# LED vs Florescent - Freshwater -shadowing



## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Has anyone purchased a LED system and NOT liked it?

I've been looking into buying an Aqueon Modular LED system with the extra colormax bulbs ( if necessary )

it seems like one of the most affordable LED systems out there, and to be able to switch out the LEDs seems like a major plus vs marineland's

I'm just curious about the Shimmer? I've seen LED's setup in the store and some look great while others sometime look like florescent s that are shorting out.

I'm tempted to go to my LFS and purchase one and test it out before I make the plunge.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

I have the Marineland Double Bright and it's in the closet. In my estimation they produce more light(slightly) than 1 T8 bulb
but not as much as 2 T8 bulbs. They have 1W bulbs in then on the Double Bright and so less than that in each bulb would not
work for any but the lowest of light type of plants like maybe Anubia or Java moss. I have a tan G tank and the other thing
that gave me reason for it to be in the closet is the angle of the lights. Too straight down for the ten G tank. Perhaps in a taller
tank such as a 29 or 55 it would look great. But I had many more shadows in my tank than/w the T8 bulbs as I use 2 fixtures at
front and back of the tank so it lights things up very well. Also I used one each of Zoo Med Flora Grow and Zoo Med Ultra sun.
Corporate America is great at creating a wonderful speech about what they are trying to sell. But it lacks the detail info you
need to make an informed decision. The Double Bright gave the shimmer though. I did not try it long term either to see how
it worked on the plants but all articles I've read say you need 1W per bulb for them.
This may help also...
Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts
This suggest that the Finnex Ray II will work well on plants. Read the details carefully on the shape and number of those LED lights.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Current USA Satellite Freshwater Aquarium LED Plus Light at PETCO

For the price ^ this light seems like a decent deal, although i'm sure they have it setup in ideal conditions, I too would have dark areas because of my setup

I was wondering about different spectrums and with the aquaeon you're limited to the two LED strips.

I just found this on petco's site and although I don't care much for petco, I think if I were to get an LED lighting system this would be the way to go. I'm not sure if I'll like the aqueon and if I don't it's not a cheap item to just say "i'll eat the money"


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## sagespyder (May 21, 2013)

I have tried a lot of "waterproof" led strips in my tank and more often than not they seem to short out one bulb at a time.

I am currently using this Amazon.com: 69LED Aquarium Fish Bar Light Submersible Waterproof Stick Strip Lamp White: Pet Supplies in white, as shown, orange and blue for night light. They work great, the flickering is fine and over all it looks great. I will throw up some pics in the morning so you can see what it looks like. 

I have the white day light in the front and angled into the tank, the orange directly down from the top, and the blue angled in/down from the back to look like a back light. They are set on timers, naturally, so that i have the day light on from 7am-7pm, orange sunset/sunrise from 5am-8am and 6pm to 9pm, and the blue night light from 8pm to 6am. 

Even after they turn off there is a dimming process that can be observed after you unplug it from an outlet when I first got it. Most go out but there are about a dozen that take time to fade out in about 5 mins. That is what I saw when I tested them when I first got them. 

They come from China but from what I observed they are doing quite well. None of the lights have gone out and they are way cheaper than the over the tank options. 

The strips are in between, depending on who you buy them from, but unless you have used them a lot before you will get shorts. 

I have used florescent bulbs before and they do look great more so if you have a lot of blue and white fish but the cost can be staggering depending on the size of your tank. I had a nano which used T5 bulbs and everything worked great. Between that, about 9 years ago, and this set up with the leds there is very little difference except I now have a lighting cycle.

Again I will post pics soon, the dawn orange daylight mix, the day light, sunset blue mix, and the blue night time lights. 

I hope it helps over all


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Are you wanting to use a light good for plants? Your post does not specify. If not, amount of wattage is not so dependent. Only what you like.

If you want it for plants, Current USA and Finnex Ray are used widely among the community. Stay away from cheap stuff that may or may not have any use for plants - like the link above. If a light doesn't list the spectrum, stay away from it.


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## Flip (Jun 17, 2013)

I have yet to find anything that I like in MY price range. That being said,I like to tinker and I'm working on a LED light fixture that should provide enough light. The LED is a 10 watt array running at 6500K on 12 volts DC.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Not looking for plant LED's I'm just looking for something for Ascetics. There are so many different color's to choose from I'm not sure where to start

And as FLip mentioned the cost isn't cheap.

