Finnex Planted+ 24/7 Light


Advertisement
A 30" fixture on a 55 gal would be low light, due to the increased depth and length.
 

Advertisement
I have the finnex 24/7 48" on my 55 and it fits perfect and gives off some decent light although all I have are easy plants but I do get growth with an occasional dying leave here n there...it's part of the game I guess..I think 2 finnex would give great growth along with the proper dosage of ferts..I'm happy with my finnex so far
 
Ok, I already have a light on my 55 gallon I'll add this to it to get better lighting
 
I will do a break down. I have a 60 gallon aquarium with a 48" Finnex Planted+ 24/7 SE. The difference between 60 Gallon and 55 Gallon dimensions is that the height for 55 gallon is 21"; on the other hand, 60 gallon height is 24"

The SE is an improved version of the 1st generation Finnex Planted+. I will spare the details, but if you want to know more, then here is the official information from the website: Finnex Finnex Planted+ 24/7 SE

Substrate:
With 3" of substrate, your lighting will be at 18" instead of 21"; therefore, the PAR rating for the light will be higher. I inquired Finnex customer service about the PAR rating for the 48" SE light at 24" depth and they reported that it was 33 meaning that the PAR rating went higher since I have between 3" - 6" of substrate!

Dwarf Hairgrass
I was successfully able to grow dwarf hairgrass at 21" depth since I was growing it at 3" substrate and dosing Seachem Excel at the time. Furthermore, I was using 24/7 mode. Several months later, I replaced the dwarf hairgrass with a little bit more demanding plant known as Blyxa Japonica, and I am successfully growing it with the addition of injected CO2 now.

Lighting Length Recommendation:
I recommend to go with 48" to cover the entire length of the aquarium and not just 30" where you will have a centralized strong lighting. The only reason I can think why to go with a 30" is for an island aquascape setup.

If you have anymore questions or need more detailed information, then feel free to ask!
 
Does anyone have any experience with this finnex planted light? I'm thinking of getting one for my 56 gallon tank, which is 30" wide, 24" tall and 18" deep. The PRA at the bottom is around 30.
 

Advertisement
Thunder_o_b is this the one you were writing about earlier today or last night?
Click to expand...
Sure is. Great light. I have seen a marked improvement in my red plants in a week.
 
No I don't think so.
Click to expand...
I have 4 of them, 3 running right now. I tried the Fuval aqua sky and found them a vast waste of money. They did not put out enough red light for plant growth. The Finnex has straight red LED's along with the standard adjustable RGB array.

Here is a shot of the 46 bow front, the red plants are doing very well. But I also feed them well. This is a marked improvement over the results I was getting with the Fluval.

_MG_9071-Edit.0.jpg

This is with the Fluval and a supplemental straight white LED light bar. Notice the red myrio to the right.
_MG_8946.0.jpg

This is the same aquarium after a rework. The red myrio was not disturbed. Notice how much thicker it is after only a week with the Finnex.
_MG_9051-Edit.0.jpg
 
This is a stunning difference. Thanks for the documentation and congratulations on a really gorgeous build.
 

Advertisement



This is a stunning difference. Thanks for the documentation and congratulations on a really gorgeous build.
Click to expand...
Thank you Ellen Swango

Here are some better shots of the Red Myrio from this morning. The green is starting to take on the red color. I am very pleased.

The specks you see in the water are air bubbles from the filtration. 2 HOB water falls and 1 canister for 800 GPH in filter flow. This is a 37 gallon.

1.
_MG_9075-Edit.0.jpg

2.
_MG_9076-Edit.0.jpg
 
You can get a better price at aquacave.com that is where I got mine.

This is the newest model. Wish I had waited.
 
I have the 30" on one of my tanks and LOVE it. So many different functions and features... I also like how it has a tilting adjustment so it won't blind you when your infront of your tank. I have no live plants... but will be getting the next size down from this one for a my newest project that will! You will absolutely not be let down with this light!
 
You can get a better price at aquacave.com that is where I got mine.

This is the newest model. Wish I had waited.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that link. I picked one up because of this thread
 
So I just made a deal for a used Finnex 24/7. I’m supposed to meet to pick it up tomorrow. I have pictures of the light working as it should. Is $50 a good deal for the light? Also I have a 55 gallon tank. I’m new to planted tanks . How much light would actually be reaching my plants with this light?
 
