Fluval Plant 3.0 Scheduling and Programming

[Cory]

1 hour ago, Neotropico said:

Need some assistance with programing to see if it is working OK or not!

(1) I just got a 48" Fluval 3.0  6500 K 59 Watts aquarium LED light and it seems that it is "off program" ie not working properly.   Sunrise is set to start  8-9 AM  and Sunset @ 19:00-20:00 (or 7-8 PM).  However, Sunset is starting 5 minutes before 7 PM and by 7PM it goes into Night mode (Blue Light).  The other thing is that it seems to be at full Daylight by 8 :30 AM as opposed to evenly spread during that 1 hour period between 8-9 AM.

(2) Also I would like to know how to incorporate DST into the selections, or will the program synchronizes to the app or to the smart phone in which the app is running.  Any suggestions are welcome!  Today is NOV the first, and I have gone in and out of the app a couple of times to see if it synchronized, to no avail! .  Meaning it started at 7-8 AM! instead of @ 8-9 AM.  Or will I see it tomorrow the 2nd?

To me this looks like it's working correctly. You have your settings up high all the way until the last hour.  This isn't how sunsets and sunrises work. It doesn't go from full strength to darkness in 1 hour typically. What does happen is it starts going down, and then when the sun comes over mountains/behind mountains it gets dark very quickly. 

To get a slower ramping time that you desire, change the parameters. If you were to take your cool white and drop it down some you see how the slope is more gradual than red for instance? That's because it needs to go from high light to low light faster than lower light to low light. 

The easiest way to see this is change your sunset period from say 5pm to 8pm. You'll now see it's not a sharp drop off, it's more gradual like a sunset.  The sun typically has it's peak at noon, which means from noon till 8pm it should slowly be getting more dim. 

 

I'm attaching a graphic to show what a typical day looks like in terms of brightness with sunlight. So in your 12 hour light period you have set. You might like something like 8am to 11am sunrising. Full strength from 11am to 2pm, then 2pm to 8pm sunsetting. 

[Cory]

Your profile would look like this with the setup I outlined above. 

[Cory]

This is a setup I use on the tanks in my fish room.

[Neotropico]

Cory  Thanks for the reply!    I think I understand what you are saying.  I have Sunrise currently set to take place between 8 and 9 AM.... and it is doing so fine.  How come If Sunset is set to start at 7 PM and get darker during that next hour until 8 PM, why is it starting to get darker 5 minutes before 7 PM and at 7 PM it goes into Night! 

Edited November 1, 2020 by Neotropico

[Cory]

I'm not sure, I'd try making the ramp down period longer. Without using a par meter, it would be hard to verify over the internet. I believe the problem is the short ramp down period and the way power is supplied to the leds vs what the human eye perceives. 

Either that, or like you said it's faulty, but out of the very high quantities of these lights we've sold over the years, we've never seen this "problem" before. I would try either pro mode, or elongate the sunset mode to see if that gets the direct effect you're looking for.  There is always going to be a "switch" type of effect, it's not noticeable when sunrising because the lights start from off and come on, so the initial off to on ramp up seems normal. But from on to ramping down, usually you can see the step down as less light is more noticeable than more light if that makes any sense. 

[Streetwise]

Thanks for sharing your schedules, Cory. It looks like the light on that 125 has a firmware update available.

[Cory]

4 minutes ago, Streetwise said:

Thanks for sharing your schedules, Cory. It looks like the light on that 125 has a firmware update available.

Yep, I haven't updated any of my lights cause they don't add any features I actually need. I have 1 updated purely so I could see the process of the update and the pro schedule feature that I don't use either.

[Neotropico]

Cory  Thanks again for the reply!    I changed the time for Sunrise from 8 to 9 AM to 8-10 AM and the Sunset from 19:00-20:00 to 18:00-20:00 to see if I get the same glitch or not.  I'll let you know. 

You could very well be right, (definitely have more experience with them than me) and there might not be anything wrong with it.  What still throws me off is the fact that the initial 8-9AM Sunrise time frame and program response takes place as it should,  why not the Sunset???    We'll see tonight what the program's response is.

[Streetwise]

You could try Pro mode, and use the additional set points to customize your sunrise and sunset behavior.

[be28ans]

Can those same settings be used on a 10 gallon planted tank? I just order the Fluval 3.0 nano today. Think i need a better light, using a 5 watt necro

[Streetwise]

With my Nanos, I currently max out at about 35% for peaks, with the mount in the high configuration, about six inches above the water. So let's say 25-50% depending the height of the light . You can basically scale any program you see here up or down. For my manual settings for photos, I go higher.

Try something, test it for a while, maybe two weeks, and see how your plants do vs algae. I hope that helps.

[be28ans]

Just got the Fluval Led nano light for my 10 gallon planted aquarium.  This is the lighting schedule i have it on. As far as the daylight percentages i didnt really know what to change them to so i left them alone. If anyone has any tips for how high or low to put my settings it would help a bunch

[Streetwise]

@be28ans, You might be a bit overpowered with 100% peaks. I would scale down to 25-35% max. I would keep your blue in the low single-digits when you use it. The Nano is pretty powerful for its size. I see room for more plants! Enjoy.

You might also want to consider trying the L bracket the opposite way, to give more height.

Edited November 6, 2020 by Streetwise

[be28ans]

17 hours ago, Streetwise said:

@be28ans, You might be a bit overpowered with 100% peaks. I would scale down to 25-35% max. I would keep your blue in the low single-digits when you use it. The Nano is pretty powerful for its size. I see room for more plants! Enjoy.