I've seen these submersible ones like you've posted, but I'm not sure which color or colors to get. I'd like to see some pictures of what you have and I'd also like to know what size tank you have?

I have a 55gal x 48" long, so I'm curious as to how many 24" LED's I'd need? I'd like to mix up the blue & white and possibly keep the blue on at night time.

Are the lights that you're using modular? For the light you linked how long have you owned it? 

From the reviews I've read people either LOVE LED's or don't really care for them and are mad that they wasted money.

I'm looking to add something different to my tank to spice it up right now. I built some caves with slate & pots on one side of my tank so If I were to submerge an led in that corner I would think it would look great and add to the over all appearance of my tank.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Checked out the link and I'm debating on going with the 69 Blue 

Amazon.com: 69 LED Aquarium Fish Bar Submersible Stick Strip Waterproof Light Lamp Blue: Pet Supplies

for when my timer kicks on at night. I'll see how this light performs and go from there regarding switching my whole system of day lights. The cost is where I want it to be, I'm just curious as to how long it will last. 

But for the money if I get a year out of it, it's worth 20bucks. I just wish they made a tube larger than 24", I want to make sure I'm going to get enough coverage if I'm going to change out the florescent bulbs 

The replacement bulb on the Aqueon alone is 30+ dollars and to me an LED is an LED.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

On each of the lights it says

Colour of LED: Red Attachment: suction pads

are all of the LED's white, with whatever color as an attachment or sleeve?


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## yekoms (Jul 7, 2013)

I have the Current USA LED Plus Freshwater. It has what they call full spectrum, but I'm new to this stuff and others know way more than me lights. 
Our plants are growing good so far (two months) The only thing that I don't like is that the light has to be turned on and off by the remote. It can't be used on a timer because of that. I have plants and want to control the time that the light is on. I work long days and don't want algae issues with the light being on for 12 + hours...


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## sagespyder (May 21, 2013)

I have a standard 55 gallon tank, 48 long, just like yours.

here are the lights that I have, dusk yellow blue, night blue, pre dawn orange, dawn, orange and white, and just the white. When it is outside of the water there is a shimmer effect but when it is submerged there is no effect. That last is the look of the bar semi submerged, the leds are submerged but the rest of the bar is not. I have to add some more water into my tank  

Not the best pics but I hope this helps.


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## sagespyder (May 21, 2013)

I have the 69 blue, orange, and white on my tank and that is exactly what you are looking at in my pics. That is the exact blue that I bought through amazon. My review should also be there  I am going to post the pics there as well. The suction cup is black everything is black except for the glass and the leds. 

It is from china and should look like this : Colour of LED: Red / Attachment: suction pads


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Thanks for the pictures!!! your tank looks pretty well light up

I went on ebay and found the same thing, the plugs and spec's all look the same.

Purchased a blue 69 for at night. Figured I'd start with one and see how I like it.

I'd like to get rid of my florescent s all together, but I guess I'll know if I'm going to swap out what I have for the setup similar to what you have.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

with the one WHITE light at the front angled down. Do you have a lot of dark spots? 

LEDs seem to be more focused lights vs bulbs, i'm curious if your whole tank lights up well?


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Current Satellite LED Freshwater Fixture w Remote Control Free Shipping | eBay

if anyone owns one of these mount of top LED's I'd like to know what you think of them?


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## sagespyder (May 21, 2013)

All the dark spots are all shadows from the drift wood, plants or fish. LEDS are pretty directional but since these can be rotated fairly easy you should be able to get a lot of coverage. Also I just have plain black background for my tank which might be why it looks dark in the background. With better pics you would be able to see the shadows cast by the driftwood and underneath the slate slabs where a few of my fish hang out.


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## Jenniferinfl (May 3, 2013)

I have the light you mentioned in your original post. It keeps low light plants alive and even growing with two day white bulbs and one colormax bulb. I'm happy with the shimmer effect, it isn't overly noticeable. Certainly bright enough for what I was looking for. 

BUT, for other tanks I've stuck with fluorescent just because you can get more light for cheaper.

