LED Light Thread...For looking at all those options

[cichlid-gal]

There are always questions from folks about lights and which lights look best and which lights work best and which lights to get for this and that.  I thought maybe a thread that we can all participate in that we post up pics of our tanks sharing what types of lights we have on the tanks, for how long, if planted or not, and for how long.  This might help folks make a decision about lights and what they are looking for.  Of course...I'm starting

Current LED Plus 48" light on a 72" tank.  I use the "orange" setting most of the time.   Low tech community planted tank.  125G tank...up and running for about a year.  Most plants have been in there for that time except for the bolbitis and the tall anubia log on the left (those moved in a week ago when I switched up my other 125G tank...but that tank had the same type of light on it).  This light works great in my opinion for a low tech planted tank and its not too expensive.

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Build My LED 30" light on a 48" tank.  I just set up this light on this tank but I love the color and richness it adds to the tank.  I will have to see if this light gives enough supplement to my other light to carry the 75G high tech planted tank.  This tank gets a lot of glare so please excuse that in the pics of it.

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Finnex Ray II 48" on a 33G high tech planted tank for 6 months and now the 75G high tech planted (just moved to it).  This light did great on the 33G tank, I did have to raise it some above the surface.  Now it is on the 75G. Time will tell how it will do.

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[fishNAbowl]

Current LED Plus 48" light on a 72" tank.  I use the "orange" setting most of the time.   Low tech community planted tank.  125G tank...up and running for about a year.  Most plants have been in there for that time except for the bolbitis and the tall anubia log on the left (those moved in a week ago when I switched up my other 125G tank...but that tank had the same type of light on it).  This light works great in my opinion for a low tech planted tank and its not too expensive.

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This tank is impressive.  Low light, low tech the plants look vibrant.  Definitely a beautiful show tank!

Build My LED 30" light on a 48" tank.  I just set up this light on this tank but I love the color and richness it adds to the tank.  I will have to see if this light gives enough supplement to my other light to carry the 75G high tech planted tank.  This tank gets a lot of glare so please excuse that in the pics of it.

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I've only heard about the Build My LED. When they built it what was the K value of the LED's and the Wattage of the individual LED's?

Finnex Ray II 48" on a 33G high tech planted tank for 6 months and now the 75G high tech planted (just moved to it).  This light did great on the 33G tank, I did have to raise it some above the surface.  Now it is on the 75G. Time will tell how it will do.

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definitely can tell the difference in illumination when you moved this fixture from a shallow 33 long to a deeper and wider tank.

[fishNAbowl]

I don't know if this set up counts in this thread Donna. This is about 18 months of lighting research, and experimentation coming together.  The goal was enough lighting to penetrate 2 feet of water and be able to grow med/high light ground covers, be able to pull reds out of plants and get decent growth out of anything planted. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
This is a mix of Ray2 and Fuge Ray Planted +. I get that soft warm illumination from the Planted + , along with good water penetration from the Ray2. Both together give great illumination in this 140 gallon tank. By far the best I've seen with this tank. And this tank has had just about every kind of lighting this hobby offers. Halogen, T8, T5HO, compacts, and now LED. This set up saves me so much $$ in electrical costs to obtain the same illumination.  I think I even have better illumination from anything that has been used in the past.

Here is some original snap shots to to give reference to illumination for this thread topic.
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[cichlid-gal]

I don't know if this set up counts in this thread Donna.

and I've only heard about the Build My LED. When they built it what was the K value of the LED's and the Wattage of the individual LED's?

Yes..your share is perfect.  You show 5 Finnex lights on that tank to give you what you are looking for and for being able to maintain the lighting you need for your plants.  That will be helpful to some folks I'm sure.

As for the Build My LED, BML gives you lots and lots of information (of which I have no clue what exactly most of it means...trying to learn).  I bought this light for a 29G tank originally so right now this light is really not sized properly for the 75G tank.  It is just being used as supplemental light.  I purchased a 30" Dutch planted 6300K XB series high light type with 90 degree angle.  According to their chart of PAR values for this light, that gives me PAR values as follows:

3"  510
6"  300
12" 145
18" 110
24" 80

so my light would not be good for high light ground cover type plants unless I locate them right under the light beam and also I lose a lot of PAR as the plants move away from the direct light and are not directly under it on this one.

As for watts, I can't find the specific watt count for this light but they say they use 1-3 watt LED bulbs.  My light has 15 bulbs so least would be 15W and most would be 45W available...I would guess somewhere inbetween.

