LED aquarium lighting

[hartgirl]

Currently I am using the Aqueon 48" LED light strip over my 87 gallon planted tank. Right now I am using all three expansion slots and have one "day white" led bulb and two "colormax" led bulbs. I called, Aqueon and they said to stick with 2 of the day whites and 1 colormax to grow plants, but have also read that colormax bulbs help PROMOTE growth? Anyone have thoughts on the matter? Will changing out one of the colormax leds to a day white help promote more growth? Were ultimately looking at 10 of the "red" LEDs changing to "white" since the colormax bulb only has one red LED for every 2 white LEDs....thanks!!!!

Also, at some point I will be getting two 30" light fixtures rather than the one 48" because there is significant light fall off in the corners. That being said, if there is something better than aqueon that will give me moderate LED lighting at most AND keep the fish looking bright and bold (so not just white light, some red too), let me know!!

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[hartgirl]

Anyone have thoughts on the fluval planted LED system vs Finnex planted+ ?? Other than Finnex is much more affordable Apparently Fluval is not offering PAR ratings that I can find, but I am seeking medium lighting for a 22" depth ...


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[rhsoto94]

I'd go with the finnex as far as price and PAR go. I've heard the fluvals aren't that strong as far as PAR goes. But regardless 22" inches is pretty tall so so you'd might need 2 planted+ just to get medium light. Someone will hopefully post PAR of the planted plus as I forgot but I know it's closer to the Ray 2 then the normal finnex.


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[Brookster123]

Fluval is a rip off, go finnex all the way, youll be very happy, the price really can't be beat! Ray 2 will give you more light than the planted plus. They're releasing some new models very soon as well!

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[hartgirl]

Good to know! Thanks again...still in research mode for lighting as you can tell...I think at this point anything is better than the Aqueon LED I have now


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[Brookster123]

Good to know! Thanks again...still in research mode for lighting as you can tell...I think at this point anything is better than the Aqueon LED I have now


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Funny story.. i bought the 30" model at petsmart, fullllll blown retail. I even had 60 days to return it, noooo, it's going to work, it has too! Nope, rather expensive disappointment went to sell it on cl for a very very good price, got a few responses right away, young eager minds wanting to start a planted tank! I talked 2 people out of buying and racked up sales for finnex and current in the process, i ended up giving it away for free hahaha awwwwww...

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[hartgirl]

Sounds very similar!! I snagged mine for like half price because they had it marked wrong ...so I took the deal... but at least it got me into planting in the first place I suppose. I am going to get a Finnex for sure...planted plus and Ray II are still kind of a toss up since I have such a deep tank (it's a really odd size )


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[hartgirl]

I'm thinking Ray II at this point. At 22" deep, I think to get into medium light territory I'll need it. Not super thrilled that it is missing out on the red lighting though. They don't have par ratings at Finnex for the Planted+ but they estimate it's the same as the FugeRay at PAR 48 at 18". The Ray II DS is PAR 73 at 18". My tank is 22" so were looking a a good chunk of PAR missing from those numbers I think...


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[Brookster123]

I know another member runs a 48" planted plus lifted a couple.inches on his 75 gal, 21" tank. He has a splendid med light tank going.. you can always double up later, the p plus has a nicer spectrum for fish viewing as well as plant growth.

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[hartgirl]

I know another member runs a 48" planted plus lifted a couple.inches on his 75 gal, 21" tank. He has a splendid med light tank going.. you can always double up later, the p plus has a nicer spectrum for fish viewing as well as plant growth.

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Good info thanks again! I like the spectrum of the planted plus better as well. I think I just need to order it already and stop Googling things haha...I research things to death sometimes...can be a good and bad thing


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[Brookster123]

I do to, you'd be silly not too, than again most of the consumer based reviews seem a bit puffed up.. I currently run 2 planted plus, on a 20t and 5.5, they are too much light if you're not ready to fight algae to the death, i think they'd be perfect on a 20"-22" tank if you're wanting a slightly broader section of plants without having to run pressurized co2..

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[hartgirl]

Sounds perfect and exactly what I'm looking for. Research is hard because of consumer reports...I look up facts and try and find real people who have actually used them in real life lol...

while I have you hear, do you have your p+ on a longer tank that the light is by chance? I'm wondering what that 120 degree light spread really does to corners on a long tank ...a 48" fixture will leave me with about 7" on both ends of the light.