To avoid confusion, I have this light: Aqueon Modular LED Aquarium Lighting System at PETCO


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## TroyVSC (Aug 29, 2012)

For brightness I love my Finnex Fugeray 26" for my 40B. For example here is a photo of my tank. You can check out other pinks in the link in my sig. There is slight shimmering. There is a little shadow towards the top in the back because I have such a dark background. I think it is the best bang for your buck LED that can also grow plants.


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## yekoms (Jul 7, 2013)

attackonthebass said:


> Current Satellite LED Freshwater Fixture w Remote Control Free Shipping | eBay
> 
> if anyone owns one of these mount of top LED's I'd like to know what you think of them?


That is the light that I mentioned in post #10... It has to operate with the remote. A timer will not work with it.


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## eljefe0000 (Apr 3, 2013)

if i wasnt growing plants id go with the currentusa led lights theres a lot you can do with the newer ones like simulating thunderstorms which for asthetics is pretty cool


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Jenniferinfl said:


> I have the light you mentioned in your original post. It keeps low light plants alive and even growing with two day white bulbs and one colormax bulb. I'm happy with the shimmer effect, it isn't overly noticeable. Certainly bright enough for what I was looking for.
> 
> BUT, for other tanks I've stuck with fluorescent just because you can get more light for cheaper.
> 
> To avoid confusion, I have this light: Aqueon Modular LED Aquarium Lighting System at PETCO



did you buy any additional bulbs? if so did you buy the colormax? Have you tried using just the colormax?

I'm not against spending $130 for an aqueon plus 2 led strips, I'm just curious if its worth it to swap out my florescent's that are working perfectly fine


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)




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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)




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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)




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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

TroyVSC said:


> For brightness I love my Finnex Fugeray 26" for my 40B. For example here is a photo of my tank. You can check out other pinks in the link in my sig. There is slight shimmering. There is a little shadow towards the top in the back because I have such a dark background. I think it is the best bang for your buck LED that can also grow plants.



Looks great, thanks for the pictures. Not looking to plant any live plants in my tank. My fish won't allow it, I've tried. Even the plastic ones get moved from one side of the tank to the other. I have a smaller tank in the kitchen with some live plants but those cichlids are too small ( right now ) to dig up the plants


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## yekoms (Jul 7, 2013)

NOTICE... I was WRONG about saying that the Current USA freshwater LED Plus 
can not be used with a timer.
I contacted their tech support and they said that it CAN be used with a timer.
I had a bad timer. I put the light on a power strip and turned the power strip switch on and off and the light goes on and off.
Add one more to my mistake list...


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Don't worry, walking on the ground instead of floating above it in splendor is what the rest of us do all the time anyway.
I just read up more on LED lights and found that the spectrum if far more important than Wattage. Seems that some
of the ones/w lessor Watts get good results do to their correct spectrums. And all the while I thought that under 1W was
a waste of your money at best. The silver lining on that one is that I found one which has 3W bulbs in the correct
spectrum AND can be purchased/w the bulbs individually picked by you(colors). i.e. 420/460/5500/6500 etc.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Raymond S. said:


> Don't worry, walking on the ground instead of floating above it in splendor is what the rest of us do all the time anyway.
> I just read up more on LED lights and found that the spectrum if far more important than Wattage. Seems that some
> of the ones/w lessor Watts get good results do to their correct spectrums. And all the while I thought that under 1W was
> a waste of your money at best. The silver lining on that one is that I found one which has 3W bulbs in the correct
> spectrum AND can be purchased/w the bulbs individually picked by you(colors). i.e. 420/460/5500/6500 etc.


Besides the high end bulbs ( American Made ) I haven't found a whole lot of info on spectrum

However, I haven't really been looking at any high end lights YET. Going to feel out this cheap blue LED and go from there.

I'm looking to find a cheapy white with blue or white with magenta if anyone see's anything let me know.

The only cheapy LED's that had more than one color were the RGB

69 LED 62cm Aquarium Fish Tank Bar Waterproof Submersible Stick Strip Light Lamp | eBay

If these were sold with alternating R, G, B, R, G, B, etc LED's I'd probally pick it up just to try it. But I don't want my tank looking like I took a string of x-mas lights and just threw them into my tank. 

I doubt that I'm going to find something on the cheap end.

Aquarium LED Lights: Current USA TrueLumen Pro LED Striplights

This is what I'm trying to find, but I'm looking to pay 1/3 of that cost. 

