalcons]

It's the 36. I was using a single T8 bulb, and the ballast on that got very warm. Heat = wasted electrons. I have to think that I'm getting a more efficient use of my energy now, though total power use is probably more.

 

[WhosUrDadi]

I run LEDs on every tank in the store basically. I think they're great when you get the right ones.

Finnex - I currently use these and they get great reviews on plantedtank.
Aquatop - Made at the same manufacturer as Finnex, less size options and more expensive.
Current - Remote control is kinda neat and different modes. Low-mid light only.
Beamworks aka ebay leds - decent but use too much power and the optics are bad.
Marineland - Avoid like the plague
Fluval LED- I havent used one of these yet. Supposed to be good but expensive.

I use Beamswork and never had any problem for me. i had it running for more than a year now. and now that they improve the built already, i dont think its going to be an issue.

 

[Cory]

I run LEDs on every tank in the store basically. I think they're great when you get the right ones.

Finnex - I currently use these and they get great reviews on plantedtank.
Aquatop - Made at the same manufacturer as Finnex, less size options and more expensive.
Current - Remote control is kinda neat and different modes. Low-mid light only.
Beamworks aka ebay leds - decent but use too much power and the optics are bad.
Marineland - Avoid like the plague
Fluval LED- I havent used one of these yet. Supposed to be good but expensive.

I use Beamswork and never had any problem for me. i had it running for more than a year now. and now that they improve the built already, i dont think its going to be an issue.

By optics being bad I mean the optic put onto the led makes it shoot straight down instead of a spread. So you get columns of light directly under the leds as opposed to it spreading out and giving even coverage over the plants etc.

 

[Flyfalcons]

Comparison shot. My camera is set to auto and adjusts the ambient brightness on its own, but you get the idea.

Original setup with stock 36" hood and single T8 bulb:

New setup with 48" LED:

I've had the LED running for under a week now and can already tell the plants are much happier. I did adjust my timer to give less daylight than before. It used to be 11 hours and now it's 8.

 

[WhosUrDadi]

I run LEDs on every tank in the store basically. I think they're great when you get the right ones.

Finnex - I currently use these and they get great reviews on plantedtank.
Aquatop - Made at the same manufacturer as Finnex, less size options and more expensive.
Current - Remote control is kinda neat and different modes. Low-mid light only.
Beamworks aka ebay leds - decent but use too much power and the optics are bad.
Marineland - Avoid like the plague
Fluval LED- I havent used one of these yet. Supposed to be good but expensive.

I use Beamswork and never had any problem for me. i had it running for more than a year now. and now that they improve the built already, i dont think its going to be an issue.

By optics being bad I mean the optic put onto the led makes it shoot straight down instead of a spread. So you get columns of light directly under the leds as opposed to it spreading out and giving even coverage over the plants etc.

nope i dont get any straight beaming. i tried putting the fixture directly on top of my cover and raised the fixture away from the cover, i never had any beaming... i dont why..

I actually want to try their new 0.2watt fixture too... thats pretty sure that there will be no beaming..

im not saying that you are not telling the truth as I heard from different user of it also that they have beaming in it, its probably their first version of the fixture. i did bought the 3rd generation of it and no beaming for me.. =)

 

[Cory]

Great looking tank! One thing I notice is that you have bamboo in the tank. These are not fully aquatic plants. They are bog plants. This means their leaves need to be out of the water. The roots and stem can be fully submerged, but after a few months they will rot away fully submerged

 

[Flyfalcons]

See that's what I get for saying "Oooh look at that pretty plant for $3.99" while at the Petco. Maybe I can get a Betta bowl and put those in that.

 

[Cory]

See that's what I get for saying "Oooh look at that pretty plant for $3.99" while at the Petco.  Maybe I can get a Betta bowl and put those in that.

Here's some options for those plants. Get a piece of styrofoam and poke a hole in it. Shove the plants through it. As the plant grows keep lowering it until it hits the bottom. In like 4-6 months You'll have a plant rooted in your gravel and growing up out of your tank. It looks really good

 

[Cory]

I run LEDs on every tank in the store basically. I think they're great when you get the right ones.

Finnex - I currently use these and they get great reviews on plantedtank.
Aquatop - Made at the same manufacturer as Finnex, less size options and more expensive.
Current - Remote control is kinda neat and different modes. Low-mid light only.
Beamworks aka ebay leds - decent but use too much power and the optics are bad.
Marineland - Avoid like the plague
Fluval LED- I havent used one of these yet. Supposed to be good but expensive.

I use Beamswork and never had any problem for me. i had it running for more than a year now. and now that they improve the built already, i dont think its going to be an issue.

By optics being bad I mean the optic put onto the led makes it shoot straight down instead of a spread. So you get columns of light directly under the leds as opposed to it spreading out and giving even coverage over the plants etc.

nope i dont get any straight beaming. i tried putting the fixture directly on top of my cover and raised the fixture away from the cover, i never had any beaming...  i dont why..

I actually want to try their new 0.2watt fixture too... thats pretty sure that there will be no beaming..

im not saying that you are not telling the truth as I heard from different user of it also that they have beaming in it, its probably their first version of the fixture. i did bought the 3rd generation of it and no beaming for me.. =)

Yeah that could totally be. I think I have the first generation. Also I suspect the 0.2 leds won't have that problem at all. As more light sources = less beaming etc.