I use Stingrays exclusively on my tanks--successfully I might add--but a lot of skepticism seems to surround these fixtures. I find myself posting pictures of my tanks as proof because people tend not to believe me. I know for a fact that I'm not the only member using Stingrays to power their low tech tanks but I never see anyone else posting their experiences.
Is there anyone willing to post pictures of their Stingray tanks? I'd love to see some photographs of others striving to do more with less.
Here's my 55 Stingray tank. I'm growing Giant Val, Rotala, Wisteria, and a mature Amazon Sword.
Mine is not nearly so pretty yet. The stingray I have on my ten-gallon was actually too much light, I didn't get good results/less algae until I cut the light by putting tape and plastic over the LEDs. It's kind of still a muddle because I added lots of new plants a little while back and they haven't all grown up yet.
I am so jealous! I loved how the Stingray looked on my 29 gallon but my plants were really not growing and many were dying at an alarming rate (all low light plants) But I think it was the depth of the tank that caused issues. Upgraded to a Planted + but keeping the Stingray in case I ever do a 20 gallon long...it would be perfect on that. These tanks all look awesome!!
I will be setting up a medium tech 40 breeder peaceful community tank. I want ferns, mosses, anubias, dwarf sag, Marsilea Minuta. I plan on doing pool filter sand as most of my plants won't need to be in the substrate.
My question is, would the stingray light be best for this set up?
That would depend on how you define medium tech and best.
Aside from being considered a low light fixture, the biggest issue i think would be spread. The 40 breeder is 18" deep and the stingray cant cover that and still provide adequate PAR.
If you only plan on planting a portion of the tank, i think you'll be fine.
Or you could buy 2 stingrays, but then for the amount you would spend, you might want to consider a different light altogether.
Thanks for posting the pic of your 55! I have 2 48" Stingrays myself - one on a 55 and one on a 75, but I've been running them concurrently with the usual stock single T8 48" fluorescent on both tanks. Just the other day the ballast on one fixture died, and I've been nervous for the vals in that tank. Maybe I'll give it a few weeks or so and see if they tolerate the lower light levels before I go out and buy another light.
I also recently got a 30" Stingray for a 20L, and the difference in light between 20" above substrate and 13" is amazing. That tank's not planted with anything more than a bit of java fern and anubias (yet) but it does grow nice algae for my pleco.
I shake my head at this hobby often. At what point does a fixture become "enough" for plant growth? Do I really want my plants growing at the maximum rate? Why? Every aquarium, no matter how large has a limit.
Anyway, I use a stingray and it works fine. My only issue is I'd prefer to have dimmers and a night mode. But my plants? Yeah they grow just fine. And I don't need a machete to trim them.
This is my Stingray driven 5.5 gallon high tech tank that's been going for about a month now, planted with all tissue culture plants except the true rotala indica on 3/11/16. Growing true rotala indica, hydrocotle tripartita "Japan", dhg Belem, ludwigia super red mini, and AR mini. Just had to do a trim on the dhg and hydrocotle as they almost tripled in size. I feel like I could be getting a little more red from the ludwigia with a more powerful light but it seems to be growing everything great and I'm only getting a tiny bit of gsa and diatom algae on the glass the day before WC day.
I also have mine on for 6 hours but I break up my photoperiod. 3 hours on 4 off 3 on. For some reason if I don't break it up like that on my three tanks I get bad diatom outbreaks but with it its minimal.
Love my Stingray. Minimal algae, plants do well can keep it low tech because they don't need lots of ferts and co2 to keep up with the light. On my phone, I can only see how to attach images as a URL, so no pic for now. I've got a 20L. I would love a night mode, but that's the only downside.
Hey there! I have a 20 inch stingray on my 10 gallon and love it! I have a teeny algae problem but that was because I kept it on too much. Its already going away with a proper light schedule! for me, these lights are the best bang for the buck by far. Im going to be upgrading to a 20 gallon soon and plan to get a 24 inch stingray for it!
I am running a 36" stingray on my 12g long. Have some HC in there right now, looks like I am getting growth, slow but growth still. Rather shallow tank
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