led grow light. help??

[Sparkli2]

hey guys
so for christmas i got a nice big 4x2x2 fish tank
but with a big fish tank and lots of sexy plants comes a light
so right now im looking at a led light on ebay but i dont know enough about lights and wavelengths and spectrums an all that technical stuff. it says if a reef grow light so will that work on freshwater plants??
also its about $300 is that right or over priced?

heres the product description for you all
4 feet silent Cree aquarium led light.

Specification: 4 ft model

Item Data
Dimension 3' 11.24" x .74" x .6 inces
Color Black
Shell material Al+C
Input voltage 84~265vAC
Device Cree XPG/XPE
Device Qty 32pcs
Device color Blue and white
Wavelength 460nm royal blue
CCT(white) 10,000k
Ratio 1:1
Weight 8.5kg
Temperature less than 35
PAR(100cm) 600

thanks in advance

 

[Brookster123]

I'm not familiar with that light, if it reef rated you could be in for some algae battles. What type plants you trying to get all sexy with? You ready to put in some work or want more a laid back approach?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Sparkli2]

well nothings set in stone yet but here some of the plants that are definitely going in
jungle val
red tiger lotus
lots of different crypts
anubias nana and maybe some bigger ones
amazon sword
pygmy chain swords but they might get replaced with brazilian micro sword
some java ferns
ludwigia repens

as for the maintenance im away at boarding school most of the time and only come home for the weekends so maybe the laid back approach would be better
oh and the tanks gonna be dirted so in the first month or so im probably gonna get an algae boom anyway but when i am home for weekends of holidays i am totally cool with doing the whole high maintenance thing.
thanks

 

[Brookster123]

Hmmm. Sounds like youd be best in doing a low light, lightly stocked setup. One weekly wc and dose will limit the degree of planted difficulty.. i would not suggest using dirt.. once the algae takes hold its that much harder to eliminate. Eco complete would be a good choice along with a current satellite plus led..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Sparkli2]

low light, low maintenance i can roll with that
that light fixture looks pretty cool so i'll read into that a bit more.
as for the eco complete well ive looked into ada amazonia, fluval stratum, flourite and the eco and as much as i would love to use it its all just so **** expensive. and i am not 100% sure i will get a light and a bunch of substrate for my budget of $300. the one LFS we have likes to make things pretty pricey.

 

[jetajockey]

Saftsorb and root tabs for cheap substrate. Good led lighting is going to cost you, I recommend getting a quad t5ho if you find the led route too expensive.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Sparkli2]

haha root tabs are definitely a no no i had a bad experience with them last time i used them, i put a couple around the roots of my plants in my 80l fish tank before i decided to dirt it, and then about a month later pulled the plant up and what was left of the root tabs came up too and clogged up my filter media maybe it was the brand or maybe i just placed them wrong but that has put me off root tabs a little.
and the t5.. well i was leaning towards led because they use less power but still put off a good amount of light because we run our house off a 9kw solar system and fluorescent light fixtures seem to chew up a fair bit of power. but im fairly sure i should be able to get a led light if not well low light t5 it is

 

[jetajockey]

For that size tank you are looking at getting 2 fixtures to get decent front to back coverage.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[james77]

I would recommend the Finnex fugeray planted plus led light. There a good price and it will get you to the low light to medium light range. I just put these on my 125 and love them.

 

[Dogmom]

I second the Finnex Planted Plus. Just put one on my tank, and have been impressed with new growth on several plants. Also, nice light on my fish.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[james77]

Also the planted plus has a lot of the red spectrum.

 

[Sparkli2]

alrighty so i have decided to ditch the original one on ebay and go with either a usa satellite plus or a finnex. ill make up my mind when i get my next paycheque
as for substrate well ill figure that out with how much money i have left.
thankyou guys for helping me out and pointing me in the right direction

 

[Dogmom]

I am replacing USA Current lights with the Finnex. My Currents have not functioned properly since I put them in. Flickering, and some LEDs not working. Not nearly as sturdy or well built as Finnex either.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[jetajockey]

My current Sat plus has been fine but it's severely underpowered for a 2ft tall tank.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Sparkli2]

right so finnex then?? that would reach the bottom of the tank?

 

[Sparkli2]

i just had a thought sould i get a marine light for coral growth?? seeing as there made to reach deeper tanks? i dont know just a thought

 

[jetajockey]

If you are trying to grow corals.

The Ray2 is a little better than the planted+ in terms of PAR but with either one you will need 2 fixtures to get good front to back coverage.

 

[Sparkli2]

huh well that sucks.
and yeah two fixtures that cool im just wondering if it will reach the bottom of the tank

 

[Delapool]

From memory blues will penetrate very well down to 2ft with almost no loss (maybe 10%). Red lights will have 30 to 50% (hazy on numbers as haven't played with BML website for a while) lost by the time the light reaches tank bottom.

Light and tank covers rob a bit but gravel decreases tank depth so I just ignore these and assume they cancel out.

 

[jetajockey]

If you want high light at the bottom you are faced with getting a high powered LED. BML or ecoxotic e-series are both good choice but expensive. One other alternative you may or may not have considered is LED floodlights. They are really cheap right now. I don't know if there's any PAR data out for the larger wattage ones, but the smaller ones look promising. The 30W led floods are on amazon right now for $18 with free shipping over $35.

I have used them over 40bs and had no problem growing plants. I have one over my 2ft tall 120, if I were running just these I'd probably get 3-4. As to how effective it is, not sure, it's still fairly new in that configuration.