Everyone knows these come with very dim lights that are capable of growing anubias, moss and not much else. Just bought a new one and the light has been seriously upgraded. The light now includes a 3 way touch operated switch that turns on the new 4 blue LEDs. When tripped with a timer it reverts to daylight. Larger LEDs and huge upgrade in power and light output.
I took some pictures to illustrate the difference. Notice: This is a terrible way to compare aquarium lights, I don't have a par meter, my photography sucks, I am a terrible person and should be burned alive.
I metered for the New Spec light then shot all three lights at f/8.0, 1/80 ISO 200. White balance was set at 7000K
New Light
Old Light
Finnex Stingray Clip
Output difference is huge. Color temp slightly cooler. Spread is larger (no optics on emittors?), light is physically longer with the LED's spread out over a larger area. New light shows 8.9 watts on the meter, old light shows 3.9 watts.
This was a great move by Fluval IMO. Now buying a Spec III means you have a light completely capable of growing most low light plants very well. I think the looks of the old light fit better with the tank but the switch was wonky, and the power was very low.
I took some pictures to illustrate the difference. Notice: This is a terrible way to compare aquarium lights, I don't have a par meter, my photography sucks, I am a terrible person and should be burned alive.
I metered for the New Spec light then shot all three lights at f/8.0, 1/80 ISO 200. White balance was set at 7000K
New Light
Old Light
Finnex Stingray Clip
Output difference is huge. Color temp slightly cooler. Spread is larger (no optics on emittors?), light is physically longer with the LED's spread out over a larger area. New light shows 8.9 watts on the meter, old light shows 3.9 watts.
This was a great move by Fluval IMO. Now buying a Spec III means you have a light completely capable of growing most low light plants very well. I think the looks of the old light fit better with the tank but the switch was wonky, and the power was very low.