New Light for 30gal

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CrazedAce

New Member
Very good point on the fact that it will eventually cost me the same amount eventually. So does anyone know where the best/cheapest place to order Finnex is?
 
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BallardFishGuy

New Member
+1 on the Finnex LED's...Corry has them at the Co-Op and they get rave reviews! LED's will keep getting better and cheaper and I'm certain will put all other lights "currently out there", out of biz!
 
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Anonymous

Guest
CrazedAce said:
Very good point on the fact that it will eventually cost me the same amount eventually. So does anyone know where the best/cheapest place to order Finnex is?
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eBay is the cheapest I've seen.
 
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BallardFishGuy

New Member
If you're going to go online I would price check for sure...I have Amazon Prime so I almost always go with them and the free shipping. Although Cory has them in his shop and it is nice to support your LFS..and it's great that you can see them in his tanks at his shop so you know what you're getting and see how it would work on your tank.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
BallardFishGuy said:
If you're going to go online I would price check for sure...I have Amazon Prime so I almost always go with them and the free shipping.  Although Cory has them in his shop and it is nice to support your LFS..and it's great that you can see them in his tanks at his shop so you know what you're getting and see how it would work on your tank.  
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I second that! This exactly what I did. Cory uses these on his tanks, for a time I think he had all 3 different RAYs on display. I consulted, read about, then was able to see these fixtures in action.
 
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BallardFishGuy

New Member
I would say you would want Finnex Ray2 for a planted tank and Fuge Ray for fish only or lower light plants...if you go for them that is.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
BallardFishGuy said:
I would say you would want Finnex Ray2 for a planted tank and Fuge Ray for fish only or lower light plants...if you go for them that is.
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& I think it's the MONSTER RAY that makes fish colors POP in a fish only tank!
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Klaude said:
I'm very happy with the 48" Ray2 and the 12" FugeRay I got from Cory.  
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:iagree: 

I have a 7 foot tank with 2X 4 foot duel T5HO, 1X 3', 2X 11" duel T5. This is a massively planted tank. Switching to LED will save 100's in my power bill a year in this tank alone. And the fact these fixtures are thinner I could technically ADD MORE LIGHT if I wish. So far I have replaced 1 4' and 1 of the 11" fixtures with RAY2. I would have to say these fixtures seem just a bit brighter than the T5HO I had...
 
pbmax

pbmax

Active Member
The first puts out half the light of a 13w CFL spiral bulb (800 lumens); the 2nd a little more than a single 13w CFL spiral bulb. Granted, the LED fixtures won't suffer the problem that spiral CFLs do (light being blocked by the other end of the spiral), so that cancels out some of the CFL's lumen output, but these seem to be pretty low light.

I use 2 13w CFLs over my 10g tanks with no CO2. I get some algae in a couple of the tanks, but the rest do really well.
 
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BallardFishGuy

New Member
CrazedAce said:
Alright, I am just going to assume that LED SUCKS with plant growth. Just going to order some T5 HO fixtures.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290859145259
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290930840021

I think that should be adequate for what I am looking for. :D
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Actually the best growth out there is by LED...but you have to get good quality ones, and it's a new and emerging tech so plenty of low quality ones.  Just like a regular old fashioned screw in light bulb wouldn't do much for you plants compared to a T5HO or Halide bulb.

Finnex 2 and you set for years! :plus1:
 
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hyp3rcrav3

Well-Known Member
I have been seeing that there are lighhts for aquariums that merely illuminate and others that are tune to the frequencies plants use. The latter are much more expensive. Must be one of the LEDs has an unusual dope (ingredient).
 
pbmax

pbmax

Active Member
I agree with BallardFishGuy - don't punt just yet, just realize that often times you get what you pay for.  The finnex fixtures aren't as cheap, but they have proven track records and the ray 2 will definitely grow plants.  I'm putting some on my christmas list. :)

I personally won't be buying an more T5HO fixtures... LEDs are where it's at nowadays.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
CrazedAce said:
What does everyone think of these?
The only thing concerning me about these is the low lumens. Do you think it would suffice to grow medium light plants?
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You will get what you pay for.


hyp3rcrav3 said:
I have been seeing that there are lighhts for aquariums that merely illuminate and others that are tune to the frequencies plants use. The latter are much more expensive. Must be one of the LEDs has an unusual dope (ingredient).
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Wherever there is a market you will find a company trying to cash in.
Planted
Non-planted
FOWLR
REEF
Quality
Economic (low budget)
Ect...

Low budget electronics use low budget components. These components will not last as long. With that I would question their claims of what their product is said to do & for how long. (Personal experience)

Quality: you know these manufactures researched & tested their lighting and use a higher quality component that is more than likely going to last longer & do what they claim the light will do...
 
pbmax

pbmax

Active Member
I received my first LED aquarium light fixture today - a 20" Finnex Fuge Ray (not Ray2). I already have a 12" fuge ray I use over a terrarium, but this went over one of my 10g tanks. All of my tanks use fluorescent lights of some form, until today.

I'm pretty impressed with 20" Fuge Ray - it puts out noticeably more light than the dual 13w CFL fixtures I've been using over my 10g tanks at less than half the wattage. I was growing all sorts of low to medium light plants with the CFL fixtures; I imagine this will grow them even better. Right now it's on a tank with mostly subwassertang, but it has some ludwigia repends x arcuata in the back corners too.
 
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CrazedAce

New Member
I guess I should have posted an update as well. I got the lights a week or two ago. I decided to go with the ebay lights and I am impressed with 24" quad T5HO, it is extremely bright and I haven't noticed any decline in plant health yet. The val I have in there is sending off shoots as usual, so hey, it works!

The 48" dual T5HO is mildly satisfactory. It is actually too big for my 55gal tanks, and the mounting brackets are not what it shows in the pics. Other than that, it's fine. I just recently put it on a tank to let it cycle. Eventually I will be replacing one of the 6500k bulbs with an actinic to bring out the colors of my African cichlids I'll be putting in there.

Paid about $130 for both lights, so can't complain much. :)
 
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