I'm purchasing the equipment for standard 20 gallon. My stand-by would be to get a 2 x T5 fixture, but I'm wondering if it's worth going for LED. What experiences have you had with:
Single brights are pretty low light. Finnex fugeray would be better for low/medium light and run a little cheaper. I picked up a single bright for my 10g and returned it because the lighting was much too low. A standard hood with 6700k screw in bulbs puts out better light.
Fugeray would probably do the trick. Be warned I have heard the Fugeray/Ray II give a fairly "flat" light. IMO I would wait till they release the fugeray with the red leds included...(tbh depending on your tank size they might have already released it). I use LED on my reef tanks and going from a LED set up with just RB, NW, CW to a full spectrum one has made all the difference. I dont believe Whites and blues alone can provide the right light for photosynthetic organisms to look their best.
I am actually looking for high light options - my tank has a glosso carpet. Currently I am using a 2x24wt5ho fishneedit, and want to move to led...
The ray2 is a great option, but if I go this way, I want to wait for some color LEDs to be added to the design first. for reference, here is the finnex PAR chart..
the buildmyled options have that extra color - I am leaning towards the "freshwater planted tank" option...
also, there are the SeaStar lightbars, the double strip of which has a very high PAR...
How do these options look to you folks..? What are some other high light led options, as I am sure these are not the only ones, and how do they compare with options already discussed in this thread..?
Many thanks for starting the discussion; also thanks, in advance, for any input, insight or advice.
I have some finnex lights and love them. Compared to other leds I have they are made 10X better, and better than most of the T5HO I have used in the past
Um, really? Those prices are outrageous. That Fluval link looks really nice, but WOW way over priced IMHO.
Finnex all the way. Whoever says they look cheap and would prefer the AquaticLife, show me some results. The link alone has one review. I will say the price is much more reasonable. But lesser warranty, no presence that I know of on here, and no PAR readings? Nah, I would pass.
What are the tank specs? You might be able to get away with two Fugeray-R's.
Have you ever used anything by Aquatic Life? I have one of their quad T5 fixtures on my 120, and it's really nice. Before that I had a quad T5 from Current, and it was junk. The fans were noisy, the reflectors were poor, the moonlight LEDs burned out, and it was just generally cheap and flimsy. The Aquatic Life one cost almost twice as much, but it was worth it. Quality costs money. I know and trust the Marineland, Fluval, and Aquatic Life brands. I don't know Finnex, so I don't trust them.
Have 4 Finnex lights so far - feel rock solid and high quality to the touch, perform like champs. I understand that you don't know them, but you never will if you don't try one
If you're not doing CO2 then the marineland & fluval plant LEDs are overkill. Same with the finnex ray2. But the finnex fugeray would be a better option, it's basically low-med intensity.
The fact that I've never seen Finnex equipment for sale in LFSs I visit, and that they don't sell it on well-known aquarium supply websites (Foster & Smith, Marine Depot, Big Als) doesn't do much to lend credibility. And I think their website looks amateur. I'll stick with what I know.
I asked for feedback from people who have used the items I mentioned, and so far no one has given me any.
Maybe there's a reason... I'm a Finnex user as well. Not just cause their lights are awesome. They have PAR data readily available that is very useful and easy to understand. They have a presence here and are actively involved - they answer questions. Whenever I've contacted Fluval about something I always get a 'cover our butts' answer that doesn't help.
thing is, the buildmyled and sea star lights I linked to above have much higher PAR levels than the ray2, which is why I am asking..? would the extra power be overkill, or damaging, or would it help with growth..? the tank I am looking to relight is described here. thanks, in advance.
thing is, the buildmyled and sea star lights I linked to above have much higher PAR levels than the ray2, which is why I am asking..? would the extra power be overkill, or damaging, or would it help with growth..? the tank I am looking to relight is described here. thanks, in advance.
Where are you seeing higher PAR levels? Their PAR level I see for the 12" is 21 if I am reading that right. Where is that being measured from? Because the Finnex Fugeray alone has a 62 PAR rating at the top.
Oh, and the BML one, minimum $120 for a 12" light. Finnex Fugeray 12" $35.
Also worth noting is the satellite freshwater led plus. There is a tread on it and looks very interesting. And as for lfs, they tend to lean torwards keeping fish/plants for the basic hobbiest. Most people don't keep live plants. So keeping a stock of dedicated plant supplys will mot make sense. But it does make sense to have a contract with, for example marineland who makes everything and now they are covered. The lfs that does carry specialized equipment/fish are few and far. The people here are giving free knowledge, more often then not with first hand experience.
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