I wish there were a way to figure out how much light i have now, and what spectrum's I'm currently using and try to replicate that with LED.

I know that this is probably next to impossible, but I really like how my tank looks ( color wise ) and I'm weary on buying an LED system for over 120 and not be happy with it.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Don't blame you on that one at all. All I got for my money was flicker. though they call it shimmer. Had 1W bulbs also but when
I found that chart on here it said that the one I got was way down on the list of good plant bulbs. Not the right spectrum I guess
as it had decent wattage.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

After realizing that the Aquaeon isn't the best LED system out there, I decided I was going to stay with the florescent bulbs. GOOD LED systems are a little on the expensive side right now ( at least for me ) so I decided that I'm just going to use the LED's for accent lights or night lights

I wasn't having issues with my florescent lighting prior to starting this thread, however my 24" hood started to darken on me last night. It wasn't flickering, it just got darker. 

So I said F it and starting looking on AMAZON & Youtube again for a good light.

Ended up buying this light (Db Solarmaxhe2 Double T5 10000k Strip W/led 48") for $99 bucks, the reviews all seem pretty good. 



There are some small issues ( LED's always stay on ) but for the price I couldn't go wrong. I guess there's a mod so that you can add an extra cord to be able to toggle LED lights from being on all the time

here's the link in case anyone else would like to purchase
Amazon.com: Db Solarmaxhe2 Double T5 10000k Strip W/led 48": Pet Supplies

I was looking on Aquaeon's T5 lighting, but there were no reviews on them. 

It's going to be a few days before my new lighting system comes in so I decided while I was out today to stop into the pet store & buy Aqueon's T5 24" lighting rig ($59.99) until my Amazon purchase came in the mail. I have 60 days to return the Aqueon so I figured I'd try it out. The Aqueon florescent's are pretty bright compared to my single strip lighting 18" bulb (duh) I really like the compact size of the light, but it seems pretty cheap and lightweight for a $60 light

The tank is really bright but the lighting doesn't seem warm. Maybe if I didn't have it setup next to my old light I'd like it a little more 

It reminds me of the cheap florescent lighting from high school. I'll upload pictures so that people can see for themselves. Not sure how well you'll be able to tell the difference. In the Aquaeon there's 2 T5 bulbs. 1 6,700K daylight and 1-Colormax color enhancing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q8FtYD5OOo here' a youtube vid cross comparison between regular strip lighting vs Db Solarmaxhe2


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Aquaeon on the left, and regular came with the tank strip lighting on the right. Didn't think the pictures would really show up as well as they did. You can really tell a difference. Still blurry but you get the idea


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)




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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

I will say, that the fish look really good under the Aquaeon's bulbs, especially any of the fish with blue in them. The J Dempsey's look Great!!


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Pictures don't do this justice, the green plants light up as if I put a blacklight on the top. Although I wish the LED strip was a bit longer. It's well worth the price.

The cord is a bit short, but I have to get a timer anyways so I'll grab an extension cord.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Depends on what you can afford for it on the T5. I have this one but the bulbs that come/w it are a bit on the cheapo side.
I bought one only of the bulb in/on the next link and have been very satisfied/w it. But now I have three more of the cheapo's
to use up for the other bulb in the pair cause I was a dummy and bought 2 more of the cheap bulbs(though they are 6500K)
as back ups when I bought the fixture. You get 2 bulbs/w it and they come in either fresh water(2x6500K) or marine/w 2
bulbs (1x10,000K and 1x actinic) but I also ordered 1x6500K and 1x Roseated(pink flora) like a dummy.
This one is also a cheap fixture/mostly plastic but fairly high rating on this link/site at the chart at the bottom. It list them
by name and gives PAR ratings on each one so...
T5 Dual 24" 6500K Aquarium Light Strip Freshwater Plant Discus 48W Odyssea 20g | eBay
T-5 HO Aquarium Lighting: T-5 HO Freshwater TrueLumen Flora
Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts
That last link should get you all the info you need to make reasonable decisions on which would be good for you.
I'm still investigating T5 bulbs for freshwater/plants. Most don't come in the 18" that I need and I have though of going over to a 24" fixture
in the future just to increase my selection of those bulbs available to me. Wish list category though.
The True Lumen bulb I gave the link to is excellent for great true color in the tank so all I now need is a 6500K or 6700K one to go/w it.
Would like to find a few reviews on the brands as I know nothing about T5 quality in 6500K or 6700 K bulbs. It needs to be in 18" and few offer any
in that length. Coralife is one that does but not sure of the quality.


