Need advice on LED's

[LizStreithorst]

I know I'm still living in the dark ages with my crappy fluorescent tank lights. There were always more important things to spend my money on than lighting. The time has finally come to starting to switch over. The LED's have become affordable. I have a whole fish room so I'll start with a few lights and buy more over time.

I hope that someone who knows all about LED's will advise me. I know that I want LED's that have red blue and white. I know that I want to control the brightness of the each color light. I'm looking for a well made light at a reasonable price that does those things.

[0Dgreen]

Liz,

I haven't tried out many "out of the box" LEDs yet, other than the marineland when it first came out with a bundle setup i purchased 4 years ago. But, I built one similar to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EYC3obFY4wfor under $50, it's a pretty easy project (My girlfriend made one too) so don't be scared. The light has a remote with a bunch of different color options.

[LizStreithorst]

I have seen that video. I know that I could do it but I don't want to, at least now. I have another project that is more pressing. For now I just want to buy a few.

[Chicago Discus]

Hi Liz! We have tried out a lot of LEDs here at our shop. Some LEDs wash out all the color of your discus, and others are outrageously expensive with all sorts of features that you will never use. For a while we swore by Finnex Monster Ray lights which really bring out the color of the discus. However they tend to look a bit unnatural at the red end of the spectrum. We are switching over all of our lights to Finnex Vivid+. They have one strip of Monster Ray LEDs which bring out the color, and the other strip of Stingray LEDs which are your conventional red, white and blue natural light. In my opinion, the combination is a perfect, Color enhancing that does not look artificial and does not skew toward the reds. Another good thing about Vivid+ is that they are relatively inexpensive compared to other LEDs. ...Miranda

[LizStreithorst]

Thanks so much Miranda. I decided this afternoon that nobody wanted to advise me so I bought 3 48" full spectrum Beams work LEDs. I bought the less powerful ones that only cost $40. each with free shipping. They will make a good starting point for me. Now that I know what's better I can buy more for the rest of the tanks in the fish room. I'll buy the Finnex. I'll wait until the cheap florescents burn out which they always do over time due to the humidity and replace them over time with good lights.

[RuinerM3]

I use the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 SE and it's amazing. I have a Nicrew on my other tank (similar to Beamswork), and the Finnex just blows it out of the water. Red (especially) and blues are so much more vivid with the Finnex than the Nicrew.

[pitdogg2]

I've been happy with the 48" current + model. Can be had on sale at reasonable prices

https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+26107&pcatid=26107

[LizStreithorst]

I bought 3 of the Beamswork and 2 of the more expensive ones that Miranda suggested. I know that the Finnex ones will blow the Beasmwork away.

[CliffsDiscus]

I did buy some LED lights for my aquarium service and let my clients know that some of them were not UL approved.

Cliff

[LizStreithorst]

I never looked at the boxes of the Beamswork lights to see if they were UL listed. I don't exactly know what that means. I think that the company has to apply to be listed and to meet certain standards. Are the Beamswork UL listed and is it really a big deal?

My new fancy Finnex ones will be here Monday. I haven't been this excited since I have had Discus coming.

[LizStreithorst]

I never looked at the boxes of the Beamswork lights to see if they were UL listed. I don't exactly know what that means. I think that the company has to apply to be listed and to meet certain standards. Are the Beamswork UL listed and is it really a big deal?

My new fancy Finnex ones will be here Monday. I haven't been this excited since I have had Discus coming. I am sure that I will fall in love with them.

[Willie]

At the Chicago NADA show, there was someone selling LED's that really made discus colors pop. I don't recall what was the brand, but the comparison with a standard LED on the next tank was dramatic. Does anyone recall or get that light?

Willie

[Chicago Discus]

Willie, I think that it is Finnex lighting that both you and Liz are talking about that make the colors pop. We use Finnex Vivid+ LEDs in our showroom for all the discus tanks now. We sell Finnex lighting and heating products as well. If anyone is interested, please send me a PM.

Miranda

[LizStreithorst]

I received my lights from Miranda today. They are everything I was looking for in a light. I didn't know that I was reaching for the stars in my first post. Then Miranda told me about her's and I since I trust Miranda I bought 4. She did not exaggerate. These lights are made to show off the color of the fish themselves. Both blue and red Discus look great under this light. I'll post pics in the next few days so you can see for yourselves the difference in how my Discus look under the Beamswork light and how they look under Miranda's Finnex light

[Willie]

I received my lights from Miranda today. They are everything I was looking for in a light. I didn't know that I was reaching for the stars in my first post. Then Miranda told me about her's and I since I trust Miranda I bought 4. She did not exaggerate. These lights are made to show off the color of the fish themselves. Both blue and red Discus look great under this light. I'll post pics in the next few days so you can see for yourselves the difference in how my Discus look under the Beamswork light and how they look under Miranda's Finnex light

Ditto!

[JamesW]

I use this: https://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/satellite-led-fixtures/satellite-led-pro/