dillpickle Posted July 20, 2014 Report Share Posted July 20, 2014 Hi all. I am looking for a new light for my 90gal planted tank. Currently I have two t5's and my lighting is now where, where I want it to be. I am really looking to spend as little money as possible while still purchasing (or making) a high quality light that requires little maintenance (for example buying new bulbs frequently) and will output a decent intensity of light. I have looked at making my own lights (putting together my own LED) and some other units but not really sure what is good for me. Just looking for your guys opinion on what you think would be a good idea to give me good amounts of light while still keeping costs as low as possible. Let me know what you think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I loved the way my 90gal grew with a Finnex RayII. They have a new planted light out now that's supposed to be even better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillpickle Posted July 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I loved the way my 90gal grew with a Finnex RayII. They have a new planted light out now that's supposed to be even better! Thanks for the recommendation! Just curious where did you get yours? Is there a good place online to buy them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Finnex.ca I've bought a lot of stuff (fish and lights) from Rich - always great to deal with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pteronarcys Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I just purchased a light from buildmyled.com. they have a variety of preset led combinations such as 10,000k planted, dutch 6500k, etc or you can customize and make any combination or style you like. They also have dimmers so you can adjust the amount of light from 10% to 100% and program sunrise and sunset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I still don't like the led's that I see. I'll give my nod over to t5ho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylant Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I have some Finnex Ray 2 7k as well, and it's a nice light. I've also built my own LED lights from scratch. It's more expensive if you want to get fancy, but certainly rewarding. I also bought some 20W LED floodlights on Friday off ebay. I'll review those once they're in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillpickle Posted July 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Thanks for all the ideas guys. The finnex lights are very interesting to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillpickle Posted July 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 I ended up going with the Finnex Ray II and am pretty satisfied so far. Only thing is it leaks a lot of light for me.. If I use it with the little clamps it comes with, it lights up the whole room. Even when I lay the fixture flat on the lid, the front and back edges shoot out alot of light. Any suggestions for how to fix this? I am thinking of making some simple reflector to place over it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylant Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 I'm not sure. I don't have that problem with my Finnex Ray II. Mine sits a few mm off the glass. The feet rest on the frame and are about 3mm off the glass. Not much spillage for me. Then again I'm comparing this to my DIY LEDs which light up a whole city block in spillage :tongue: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frogfish Posted August 3, 2014 Report Share Posted August 3, 2014 I just ordered finnex lights from amazon.ca. The price was reasonable, shipment arrived ahead of expected time and the selection of sizes and models was also impressive. Got a 20" planed plus for the shrimp tank and pearling was noticeable the following day Got a 30" RayII to replace the modular aqueon led that came with the tank and complement the fluval led fixture. I wish I had dual rayII's live/pay and learn Differences noted between the lights are the intensity, the RayII is more suited for high light and the planted plus is more of a medium light. If you compare the lights of both types of the same size on amazon.ca you will see that they give a count of how many diodes each light has. I am pleased with both lights as they accomplish their intended purposes better than expected and the price was very reasonable when comparing other similar products from different manufacturers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Percilus Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 I know it's a little late but I too was searching for a good led for a planted tank. I am new to the hobby but I do a lot of research before I jump into something and I've come to the conclusion that for best bang for my buck the Aquaray led's by TMC are a great choice. J&L in Vancouver stocks them and that says something in itself and gives us a great place to order them from at fair prices for the quality. Anyone looking to get through a lot of hoops on this issue should research PAR vs PUR in led lighting and the difference from say T5 par and LED par readings. http://www.aquarium-...m-lighting.html good link on the subject. If you dig deeper and look hard you will find the pros using aquaray for it's awesome pur and pwm technology at a good price. Apparently in Europe these lights are all the rage but unknown to the masses in north america for many different reasons. I encourage everyone to do research on these lights, and the numerous opinions on them and the science of led lighting in general before buying say a Finnex unit. Especially when we Canadians would be jumping threw so many hoops for that light at the moment when for the same price we could get something far superior for what we want to do any ways right out of Vancouver. I plan on purchasing the aquaray mini 400 for a small chi or standard 5.5 betta tank to start learning from experience and keep costly mistakes cheaper. Even though I've researched planted tanks to death I think it's something you gotta do a lot of the stuff not just read or watch on you tube. I'm not saying I'm correct. But I read a lot of different articles on this subject from a lot of different sources. What I found was a bunch of marketing hoopla or un-researched bias opinions promoting this light or that light and not a lot of science backing any of it up until I ran into a article about pur vs par and started digging into things that route. The only draw back I can see about this form of lighting is it may not make the tanks look as good as say a T5HO setup would to the actual human eye. But for me less carbon footprint, lower energy costs and great light for plants and animals is my #1 concern. Anyone who has gone to a place like Bigal's or petsmart in Edmonton or Calgary know it would not be expensive to augment looks with a cheap LED light on top of the one getting things done any ways But finding one that grows plants as well as a T5HO setup is another matter entirely. Oh and one more thing when your looking for quality in a product look for the warranty to be massive. TMC warranty is 5 years. Good comparatively priced LED's running on decent but outdated LED technology generally have a 3 year warranty and a lot of knock off garbage has a 1 year or no warranty at all. There is a reason for this and I encourage all who invest heavily in lighting to not be lazy in finding out why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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