Best light?

[lmhicks101]

Hello. I’m looking for some suggestions for lights for my 29 gallon. It’s heavenly planted and I’m currently using the aqueon hood fluorescent bulb. Seems to work just fine but it’s a pain to work with since I have to take the light off to work in the tank and where I have the tank is not very well lit.

 

I’m looking for something full spectrum that offers lighting cycles as I go out f town a lot for work. The stingray doesn’t seem strong enough and I’ve heard to many bad things about the fluval one coop sells because of the app being garbage. I’ve considered a timer plug but I have everything plugged into a surge protector so the spacing would suck and I still want a light I can leave on my tank when I take the lid off due to poor lighting in the area. 

Plants

• Frog bit x12
• Red root floater x 6
• Anubius x10
• Lobelia Cardinalis x3
• Narrow leaf Chain Sword x2
• Spiralis x2
• Java moss x2
• Anacharis x2
• Normal Amazon Sword
• Flame Amazon Sword
• Red Melon Sword
• Bronze Wendtii
• Green Wendtii
• Red Wendtii
• Banana plant
• Duck weed 

 

Fish

 

• Cardinal Tetras x14
• Harlequin Rasbora x5
• Pygmy Corries x8
• Khuli loaches x6
• Betta
• Snails

[Jeeperscreepersmyth]

I'm a big fan of the beamworks da 6500 for a low budget light, already had one on my 30 and added the nicrew that's reccomended so often and its utter garbage compared to the beamworks especially considering the small price difference and doesnt add much light compared to the beamworks by itself.

[JoshStover]

My new hygger light seems real nice for the price. Plants doing fantastic under it

[Atitagain]

I have a Fluval 3.0 plant full spectrum the one ACO sells

I would absolutely recommend it, it’s awesome it lights my 29G perfectly. Im using it as a plant grow out tank and I couldn’t be happier it’s by far the best light I’ve ever had. And the app works great as well. It has preset recommendations or you can customize times, brightness, spectrums, and colors. I have mine on a siesta time 5 hours in the early morning and 5 hours in the evening.

everyone has their preferences. I’m waiting for ACO to come out with their line of lights and try one out. If I like them I’m gonna upgrade my fishroom to those if not I will be using Fluval for sure.

good luck mate 

[lmhicks101]

@Atitagaincan you turn it on or off remotely like if you’re out of town? And I heard you can’t set it to have an off in the middle of the day but you can? Has the app crashed on you at all and what size do you have?

[Atitagain]

On 10/20/2021 at 10:28 AM, lmhicks101 said:

@Atitagaincan you turn it on or off remotely like if you’re out of town? And I heard you can’t set it to have an off in the middle of the day but you can? Has the app crashed on you at all and what size do you have?

Its a 24” and yes I can turn it off and on from anywhere I have a WiFi connection. I think it has 12 time points on the custom settings, I know @Streetwisehas his set up on a double siesta. And it has never crashed I’ve not had any trouble been running about 9 months.

[Patrick_G]

On 10/20/2021 at 3:06 AM, lmhicks101 said:

I’m looking for something full spectrum that offers lighting cycles as I go out f town a lot for work. The stingray doesn’t seem strong enough and I’ve heard to many bad things about the fluval one coop sells because of the app being garbage.

I haven’t used the Stingray, but I’m 100% it will be fine for a 29 unless you’re trying to do high tech carpeting plants. Check out @Irene’s YouTube,  Girl Talks Fish, she uses the Stingray. 

The Fluval app is so functional and easy to use.  The light is great unless you want a strong red spectrum. I really like mine. Check out @Bentley Pascoe’s channel for info on the various models and programming. 

If you want something less expensive I use two Nicrew RGBs on my 75. They don’t have the par levels of a higher end light but they grow plants well and don’t cost much and have a rudimentary timer on the switch. I bypass that and use a WiFi timer. 

 

 

[lmhicks101]

Okay everyone. Thank you. I think I’ll get the fluval after all. 

