LED lighting

[kntry]

I'm new to the board and to planted tanks. I'll be changing my 75 gallon over as soon as I get all the equipment in.

I'd love to have an LED light with a moonlight option and possibly a controller but don't want to spend $500+. Is there a good fixture that someone can recommend?

 

[Old Scales]

In LED's usually the higher the light level, the higher the price. What level of light do you want? Low and Medium light tanks can get by with modest ferts and no carbon or some liquid carbon. Higher light needs more liquid carbon or pressurized CO2 and a comprehensive fert regime. Brian_Nano12g is our LED light guru in here. He knows a lot more about them than I do. I'm still a T5HO fluorescent guy currently. Also WELCOME to AA. OS.

 

[Josh2424]

The best thing I can recommend is rapidLED.com, google it and the are a lot of fixtures, a simple large heat sink that doubles as a fixture might only run you like 20$ (not including shopping)

 

[Tobykourtney]

For low to medium light fugeray planted +. The finnex ray 2 is good for medium-high light but everything looks washed out. By far the best LEDs I've seen on a planted tank are buildmyleds and with a manual dimmer they sell separately the light level is whatever you want it to be.

 

[phishfriend]

I also have a 75 gal. The main issue we have with led's is our planting depth is around 17 or 16 inch and the PAR value drops off significantly at around 12 to 14 inch.
I like you didn't have a ton of cash to drop in to a fixture. After a ton of research and time (almost a year) I decided to go with finnex led's. 48" are running 150 for the panted + which focuses the red spectrum plants need. Now just that one fixture will put your tank in the low med light par range but when you add another fixture they offer called a monster led for the same price. Your in the high range par for med light to low par high light. Plus the leds have a 120° coverage so no dead spots.
Here's a pic of my tank. This is before adding pressurized Co2. I was only dosing excel up until a week ago.

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[Brian_Nano12g]

Lol... OS, I'm far from a LED guru!

Finnex and BML are all great LED options. However, I believe BML is compatible with apex Neptune controllers.

Also check out the Current Satellite LED+. You would need at least two for moderate lighting. Two of the 48" version will run you $260. They're compatible with Current's new ramp timers. The Ramp Timer Pro would be able to run both fixtures. You'd be able to have functions like moonlighting, lightning storms, cloud, and an array of preset color output options, not to mention customizable ones. It's like the smartphone of freshwater lighting.

Edit:
The Ramp Timer Pro should be getting released anytime now. Here's some info on it:
http://reefbuilders.com/2013/07/30/ramp-timer-pro/

 

[Tobykourtney]

Lol... OS, I'm far from a LED guru!

Finnex and BML are all great LED options. However, I believe BML is compatible with apex Neptune controllers.

Also check out the Current Satellite LED+. You would need at least two for moderate lighting. Two of the 48" version will run you $260. They're compatible with Current's new ramp timers. The Ramp Timer Pro would be able to run both fixtures. You'd be able to have functions like moonlighting, lightning storms, cloud, and an array of preset color output options, not to mention customizable ones. It's like the smartphone of freshwater lighting.

Edit:
The Ramp Timer Pro should be getting released anytime now. Here's some info on it:
http://reefbuilders.com/2013/07/30/ramp-timer-pro/

Keep in mind though the pro ramp timer comes with a 120 dollar price tag

 

[jestes]

I've got Build My LED fixtures over my 180. They're more expensive than others, but they're made in the USA, which is a big plus in my book. They're well built, and customer service has been good too. The UPS truck was a bit rough on mine when they were shipped, and BML took care of it quickly. A huge plus for me is being able to call them and get in touch with people who know what they're talking about in terms of PAR and so on. Just call them and see what they can do.

 

[Saucy840]

I am currently growing Anubis nana , amazon swords , el nino fern at a decent growth rate and DHG really really slowly but barley, in a 75 gallon 24" deep tank. I plan to remove the DHG and try something else with lower light needs. other then that a homemade c02 and the floramax substrate do an alright job along with the single current LED+, i do wish i had another to boost up power but its what im working with now and things are going alright. I think for the price and features of the LED+ if you can afford two of them its a cool idea though the marineland aquatic plant light system has a par of 83 at 24" and two LED+ would only have a par 56 at 24". Only down side is that the 48" marine land will run you $480+. I got my 48" led+ for around $120 on sale. It comes down to how much money you got and best option for that price range.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Keep in mind though the pro ramp timer comes with a 120 dollar price tag

Yeah true... But I was assuming the OP didn't want to go "$500+"... we're still comfortably below $500 with two lights and a controller

 

[kntry]

I've been talking with BML and I really like their lights and customer service. The only problem is they do not have a controller. I'd have to get the Apex.