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[Brookster123]

No, I have the appropriate length for each tank, your tank is 60"??

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[hartgirl]

63" ....I had a conveniently sized 55 gallon for years and years until a friend gave me this 87 gallon for free. I upgraded everything, including adding live plants about 6 months ago but it's such an odd size! 63"x14"x22" ...?


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[Brookster123]

That is an odd one huh?? Well if it were my tank I'd fit it with 2 30 planted plus for now, if.the time ever came to add on than maybe a 48" ray 2 or equivalent in front. 7.5"of dead space in the sides will be too dark imo. Also I'm not sure you could conveniently mount a 48" fixture, does it have 2 center brace?

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[hartgirl]

Honestly I just set the brackets on top of the back half I the glass ...so I can still open the lid...
There is one black center brace and there glass braces along the top...

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[hartgirl]

Pretty dim corners now, but better light could fix that??? Idk...they'd just have to sit on top of the glass either way


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[Brookster123]

View attachment 251915View attachment 251916

Pretty dim corners now, but better light could fix that??? Idk...they'd just have to sit on top of the glass either way


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Yah, I'm thinking it will be dim no matter what light you use, the spread is only so far..

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[candymancan]

People don't realize this but the colormax flourscent or leds or what not do grow plants.. They are almost identicle to the floramax plant bulbs in color spectrum.. They are more in the 610 ish NM range for red, while the plant bulbs are around 640nm range..

HO t5 colormax bulbs have reds in the 600-650 range all pretty high.. so yes colormax can and does grow plants... I would say they are better then 6700k bulbs in my opinion... They have more blue and red in the range that plants need... they just lack the green/yellow/orange which is the visible light that 6700k's have..

I keep saying colormax or any pink bulb is the best bulbs for plants the charts even prove it.. I use 3 Pink bulbs on my tank, 2 floramax and 1 color max (which give a wide range of reds and blues).. and 1 6700k.. for visible light.. 4 lights may seem like a lot but isn't my tank is taller then most people's being a hexagon its nearly 25-26 inches tall.. VS say a 55 or 75g which is only 21 inches.. And all of my red plants are red, or pink



As for your tank length.. Im not sure if they make lights longer then 48 inches lol... im sure they do somewhere... but what I would do in your case is get two fixtures..

Put one along the back of the tank on the left side and the other along the front of the tank on the right side. Like this.. Does this make sense ?

-----------___________

They will overlap in the middle but who cares ? One is in the back the other is in the front so they wont even touch eachother... and this way youll have light in the entire tank

Otherwise youre going to have to have your lights hanging on the ceiling or have brackets to lift them like a foot in the air... but then your still going to lose light penetration like that

 

[Brookster123]

People don't realize this but the colormax flourscent or leds or what not do grow plants.. They are almost identicle to the floramax plant bulbs in color spectrum.. They are more in the 610 ish NM range for red, while the plant bulbs are around 640nm range..

HO t5 colormax bulbs have reds in the 600-650 range all pretty high.. so yes colormax can and does grow plants... I would say they are better then 6700k bulbs in my opinion... They have more blue and red in the range that plants need... they just lack the green/yellow/orange which is the visible light that 6700k's have..

I keep saying colormax or any pink bulb is the best bulbs for plants the charts even prove it.. I use 3 Pink bulbs on my tank, 2 floramax and 1 color max (which give a wide range of reds and blues).. and 1 6700k.. for visible light.. 4 lights may seem like a lot but isn't my tank is taller then most people's being a hexagon its nearly 25-26 inches tall.. VS say a 55 or 75g which is only 21 inches.. And all of my red plants are red, or pink



As for your tank length.. Im not sure if they make lights longer then 48 inches lol... im sure they do somewhere... but what I would do in your case is get two fixtures..

Put one along the back of the tank on the left side and the other along the front of the tank on the right side. Like this.. Does this make sense ?

-----------___________

They will overlap in the middle but who cares ? One is in the back the other is in the front so they wont even touch eachother... and this way youll have light in the entire tank

Otherwise youre going to have to have your lights hanging on the ceiling or have brackets to lift them like a foot in the air... but then your still going to lose light penetration like that

Who cares, we're not talking flourecent bulbs here. We're talking led lengths, hopefully your post does not ignite some redundant spectrum debate..

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