[Mmiller2001]

Don't get a Fluval, over priced and poor spectrum. You would be better off with a Finnex ALC and if you have a higher budget, look at Chihiros WRGB2.

[lmhicks101]

@Mmiller2001 this right here as a 30 inch?
 

https://www.amazon.com/Finnex-Planted-Aquarium-Customizable-Sunrise/dp/B0812MYYS3

[anewbie]

On 10/20/2021 at 11:30 AM, Atitagain said:

Its a 24” and yes I can turn it off and on from anywhere I have a WiFi connection. I think it has 12 time points on the custom settings, I know @Streetwisehas his set up on a double siesta. And it has never crashed I’ve not had any trouble been running about 9 months.

This is not true; you can only control the light where your local wifi can connect to it but you cannot connect to it from a remote location's wifi. The app is quite nice relative to a few other lights i've used but you can do well with a less expensive light. A few have been mentioned in this thread but the ones I hear most often are hygger and beamworks as well as finnex. It really depends on what you want and features et all.

 

I have the fluval 3.0 myself; and the build is excellent (just check some reviews from large box stores where people complain about other brands); and the warranty is solid at 3 years BUT it is also expensive for the amount of light it produces. You can get near equivalent performance (though reliability might be weaker) for 1/2 to 1/3 the price and you can get significantly stronger lights for nearly the same price so there is that factor you should consider. Also all of these lights have odd tints (though the oddity is usually in different ways - too yellow, too blue, ...). 

 

If you are growing green plants and not carpeting you can definitely save a lot of money if that is a concern.

[lmhicks101]

@anewbie I’m carpeting dwarf chains in half my tank and and a lot of floaters. I need something that can get between them to my other plants. And I’m now adding some reds to my tank as well. My main thing is getting light to the plants and and easy way to program the 24/7. I’m willing to pay around $150 for a good light. 

Edited October 20, 2021 by lmhicks101

[Atitagain]

On 10/20/2021 at 2:51 PM, anewbie said:

This is not true; you can only control the light where your local wifi can connect to it but you cannot connect to it from a remote location's wifi

I’m sorry I said different, I have never tested it and was just speaking on what I thought to be true. I hate giving bad info and should of been more specific about not having tested it.

[anewbie]

On 10/20/2021 at 2:15 PM, lmhicks101 said:

@anewbie I’m carpeting dwarf chains in half my tank and and a lot of floaters. I need something that can get between them to my other plants. And I’m now adding some reds to my tank as well. My main thing is getting light to the plants and and easy way to program the 24/7. I’m willing to pay around $150 for a good light. 

Getting between the floaters doens't work well - what I mean is the strength of the light won't help here. I have a very strong light and floaters are a real problem with reducing light to the bottom. I would suggest establishing the carpet before adding floaters and be prepare to remove the floaters if it doesn't work out. I personally have had hit/miss with dwarf chain sword; but either way be prepare to either buy a lot or take a long time even with co2. I've found dwarf sag grows a bit faster but still very slow in a low tech tank. Of course this probably depends on substrate type (I use inert substrate with root tab which probably hurts) and if you have co2.

[lmhicks101]

After doing some research here is what I gather from the 2 of them.

 

Fluval 3.0

Pros

• Better PAR
• Better Warenty
• ip67 Water Proof
• Has an App if you want that

Cons

• Expensive
• Has an App if you don't want that
• lower kelvins

 

Finex 24/7

Pros

• Cheaper
• Has a controller is you want that
• Higher Kelvins

 

Cons

• Not ip67 water proof
• Has a controller is you don't want that

 

Fluval Plant 3.0 vs. Finnex Planted+ 24/7 CC - coolfish.network

Finnex Planted+ 24/7 vs. Fluval 3.0 : PlantedTank (reddit.com)

Fluval 3.0 vs Finnex 24/7 don't know which to keep? | The Planted Tank Forum

 

I'm going to look more into it and see what else I can find. 

