Your favorite LED light?

thacarter546 · Oct 29, 2016

Im going to second the finnex 24/7 suggestion. I have two of the 48" on my 60 gallon planted and it grows medium light plants just fine. I got them on a lightning deal last year cheaper than I could build the diy I wanted, so I went this route. I absolutely love the automatic sunrise and sunset. Because I work weird hours I actually can see my fish when I am home without scaring some of them. By gradually getting brighter it never startles my fish. If I need the lights on for maintenance or some other reason I can bring the brightness up with the remote over a few minutes so as to not startle my fish.

I also have the finnex clip on planted plus on my fluval spec and it has been super reliable and has not given me any issues. I wish they made a 24/7 in this size, but for a shrimp tank the planted plus is fine. Grows high light plants wonderfully.

Pomatomus · Oct 29, 2016

I LOVE my Orbit Pro by current. It's a coral light with multiple programs, adjustable white/blue, and weather patterns. They are a bit pricey but my corals go nuts for it. The freshwater version is the Satellite (cheaper).

For most freshwater accent lighting you can buy cheap stuff as mentioned. But if you need coral growth you need to trust your spectrum, and a coral light would be better. Plants are more of a toss-up. You might be able to go cheap or you might want a real aquarium light.

As for DIY, make sure you know what you're doing. My friend build his LED fixture for corals. He ended up spending $1,700 for a fantastic fixture that is super strong, independently dimmable, and completely modular (can add/remove/switch LEDs). The only thing is his corals didn't like it. Some died over time. He replaced it with a $250 T5 fixture and got better results.

Important question: what size tank are you looking at? The thinner 48" fixtures are good for 55g, but without raising the light super high you would need a second fixture or a wider fixture to spread light across a 90g.

knobhill · Oct 29, 2016

I really like the Beamswork double bright 3 watt led fixtures. I used them on all my tall tanks (48" tall). Great coverage.

Steer clear of the Odyssea brand of 3 watt quad fixtures. They are not as bright as advertised, the ballasts die out, and the wiring/connectors are complete garbage.

FreshyFresh · Oct 29, 2016

About three years ago, I had a Beamswork 48-60" LED, high output 6500K "plant" light from Aquatraders that started loosing groups of LEDs after a few weeks. I couldn't find bad solder joints or signs of bad electronics on it, but wound-up scrapping it after a year because of strobing and having lost about 1/3 of the LEDs. Right after it started acting up, I contacted Aquatraders about it. They said I could mail it back at my expense, buy another unit and then be reimbursed after they reviewed my returned unit. No thanks I said. It was a nice looking, fairly heavy, nicely built (looking) fixture. It looked the part, just didn't do the part. Not the end of the world because it was only like $60-70 back then. Since then, I've purchased a cheap no-name eBay 48" 10,000K range LED for ~$30 shipped. It's been awesome over my oscar and severum tank for a few years now.

I recently bought a 48-60" Current Satellite LED+ for my 55g with plants. It was $129 shipped. I love the color changing ability of it and it's supporting my low light plants well.

Previously had an Odyssea 48" twin tube T5HO on this tank. The ballast bought the farm after 3.5yrs.

Fish Tank Travis · Oct 29, 2016

knobhill said:
I really like the Beamswork double bright 3 watt led fixtures. I used them on all my tall tanks (48" tall). Great coverage.

Steer clear of the Odyssea brand of 3 watt quad fixtures. They are not as bright as advertised, the ballasts die out, and the wiring/connectors are complete garbage.

Do you mind posting a link to the beamswork light you are talking about?

knobhill · Oct 29, 2016

http://stores.ebay.com/topdogseller...Z1QQ_sidZ412695299QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322

Timmy · Oct 31, 2016

I currently have Marineland single bright led (2*36in) on a 210. I recently bought a 72in Beamswork 10K and will be setting it up tonight. Lights are like food. All preference based.. I myself like bright lights, some like dimmer lights etc. Ill post pics tonight between the Marineland and Beamswork

Imsobored152 · Oct 31, 2016

I wouldn't say they're my favorite, but its what I use, and they work well. Been running for over a year with no problems. There's a few rusty screws, but nothing major
They just the generic 120W fixtures on ebay, full spectrum

Fish Tank Travis · Oct 31, 2016

Timmy said:
I currently have Marineland single bright led (2*36in) on a 210. I recently bought a 72in Beamswork 10K and will be setting it up tonight. Lights are like food. All preference based.. I myself like bright lights, some like dimmer lights etc. Ill post pics tonight between the Marineland and Beamswork

Awesome, I can't wait to see the pictures.

Timmy · Nov 1, 2016

I I opted for the 72" 10k 9500 lumans light from BeamsWork for my 210 gallon. I had 2 Marineland single bright 36" which IMO didn't give off enough light for a large deep tank.

I went with the 10K as a shot in the dark and based on reviews vs 6500. I like bright lights and wasn't sure if the 6500 would suit my needs.

I am very happy with this light. Bright, Sturdy and looks like it is good quality. The light does have a slight blue tint to it but looks great IMO..... was 129.99 (free shipping) from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FVJMFP2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Attached are pictures of the Marinlends (1st 2 pictures) and BeamsWork (last 2 pictures). I still have to add all the plants so the light should tone down a bit..

Packaging was TOP NOTCH, infact, I spent about 10 minutes unboxing it!! The seller boxed it 2 times not including the original box the light came in. This box could have been run over and still not damage the light (shipping is something everyone worries about when shipping something as large and delicate)..