They have a number of versions of their lights... found [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  .... that give you various values.  The high light pars with 90 degree angles are more like

3"  740
6"  430
12" 210
18" 155
24" 115

and I don't think they run you much more than the other light options.  Just depends on what you want in your tank.  From my readings, and I'm still learning the following are good general breakdowns

PAR
Low light - 15-30 micromols of PAR - CO2 is not needed, but is helpful to the plants
Medium light - 35-50 micromols of PAR - CO2 may be needed to avoid too many nuisance algae problems
High light - more than 50 micromols of PAR - pressurized CO2 is essential to avoid major algae problems

or easier maybe to understand...from Roy in another thread
Approximately:
PAR <10 is probably too low for plants
PAR 10-35 - Low Light
PAR 35-70 - Medium Light
PAR >70 - High Light

Watts - for low-light plants, aim for 1.5 to 2 watts per gallon (WPG), for medium-light tanks 2 to 4 WPG, and for high-light tanks more than 4 WPG.

[fishNAbowl]

The BML sounds like a nice fixture for sure. For a time I was researching lighting for Dutch Planted tanks. They use a lot of light in the red spectrum. The red spectrum is benifical to plant growth this also enhances any red plants or iridescent reds in fish.

[cichlid-gal]

The BML sounds like a nice fixture for sure. For a time I was researching lighting for Dutch Planted tanks. They use a lot of light in the red spectrum. The red spectrum is benifical to plant growth this also enhances any red plants or iridescent reds in fish.

I was just looking through a catalogue yesterday and noticed a number of new brand (at least new to me) LED lights.  I know nothing about them.  Called Maxspect and Ecoray.  They are pricey but if you are going to have to buy more than 2 of other types of LED lights that run in the $200 range then they might be an option also.

I love the Finnex as it worked on my 33G long tank but I'm pretty sure it is not going to be enough for the 75G tank unless I get multiples of it.  You have 5 on your 140G tank.  Could you share the dimensions on that tank Chad if you don't mind me asking?

It would be really nice to find an LED light where one light is enough for the tank even if you are doing high light planting.  A BML in the right size, in the right option, might do the trick but I'm not sure.  For me, at this time, my options might be limited to purchasing another Finnex or BML just because of cost but for someone looking for a new setup there might be other options that would work too.

[fishNAbowl]

I quickly scanned Maxspect and Ecoray website. Did you see any fixtures for planted or  fish only tanks?

The dimensions of my 140 long is 7 foot X 16 inches. There are 3 X four foot fixtures and 2 X three foot fixtures.

A couple other reasons I chose these fixtures is because I was able to pick up 1 3 foot and try on a smaller tank.  After being 100% sure I liked the Finnex light I was able to pick up another and slowly switch out my old lighting. The Fuge Ray planted + came out right after I picked up my 1st 3 foot Ray2. So I picked up a 3 foot Planted + , installed it on my 30 gallon to try it out.  So I was able to make the investment slowly over about a years time instead of having to fork over $1000 at once.

In the end I figured I paid about the same for all these fixtures as I wold have paid for just 2 LED fixtures from competitive manufactures in the same quality bracket.
Also I figure if one fixture goes out for any reason there is back up lighting and I won't be completely dead in the water.
For a time I was contemplating Fluval's LED fixtures for planted tanks. 1 four foot fixture was over $400 retail at the time. But in the end gave too much red illumination for my liking. Also, I picked these up at Aquarium Co-Op.  With a GSAS discount of about 10% and the ability to trade in plants for store credit I was able to pick up many of these fixtures for $20-$50 off retail price.

[cichlid-gal]

The Maxspect does have a planted tank version, the 120W - 8000K light and I saw that they have a new light coming out called the Glaive that is for freshwater tanks...I think it has yet to launch. The Ecoray appears to be more saltwater oriented. But without reading more reviews on those I don't know what my comfort level on them is. I do know that the Finnex and BML are well rated by plant afficionados.

Yes, being able to do the plant trade in (lucky duck ) and discounts does make a difference Chad. Plus, supporting local stores is a great thing to do. Again, I'm always envious of you all over on the West side and your options for shopping, sharing, and trading.

[cichlid-gal]

The dimensions of my 140 long is 7 foot X 16 inches. There are 3 X four foot fixtures and 2 X three foot fixtures.

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Sweet tank...so only 16" deep? Nice. I now have 21 inches deep...yikes.