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## eljefe0000 (Apr 3, 2013)

i have that same fixture in my planted freshwater though not the best i have not had any problems so far with it, the bulbs are 2 t5ho and have been working fine for now maybe when they blow out ill look into better ones but plant growth is amazing so far.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

The cheap $20 LED from China is pretty nice, i really didn't want to spend a lot on an accent light so it's perfect for what I bought it for. Plus the new fixture I bought has 8 or so built in LED's so they'll go good togethr

again, I can't put plants in my cichlid tank. I'd love to, but it would be a bad investment. My smaller tank in has plants but they're not looking to great, i'm messing around with the DIY Co2 system and i'm finally getting it work ( I think ) so hopefully I'll figure it out before they all die

On my big tank 

I didn't think it was possible for a fish to destroy a silk plant, but one of my fish has succeeded in doing so, so live plants are impossible. When my Green Terror, or Convicts are breeding they tank every plant in the tank and uproot them and throw them on the other side of the tank. Not sure how they do it, but it happens all the time

The light I bought was a little over a 100 & comes with Includes: (1) 10,000K Daylight Lamp. (1) Actinic-03 Lamp. (8) Blue Moonlight LEDs

I'm not too sure about the Actinic bulb, I'm pretty sure I've bought this bulb in the past and didn't care for it much. But the fixture itself seemed like a decent price and good quality. Moving up to the next level of lighting would have put me into the 200-300 dollar range which I wasn't about to do.

The nice thing is that the fixture does have two bulbs so if I don't like it, I can pick something different up for a decent price

QUESTION: for this bulb T-5 HO Aquarium Lighting: T-5 HO Freshwater TrueLumen Flora

it says it's a High Output bulb, since I didn't pay the extra money for a HO fixture, and I running the risk of burning my place down or ruining my fixture by putting this bulb in there?

I wanted to know if i'm restricted to non "High Output" bulbs?

thanks for the feedback, I've spent a few hundred dollars on my tank in the last few weeks ( thanks to this place ) however, I'm really happy with all of my purchases.

Still haven't received my fixture, or my canister filter. But I'm really looking forward to having a nice setup finally.


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## eljefe0000 (Apr 3, 2013)

what fixture do you have attackonbass


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Amazon.com: Db Solarmaxhe2 Double T5 10000k Strip W/led 48": Pet Supplies


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

For insurance purposes all T5's can use either bulbs so they can't have an liabilities. The bulbs are interchangeable in design
so you couldn't stop someone from putting either in either fixture so they made the ballast/wiring safe to use/w either.
Don't know about the VHO bulbs though.


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## eljefe0000 (Apr 3, 2013)

before you do make sure your wattage is right and that your fixture can handle it. theres different wattage types t5ho's


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

hopefully the box will come with some directions. Don't plan on running out right away and replacing whats coming stock

but I will/would like to know what I can swap them out with if need be


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## eljefe0000 (Apr 3, 2013)

you can use t5ho's just make sure your selecting the right wattage for your fixture


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

So after waiting for 10 days, and wondering wtf happened to my lamp I checked UPS tracking and my light was damaged in transit and for some reason they couldn't just send a replacement so they refunded my cash

Ive read a few other reviews of people stating that they received this same light damaged and had to pay 20 bucks in order to send it back. For a 100 bucks it seems like a steal as far what it offers, but I'm now on the fence again and wondering if I should just buy the same light again?

Amazon.com: Db Solarmaxhe2 Double T5 10000k Strip W/led 48": Pet Supplies

here's the link again, if anyone else knows of something comparable and recommends something different i'm all ears.

this light seemed like the best bang for the buck. I know that there are cheaper T5 setup's but I dont want to buy something for 50-60 bucks only for it to break on me in 6mo - a year.

was getting pumped up waiting for this light. now i'm kinda pissed that it broke in transit

good thing is that they realized this before they left it at my place and left me with the headache of having to file a claim


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

Amazon.com: Deep Blue Professional ADB42548 Solarmaxhe2 Fresh Water T5 Strip Lighting Strips for Aquarium, 48-Inch: Pet Supplies

wasn't too sure about the actinic bulb, becauase IMO this seems like something more geared towards to saltwater people with the blue lighting.

come to find out, that they make a "freshwater" light PLUS it's cheaper. Still on the fence with this company, read a ton of reviews of the LEDs going bad after a short duration which doesn't bother me, it just concerns me about the actual fixture. I already have an LED in my tank.