BML is coming out with the items needed to create moonlight etc. and control the lighting but it won't be for 1-2 months and they don't have a clue how much they're going to cost.

I'll check out the Pro Ramp controller. Are controllers only usable with certain fixtures or are they universal?

 

[Tobykourtney]

Yeah true... But I was assuming the OP didn't want to go "$500+"... we're still comfortably below $500 with two lights and a controller

You've got a point lol

 

[cole_russell]

So I just bought a current satellite freshwater led + for 24"-36". It says on the label 18 watts but from what I'm gathering it's not the wattage with LEDs that matter? It's on a 25 gallon aquarium so its 20" tall my plants include: rotalla rotudafolia, anubias (not sure on exact species), some moss (don't know the species), quickly melting bronze crypts already lost two of 4 plants (part of why I bought the new light), sag (not sure), red lotus, and jungle val. The tank is dirted but I think I am going to supplement root tabs today for the val and remaining crypts ANY additional info on saving my remaining moss and crypts would be extremely helpful! the plants floating on top I'm trying to regenerate from a tank with goldfish not 100% sure what I'm going to go with em yet.

 

[mozzer]

For those of use who like or are already running Finnex lighting, what would be the effect on PAR value of adding a second fixture?

For example, if we assume the following:

Fugeray - low to med lighting
Planted+ - med to high lighting
Ray2 - high lighting
Monsterray - high lighting

Would adding a second Fugeray fixture effectively double the PAR value at a specific depth thereby pushing the level of lighting to high? Would adding a Planted+ to a Fugeray push the level to high while still retaining the red spectrum?

 

[Mebbid]

For those of use who like or are already running Finnex lighting, what would be the effect on PAR value of adding a second fixture?

For example, if we assume the following:

Fugeray - low to med lighting
Planted+ - med to high lighting
Ray2 - high lighting
Monsterray - high lighting

Would adding a second Fugeray fixture effectively double the PAR value at a specific depth thereby pushing the level of lighting to high? Would adding a Planted+ to a Fugeray push the level to high while still retaining the red spectrum?

It depends on the dimensions of your tank. If its a wide tank such as a 40b then it will have less of an effect. Pulling reasonable sounding numbers out of my hi.dissection I would expect a 30% - 70% par increase over the whole tank.
The brightest light is directly under the fixture and the par drops off as you move farther away from the midline.

 

[phishfriend]

For those of use who like or are already running Finnex lighting, what would be the effect on PAR value of adding a second fixture?

For example, if we assume the following:

Fugeray - low to med lighting
Planted+ - med to high lighting
Ray2 - high lighting
Monsterray - high lighting

Would adding a second Fugeray fixture effectively double the PAR value at a specific depth thereby pushing the level of lighting to high? Would adding a Planted+ to a Fugeray push the level to high while still retaining the red spectrum?

I have a 48" planted+ and a monster 48+ which puts me in the high med light range. Remember it also has to do with the length of the LED. Bigger fixture higher par.

I also choose that combo for the best lighting "look" the color mixture makes plants and fish look really good while getting the job done.

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[phishfriend]

So I just bought a current satellite freshwater led + for 24"-36". It says on the label 18 watts but from what I'm gathering it's not the wattage with LEDs that matter? It's on a 25 gallon aquarium so its 20" tall my plants include: rotalla rotudafolia, anubias (not sure on exact species), some moss (don't know the species), quickly melting bronze crypts already lost two of 4 plants (part of why I bought the new light), sag (not sure), red lotus, and jungle val. The tank is dirted but I think I am going to supplement root tabs today for the val and remaining crypts ANY additional info on saving my remaining moss and crypts would be extremely helpful!View attachment 218209 the plants floating on top I'm trying to regenerate from a tank with goldfish not 100% sure what I'm going to go with em yet.

The best thing you can do is maybe double up fixtures or add a few cfl's to Hopfully up your par. If you go to sat's website. They have par values posted. Thier par almost die to nothing around 12". With your tank depth. I'm sorry to say I don't think anything but low light plants will do well.

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[kntry]

I have a 75 that I'm changing to a planted tank. I think I'm going to get the BML Dutch fixture. They will be coming out with a controller in a couple of weeks.

I want a low tech tank. Will this work?

 

[Old Scales]

If you go all the way with the BML, get the high light model with the dimmer. You can always keep it dimmed for low tech tank but if you ever want to go high light, high tech you won't have to purchase another light. I have a Dutch high light BML ordered and in process. The quality control and order updates they send me along the way are amazing.
And they're made completely here in the USA. OS.

 

[kntry]

That's good to know. I didn't realize you could use the high output on a low tech tank.

Are you going to order the controller, etc. when they come out in a couple of weeks? I want to have moonlight and the controller will do this.