[LuminousAphid]

I have been running a 24 inch Finnex Ray 2 for about a year now, and got a 24 inch Finnex Monster Ray on sale about 6 months ago. I really like both of them, although the monster ray is really just for accent lighting, not at all enough for plants. I really only turn that one on when I am watching the tank, because I find it just gets very hot and probably doesn't help the plants much. That is certainly something noticable between the two; the Ray 2 runs pretty efficiently, but the Monster Ray gets HOT; it seems to be much less efficient judging by the amount of heat it makes, and it also has an inline transformer box on the cord unlike the Ray 2, which is just a straight cord into the unit.

Here are pictures to compare; I don't have a camera which I can set to the same settings, so you can tell the ISO is adjusted between the images so it's not accurate of the overall light levels. But it gives you an idea of the spectrum.

Ray 2 only
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Monster Ray only--note my reflection, the camera is taking in much more light to even things out
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Both at once
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Sorry about the fuzzy images; camera is not great and lots of algae all over the glass. Plus as you can tell my hob is spitting lots of air bubbles into the water because water is too low

Anyway, I find that the Ray 2 does very well as far as plants are concerned, but is pretty bright so it can contribute to algae growth. Of course my 'fish room' is not blacked out, so I'm sure some of the algae is from the sunlight coming through the window. My tank is still recovering from a bit of neglect when I wasn't dosing ferts at all for a while, but it is quickly bouncing back thanks to the 7000k spectrum of the Ray 2.

I haven't tried any other brands, but I can safely recommend Finnex Ray 2 as a good choice for plants. I have heard the planted plus are good as well, but I don't think they are quite as bright. They are quite a bit cheaper, though, so that's a trade-off

[DMD123]

Was looking for a real cheap LED for a 20L and decided to try Aquatic Life LED Freshwater Aquarium Light (30 Inch). On ebay with shipping it was $26.98. It should be more than enough light for such a shallow, narrow tank for fish only. Will review when it comes in

[fishNAbowl]

The dimensions of my 140 long is 7 foot X 16 inches. There are 3 X four foot fixtures and 2 X three foot fixtures.

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Sweet tank...so only 16" deep?  Nice.  I now have 21 inches deep...yikes.

No sorry, the tank is 7 foot long, 16 inches wide, 24 inches deep .

[fishNAbowl]

Thanks for jumping in guys. Thought for a minute this was only going to be a 2 way convo.

@DMD123, Definitely post a pict when you have the new LED set up.

[cichlid-gal]

The dimensions of my 140 long is 7 foot X 16 inches. There are 3 X four foot fixtures and 2 X three foot fixtures.

.

Sweet tank...so only 16" deep?  Nice.  I now have 21 inches deep...yikes.

No sorry, the tank is 7 foot long, 16 inches wide, 24 inches deep .

Ha...well that is better then as I was thinking all that light on a 16 inch deep tank was kinda overkill...LOL.

[cichlid-gal]

Thanks for jumping in guys. Thought for a minute this was only going to be a 2 way convo.

@DMD123,  Definitely post a pict when you have the new LED set up.

hmmm...some threads make it and some don't...I'd like to see this one go good but understand that we have a number of LED threads ... I was just trying to get one where we could see lots of lighting options and how the tanks look (although you and I have chatted a lot in the middle...geez)

[PokeSephiroth]

I did a little review for the Finnex LED lights (Fuge Ray, Fuge Ray Planted+, Ray 2, and Monster Ray) in this video.





And here's a video of the Current Satellite LED+ and me demonstrating each mode on a 12 gallon rimless (unfilled)

[cichlid-gal]

Nice Angelo...thank you very much! Those are great!

[PokeSephiroth]

I will try to get a video of my Ecoxotic Panorama Freshwater LED kit when I get home :-D

[fishNAbowl]

I will try to get a video of my Ecoxotic Panorama Freshwater LED kit when I get home :-D

   yes please. Don't think I've seen or read about that fixture yet.

[PokeSephiroth]

Sorry for the delayed post! It's been a busy couple of days leading into July 4th, so I've had to postpone making the video for the Ecoxotic Panorama LED Freshwater Kit, lights... ALAS... here it is!

Also, to clear any confusion out there, this is NOT their newest LED light, known as the Ecoxotic E-Series Full Spectrum LED line (that function similar to Current USA's Satellite LED+ fixtures)

With that being said... Enjoy!

[hobbyorobsession]

I run (2) 6 foot build-my-led rigs over a 125g. it gets the job done but isn't the cheapest option.

[Anthraxx]

ive got some beamswork fixtures im going to be (hopefully) using for a planted 40b. not hoping for any high maintenance stuff just some java ferns, crypts, and maybe some mosses. they are the single bright fixtures but i have 2 of the 32'' fixtures. its not a deep tank either so im really hoping this will be enough. either way i could toss a CFL on if need be. any advice is greatly appreciated. just once id like to have plants "work out"

[cichlid-gal]

I run  (2) 6 foot build-my-led rigs over a 125g.  it gets the job done but isn't the cheapest option.