You might also want to consider trying the L bracket the opposite way, to give more height.

Thanks alot. I never thought about putting it the long way i might try that. Im thinking about getting a plant in the far back in the center. Theres a plant ive been eyeing on. Im hoping my monte carlo will carpet. I bought a piece of mat monte carlo in the front from a website. Its been getting brown it was much greener when i got it. Hoping the new light will make a difference

[Ken Dyer]

I had no idea that the update allowed for more granular scheduling! Must update and program all the lights! 😆

[Streetwise]

Ten set points changed the game for those of us who like special programming. I would like at least three more, so I could do sustained peaks for my dual siesta schedules. They should give us as many as fit the hardware.

I just noticed that an app update finally fits all the color values on the overview page. I'm going to have to redo all my screenshots in this thread!

On another note, I was messing around with the HOB that I am testing, and I dunked half a light in the water. I dried it off, waited overnight, and it is running fine.

[Shivametimbas]

I'm thinking about getting a 14 gallon cube. I believe it is slightly over 15x15x15 inches. Would you go with the nano or the next step up? Low tech likely. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Shivametimbas

[Streetwise]

I enjoy the height of the Plant Nano with rimless tanks. You need a 15" minimum width for the long Fluval 3.0 versions.

Edited November 17, 2020 by Streetwise

[Shivametimbas]

Thank you

[Another Jake]

I stole this program from a youtube video that I don't remember, but it makes for some great variation throughout the day and definitely in the evening. Question: The blue-lights-on-overnight thing... I'd like to do that for the effect. Does it have any effect on anything other than appearance?

... This is a 20L tank, hence the 50% max. 100% is blinding.

 

It's from this (Thanks Streetwise), but I made some edits (slower redder sunset, brief moonlight):

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Another Jake

[nnklove]

Hope I’m not missing the conversation. I have a strange shaped tank: 36x9x12tall. 
I have a light that is likely waaay too powerful for my small 12 gallon because it is the 36-48 plant 3.0. 
 

My lighting schedule has been just as complicated as my tank. I work nights and sleep durning the day, so the planned routine in the app is back-ass-wards, and confusing to look at. I also have to make sure to have the blue light on during part of the day because there is a tiny bit of very indirect sunlight, very small amount that shines into the connected room till 12noon. This is to try and get the tank on my schedule while still blocking all extra light during my/the tanks new sleeping hours. Please let me know if y’all think that’s unnecessary, but I don’t hate the blue light honestly.

Also please let me know what y’all think about the tank size and what I’ve got set up. I had to leave for work and just turn it on the first day and it was on for 10 hours, full blast (I think). This is before I knew how strong this light was, and it definitely damaged the plants in that one day – they look a little bleached out. Hopefully they bounce back. This is my FIRST foray into fish and tanks, so will take all constructive criticism. 
 

Side note: I am nutrient dumping, including CO2. Though I’m not sure what the CO2 is doing exactly. 
 

https://imgur.com/gallery/TZwaDEy

Edited November 20, 2020 by nnklove

[Streetwise]

@AquariumThoughts has shared the 3D model for the rimmed tank adapter for the Plant 3.0 Nano. He had his printed with PETG material by TreatStock. I'm going to get a couple of them printed.

Fluval Nano Light Rimmed Tank Adapter by AquariumThoughts - Thingiverse

WWW.THINGIVERSE.COM

---

Design to attach the Fluval Nano Light to a rimmed tank as opposed to a rimless tank that they include in the box. Design Process - Part 1: https://youtu.be/-B6p9HLLmDk This design requires a stainless steel...

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by Streetwise

[LumberZack]

I have the Fluval Plant 3.0 LED on this 55g tank.

I ran it full on from 7a-10p for the first few weeks. Which really helped the algae 😛 and my plant load was much smaller.

When a firmware update came out, I changed the pattern to something like 7a-10a, off, 6p-9p,off. This gives around 6 hours of light and matches when I’m in the room and can watch the fish. (There’s a bit of fading in/out that happens so as to not startle them with sudden lights on/off. ) This has been the pattern for a month or so.

They know now that about the time the light is full on, food appears. 😁

Just spent an hour or more cleaning algae off of everything so the tank is a bit hazy: 

Z

Edited November 23, 2020 by LumberZack
Updated app and screenshot

[Streetwise]

I updated the programs for my Nanos, and my 15"+ and 24"+ units. I made the color balance different for each peak, but the same power. I am now running two 15"+ units on my Askoll tank because of the shadow of the large piece of Mopani wood in the center.

Nano:

 

15"+, 24"+:

Edited November 28, 2020 by Streetwise

[Frederick]

Hey there, hope am not late. Im really new to the hobby. I just started few months ago with this 10g planted. Am in Kuwait and scarcity of most aquatic tools are gonna blown u away. I started with a very cheap led lights that wont even give you proper specs on its packaging and this really bothered me a lot. And finally just last night, one of the petshop here finally got a single stock of Fluval Nano LED. 
Now, last night i started installing and using the auto setting. Now i think you guys are having enough knowledge for an advise/ce for me. Also some questions below:

1) im working from 10am to 6pm. Before i used to open the lights from 4am then turned off at 9:30am bfore going to work. Then i will open it when i get home for 3hours. Today, i was thinking about my light is operating with my absence, (and i know am totally wrong since it is connected thru my phone), can anyone suggest me what to do? Any settings or light recipes i can follow and copy for my special case?