[Patrick_G]

😆 I’ve been down this very same path! It’s hard to decide and it’s hard to not over analyze the purchase because it’s not cheap and you want the right one! I finally accepted that just about any light will grow the main plants in the hobby, but with a fully adjustable light like Fluval, ONF or Chihiros you can use it on low power or crank it up for those more difficult to grow plants. (and algae unfortunately) 

 

[Streetwise]

I love my Fluval lights. I can get the color balance and schedule that I want, and I don’t use any at full power in any of my tanks.

They use Bluetooth, not Wi-Fi.

[lmhicks101]

I’m going with fluval because of the waterproof and better warranty. Fluval and Finnex are to close to call in stats. I plan to use this light while I’m working in the tank and there’s a chance I could knock it in. 

[Streetwise]

One note about RGB: I wouldn't be surprised if some or all of the LEDs in a Fluval light are actually RGB LED trios, tuned to a specific output.

I posted in another thread about color models that addresses how we actually produce and perceive colors.

[lmhicks101]

@Streetwise do you by chance have the link to that so I can mess around with this? 

[Mmiller2001]

On 10/20/2021 at 12:03 PM, lmhicks101 said:

@Mmiller2001 this right here as a 30 inch?
 

https://www.amazon.com/Finnex-Planted-Aquarium-Customizable-Sunrise/dp/B0812MYYS3

I apologize, I posted a reply to the wrong area. Yes, if that's the length you need, that's the ALC I recommend.

On 10/20/2021 at 3:33 PM, lmhicks101 said:

After doing some research here is what I gather from the 2 of them.

 

Fluval 3.0

Pros

• Better PAR
• Better Warenty
• ip67 Water Proof
• Has an App if you want that

Cons

• Expensive
• Has an App if you don't want that
• lower kelvins

 

Finex 24/7

Pros

• Cheaper
• Has a controller is you want that
• Higher Kelvins

 

Cons

• Not ip67 water proof
• Has a controller is you don't want that

 

Fluval Plant 3.0 vs. Finnex Planted+ 24/7 CC - coolfish.network

Finnex Planted+ 24/7 vs. Fluval 3.0 : PlantedTank (reddit.com)

Fluval 3.0 vs Finnex 24/7 don't know which to keep? | The Planted Tank Forum

 

I'm going to look more into it and see what else I can find. 

You missed that the Finnex has 660nm reds. That's huge, and it's PAR is similar to the Fluval.

Check out Chihiros, it's an amazing light and will grow a high tech tank also.

 Chihiros WRGB II 30-120 Aquarium LED Light, Aquatic Sunrise Sunset Full Spectrum App Dimmable RGB Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XMBWQM7/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_FWN9QN56Q3BN08QMK192?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

There's my tank on a Chihiros and also when it was on a Fluval. Notice the pop of true RGB vs that horrible yellow overtone of the Fluval.

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by Mmiller2001

[Streetwise]

@lmhicks101, this should provide some interesting reading:

[lmhicks101]

@Mmiller2001 I saw that it had some really good features but for right now I went with Fluval because of the warranty and the water proof part. I’m new to this so the warranty sounds pretty good and I’m using this as the main light to also do maintenance on my tank with the lid off. One slip up and the lights on the water.

I definitely plan to get one and try it out in a future tank though so thank you for suggesting it and getting me interested in one. 
 

@Streetwise thank you for that. I’m gonna look into it tomorrow. I just got the fluval and set it to all basics. I ended up finding it at the local store. 

Edited October 21, 2021 by lmhicks101

[anewbie]

If i were you i would pass on the chirios products for two reasons (I have several). First they are not very reliable relative to the fluval and the complaints on failure is much higher. Second they effectively have no warranty. Even if you buy them from an autorized dealer (there is only one in USA); if they malfunction plan on buying the part yourself and fixing or shipping to china (at your expense) and effectively not having it fixed. 

 

Other than that issue the wrgb2 and vivid2 are very nice products. I do wish fluval would make a similar light with their ip67 and strong effective warranty.