Can you share a picture?

[hobbyorobsession]

Ill post one tomorrow

[LuminousAphid]

ive got some beamswork fixtures im going to be (hopefully) using for a planted 40b. not hoping for any high maintenance stuff just some java ferns, crypts, and maybe some mosses. they are the single bright fixtures but i have 2 of the 32'' fixtures. its not a deep tank either so im really hoping this will be enough. either way i could toss a CFL on if need be. any advice is greatly appreciated. just once id like to have plants "work out"

in my short and shallow experience with planted tanks, light is the most important aspect of getting plants to like your tank, so i hope with double fixtures and a possible fluorescent light you will be good. I'm not familiar with beamsworks, but as long as they have a decent spectrum and you get enough light from them your plants should like it. you want the spectrum to peak around 6500-7000k, but i know some LED's are just the wrong spectrum for growing plants, so you might look at that aspect if you are not getting good growth.

i have many more suggestions, but they are off-topic here, so PM me if you want any more advice

[hobbyorobsession]

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[Flyfalcons]

Here is my 55G planted with a Beamswork 48" LED 6500K. So far it has worked well and the plants grow nicely under its light. I strung up a blue LED light string for night use.

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[cichlid-gal]

Thanks for the pic Daniel. Could we get a front view so we can see how the lights "light up" the tank?

Ryan...good lighting on that Beamswork. How long has the tank been up and running?

[hobbyorobsession]

I will say that I just noticed that one is having an issue not illuminating all the way.

[cichlid-gal]

I will say that I just noticed that one is having an issue not illuminating all the way.

ok...thank you for sharing that. Is it a mechanical problem with the fixtures or are they not illuminating the tank the way they need to? If mechanical, maybe you can provide a picture to us when you get it the way you want it. I would love to see what two of these lights look like. I have mine wedged between two Finnex's but all my lights are different lengths (1 48", 1 36", and 1 30"). It's bright when they are all on but not overly so.

[Flyfalcons]

Tank has been running since last April. I purchased the Beamswork in November, and took the photo not long after that. The plants that you see in the pic have grown dramatically since then. The extra light also brought on some cyanobacteria, which I have been battling each water change. It doesn't get out of hand; just an annoyance to deal with. I did make a mistake earlier with the K rating - the real rating is 6700K (it's the one that's advertised for planted tanks). For 130 bucks I don't think it's a bad light. There are a couple version sold and mine is the 3 watt x 36 bulb arrangement.

[Anthraxx]

it would seem i just went with a cheaper version. bah may have to resell and get new ones now. always wondered why the 10g plants never really took off..

[DMD123]

it would seem i just went with a cheaper version. bah may have to resell and get new ones now. always wondered why the 10g plants never really took off..

Might have been the cheap single bright when they were first out. Most of the new Beamsworks have pretty high lumen and plant spectrum, where as when I had mine just a couple years back, were not readily available

[DMD123]

So my Aquatic Life 0.5w Freshwater LED fixture came in and I was able to plug it in and look at it and that was about all. But I will give some first impressions. The build quality is good. A black aluminum housing with a single row of LED's and built in reflector. It has a switch in line instead of on the fixture. And the fixture is small. I though the Current Satellite (Not +) with the wired controls was small... this one is probably narrower but maybe just slightly taller. For the $26 I paid total, I am pretty happy with it. The only negative thing I would have to say is that it is a bit longer than the tank. I ordered a 30" to go on top of my 20L and it is a slight bit longer than the tank. Not a huge deal, wont notice where its at.

Ok the light output is pretty bright, more than enough for a 20L. It has a pretty crisp white look but it has red and blue mixed in so likely what they would call a full spectrum light. I am only using this for fish only. I think if any are looking for a cheap alternative to a old fluorescent this thing is reasonably priced and you cant go wrong. Was worried about getting it from ebay but when I got confirmation it showed as coming direct from Aquatic Life itself.

[cichlid-gal]

Pics DMD when you get things settled with it...thanks!

[treehugger_147]

What would be the cheapest option for putting led lights on my 55gal? Im looking to have a light with a day and night cycle i just like the night cycle so damn much!!!!!

[MorganEA]

What do you meen by night cycle? The blue lights?

[DMD123]

Seems like most of the major companies have not figured out the need to separate the night and day lights to be on different power sources so you can run them on different timers. Cheapest LED lighting would likely be Beamswork found on a site like ebay or Aquatraders.com.

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