Ah, thought they compared the Pro version.
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Question of the Day What type of lighting do you have and why?
- Thread starter Art
- Start date
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Well, very clearly mine is going to be a minority report here…
I use 2 Finnex planted plus ALCs per 29 gallon tank. Front and back controlled by Nicrew inline timer dimmers.
I have also tried fluval 3.0 and Chihiros WRGB Pro…
The built in timer for the finnex is a hot mess and unworkable in a planted tank when trying to keep algae at bay.
The fluvals have the best ap for light channel timing and control of the bunch, but the constituent colors of the channels are beyond reason in my estimation and give a muddy yellow light at best.
The Chihiros has sort of funny colors too to my eye. I could get a reasonable color rendering, but the ap timer is frustrating as all get out to set, and on my 29 gallon tank the light was too deep front to back preventing me from opening the lid. I would have to move the light back and the lid forward. The timer ap was its Achilles heel for me.
I am not beyond thrilled with current set up, but it works…
Inset reds at 100%, blues and greens at 50% and add whites to increase to intensity I want, dialing it back if hair algae starts rearing its head a bit…
the Nicrew timers come on at 4:00 and starts dialing back at 8:00 morning and evening. They come on dim and ramp up to 100% over a half hour and dim the same…
I use 2, 4 hour photo periods as I am not home all day. I wake at4:00 am every day, leave at 6:30, get home at 6:30 in evening and go to bed at 8:30. This allows me to view the tanks when I am awake at home…
I use 2 Finnex planted plus ALCs per 29 gallon tank. Front and back controlled by Nicrew inline timer dimmers.
I have also tried fluval 3.0 and Chihiros WRGB Pro…
The built in timer for the finnex is a hot mess and unworkable in a planted tank when trying to keep algae at bay.
The fluvals have the best ap for light channel timing and control of the bunch, but the constituent colors of the channels are beyond reason in my estimation and give a muddy yellow light at best.
The Chihiros has sort of funny colors too to my eye. I could get a reasonable color rendering, but the ap timer is frustrating as all get out to set, and on my 29 gallon tank the light was too deep front to back preventing me from opening the lid. I would have to move the light back and the lid forward. The timer ap was its Achilles heel for me.
I am not beyond thrilled with current set up, but it works…
Inset reds at 100%, blues and greens at 50% and add whites to increase to intensity I want, dialing it back if hair algae starts rearing its head a bit…
the Nicrew timers come on at 4:00 and starts dialing back at 8:00 morning and evening. They come on dim and ramp up to 100% over a half hour and dim the same…
I use 2, 4 hour photo periods as I am not home all day. I wake at4:00 am every day, leave at 6:30, get home at 6:30 in evening and go to bed at 8:30. This allows me to view the tanks when I am awake at home…
JuJuFish
Active Member
I have the Finnex HLC 24/7 lights and hate the programming, too! What Nicrew dimmer do you use? Would love to give it a try. (Nice tank, btw.)
Before posting this I searched to see if I could find any rules governing posters actions and whether links to buy items were permissible.
The only thing”scapecrunch rules” query found relevant to rules was rules for various contests…. So I am assuming it is fine…
I have the Pro version for $12.99 each.
You set current time, then opt for instant on, 15 minute ramp or 30 minute ramp.
Then you set your start time and the intensity of light you want and then follow through with additional time slots…. You have 6 time slots to play with.
Once I have it set I leave it alone. If I need to adjust light intensity I use the Finnex remote and adjust intensity on a preset…
I do not use the 24 hr timer on the finnex, rather I use the M1 through M4 presets on the lower right. Running 2 bars per 29 gallon tank, front and rear allows me to adjust accordingly… ie if the Java moss up front and Scarlet temple are getting a little hair algae I can dial down the whites only in the front…
the Finnex lights use the short barrel connector adapters to adjust for correct size. The connectors on the transformer side of the circuit slipped on easily enough as I remember but the ones on the light side of the wire took some forceful persuasion. It is not the metal part of the connector but rather the plastic part. I could have filed it down a bit but opted for simple force. Once on, there is no need to remove it.
if you opt for full red light and under 50% of the other colors and white it gives a decent sunrise sunset affect. albeit rather short..
in my book they are worth every penny
The only thing”scapecrunch rules” query found relevant to rules was rules for various contests…. So I am assuming it is fine…
I have the Pro version for $12.99 each.
You set current time, then opt for instant on, 15 minute ramp or 30 minute ramp.
Then you set your start time and the intensity of light you want and then follow through with additional time slots…. You have 6 time slots to play with.
Once I have it set I leave it alone. If I need to adjust light intensity I use the Finnex remote and adjust intensity on a preset…
I do not use the 24 hr timer on the finnex, rather I use the M1 through M4 presets on the lower right. Running 2 bars per 29 gallon tank, front and rear allows me to adjust accordingly… ie if the Java moss up front and Scarlet temple are getting a little hair algae I can dial down the whites only in the front…
the Finnex lights use the short barrel connector adapters to adjust for correct size. The connectors on the transformer side of the circuit slipped on easily enough as I remember but the ones on the light side of the wire took some forceful persuasion. It is not the metal part of the connector but rather the plastic part. I could have filed it down a bit but opted for simple force. Once on, there is no need to remove it.
if you opt for full red light and under 50% of the other colors and white it gives a decent sunrise sunset affect. albeit rather short..
in my book they are worth every penny
JuJuFish
Active Member
Thanks so much for such a thorough response . I think I’ll order one and give it a shot.
You can post any link here, not nsfw stuff tho ofc lol.
A forum where you cant post links is incredibly less useful.
A forum where you cant post links is incredibly less useful.
I most recently spent most of my time on a forum hosted by a retailer. Links to competitors except amazon and ebay were not allowed.
I honored it…. And I tried to ensure I wouldnt go against any possible such rules here…
When you sit at the kings table and eat his food, it is best to honor their rules….
- Thread starter
- #88
This has always been good advice or risk the king taking your head! Just kidding!
All good here. You are allowed to link to retailers provided it doesn't cross the line into spamming or hidden commercial motives. The FTC and GDPR would require the disclosure of any affiliate links.
The extent of our rules can be found here - Family Dynamics - Please Read.
DTWGulo
Community Member
When I had shallower tanks, I much preferred the Finnex Lights. I use them on small terrariums and paludariums with excellent results.
They've been durable, reliable, and very bright for the cost. Scaling them up for my 180g for example, though, wouldn't have been practical. I'm super impressed with how you've customized your setup! The tank looks beautiful. I wish you got more than 4 hours a day to enjoy the success.
I leave 5 days a week to go and watch my 4 1/2 year old Grandson grow up and develop. They only are little for an ever so short period of time….
All too soon I will have plenty of time to watch the tanks and have loads of memories of my grandsons childhood and playing pirate, super hero, dinosaurs or matchbox cars with him…
DTWGulo
Community Member
Given the choice between grandkids and the tank, I'd pick grandkids, too.
Eventually you might even have him to share the hobby with!
To be honest i'm super happy with the ai freshwater blade. It is not quite as strong as the wrgb 2 pro; but it is stronger than the fluval plant 3.0 and the ease of use and colour balance has been really nice.
TRyan
Active Member
I really like your mounting bracket setup. I may have to something similar!
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