Has anyone dealt with Deep Blue Professionals lighting? I hate to spend a hundred bucks and wish I spent 150 on another brand in 6 months 

I was checking out some Odyssea lighting and they seem to have some decent stuff as well.


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

to me the only difference between the two setups is one has a 

(1) Actinic-03 Lamp. 
and the freshwater one has a 

(1) 6700K Mid-Day Lamp,

from the u-tube videos i've watched it looks like the Actinic bulb really isnt that bright and just looks blue. unsure if it's just because it's a video and doesn't actually portray the bulb correctly but i'm just looking to make the tank brighter so i'm thinking the "freshwater" Amazon.com: Deep Blue Professional ADB42548 Solarmaxhe2 Fresh Water T5 Strip Lighting Strips for Aquarium, 48-Inch: Pet Supplies

is a cheaper better route to go, any help would be appreciated. Again, I have NO plants in this tank, this light is purely for Aesthetics


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## Chang Cindy (Sep 17, 2013)

Most of our friends including me choose use the LED Tube ,which is not only save electricity but also have longer life span, as you know it is very annoying to replace them frquently, hope can help


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I got an Odysea fixture. Its four T5HO bulbs with moonlights and a timer. Im pretty happy with it.


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## Avraptorhal (Jan 24, 2013)

here's the link again, if anyone else knows of something comparable and recommends something different i'm all ears.

this light seemed like the best bang for the buck. I know that there are cheaper T5 setup's but I dont want to buy something for 50-60 bucks only for it to break on me in 6mo - a year.

was getting pumped up waiting for this light. now i'm kinda pissed that it broke in transit

good thing is that they realized this before they left it at my place and left me with the headache of having to file a claim[/QUOTE]

I have 29 gallon heavy planted tank (I call it the jungle). I know nothing about the light you tried to use. For my first HO light I got a CURRENT USA NOVA 2XT5HO about 10 months ago from I think Pet ountain for somewhere around $60. It was well packed, arrived safely, worked first shot and has been working ever since. I changed to bulbs that came with it about 5 months ago as normal maintenance.

My problem w/LED lights is not something wrong with the technology but a nonstandard way of describing the light output for hobbyists understanding without getting fairly expensive meters. I have Finnex Fugeray II on my 5.5 G Betta tank which is working real well. I ordered Fluval Epoch clamp on for that tank figuring I could figure a way around the tank rim problem. I couldn't short of removing a section of the rim. It probably would have been OK. But I didn't want to have to clean up the mess if it didn't.I tried a Finnex clamp on fixture on it at first. It mounted on the rimmed tank OK. I didn't like the amount of light by eye so I tried the FugerayII it seems to be OK. the plants are thriving and my betta is also thriving. 

I moved the Finnex clamp on to my QT which has no plants or substrate. The black neons that were in there didn't like the light and hid behind the sponge filter.

I hope this term paper (sic) helps you,


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## attackonthebass (Aug 3, 2013)

http://www.amazon.com/Odyssea-Aquar...d=1381372849&sr=8-6-spell&keywords=T5+odessea

found this on ebay for 85 bucks shipped, was going to go with LED's but couldn't find what I wanted. Tired of my rigged up setup right now so I just grabbed this for the cheap price


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## eljefe0000 (Apr 3, 2013)

not a bad deal i have the same name brand but with only 2 bulbs so far its worked well


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I had a BeamsWork Double FW Bright (the cheaper knockoff of the MarineLand Double Bright) and I ended up selling it and going with my current Current USA Nova Extreme 36W T5HO fixture. MUCH better light, but my power bill is taking a beating.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

.


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## Aceranch (Jun 7, 2013)

yekoms said:


> That is the light that I mentioned in post #10... It has to operate with the remote. A timer will not work with it.


I have two of them both on timers. Also Current USA offers a digital timer that plugs in line and it's also a step down dimmer which is slightly annoying. I prefer a smooth dimmer over one step every few seconds.


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