I have a 55 tall with a Finnex 24/7 and plants are doing well. I'm very happy with the Finnex because it has a default program you can use and it gradually changes the intensity and color of the light throughout the day and night. The fish and plants have been thriving.
I saw it on Amazon just now for $89.95 new if that helps you evaluate the deal.
 
I bought a 48-60" Fluval Aquasky 24/7 LED yesterday from PetSmart for $92. I love it. It's programmable by Fluval SmartAPP. Even has programmable "thunderstorms". Sold my old crappy LED that came with my 75 gallon ensemble to my neighbor for twenty bucks cause that's what I think it's worth. So, why is he selling it would be my question and I did a lot of research before buying my new LED. Maybe look through some reviews. Fifty bucks sounds like a steal.
 
I have the Finnex plant 24/7 CC on most of our aquariums. If you seriously want to get into plants stay away from the Aqua sky I have two and they quite frankly are the worst plant lights I have seen. They are good at gathering dust though.

I get mine here

A few results of this light and Seachem products.

1a. 46 bow.
_MG_9071-Edit.0.jpg

1b. Red ludwigia
_MG_9278.jpg

37 galon guppy.
_MG_9075-Edit.0.jpg
 
Well then....my point was why was he selling the light and I wanted to brag cause I was excited about my light. Man you guys on this forum make me feel so stupid every time I post something.
 

Advertisement



She’s selling the light because she upgraded to a new one. That’s the cheapest I’ve seen the Finnex. She was asking $75 but I talked her down to $50. I may get it home and it lasts a week. Kind of nervous about buying used stuff but that’s the chance you take I guess.
 
I would happily buy the new cc model, possibly the older se model, but I would shy away from the original/older 24/7. (Personally don’t feel it’s a great light, I’ve been using for a few years, the upgrades on the se and cc are well worth it.
Keep in mind that eventually all lights have to be replaced, with LEDs not as often as the old bulbs, but still get wear and tear. A used light is a used light.
If she wants to come down to $20 go for it, but at $50 personally I wouldn’t. (Again this is assuming is the non se/cc model) You can also check dr. Fosters and smith, they are slowly going out of business and many times will offer the 24/7s in their clearance area...
 
Well then....my point was why was he selling the light and I wanted to brag cause I was excited about my light. Man you guys on this forum make me feel so stupid every time I post something.
Click to expand...

Apologies if that is the case I bought two of the Aquasky thinking I was getting a great light. I only seek to prevent others from possibly doing the same.

Many of our members have limited funds. Having to replace two $100.00 lights was painful for me.

Again, I apologize if I gave offense.
 
Hey All,

After plenty of research, I have decided the light for me is the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 (Pretty firm on that)

So, I have a few questions!
I currently run my lighting for 6-8 hours (split between morning and night). Will I be able to do that with this light?

Is there a way for me to set the light to come on at certain times/lengths of the day, like I would with a conventional timer?
 
I have it and run it on the 24/7 setting. MI e is a planted tank and it does a great job.
 
I have the old model of the 24/7 and when I ran it on the 24/7 mode it made algae so now I just run it with full sunlight for 8 hours and its been keeping my plants going very well for 1-1/2 years. I think you will be very happy with your choice aside from mixed reviews which comes along with everything else in existence.
 
I have this light, ON/OFF is not really what it is designed for. It's literally designed to be on 24/7, at different intensities. This actually drives my husband crazy, because even at it's "dimmest", it's too bright for him early in the morning (someone advised me on on how to fix that, but I forgot the tip >_<). Having it on a timer means that it will keep "forgetting" its settings, and not be able to do its auto-timer like it needs to.

Read the directions carefully and you should be fine in having it keep your preferred cycle. You can set times for it to dI'm or change frequencies, so that you can have it ramp up or down, depending. You should be able to get the cycle you prefer, but it will always have SOME light shining (in my experience).
 
I have this light, ON/OFF is not really what it is designed for. It's literally designed to be on 24/7, at different intensities. This actually drives my husband crazy, because even at it's "dimmest", it's too bright for him early in the morning (someone advised me on on how to fix that, but I forgot the tip >_<). Having it on a timer means that it will keep "forgetting" its settings, and not be able to do its auto-timer like it needs to.

Read the directions carefully and you should be fine in having it keep your preferred cycle. You can set times for it to dI'm or change frequencies, so that you can have it ramp up or down, depending. You should be able to get the cycle you prefer, but it will always have SOME light shining (in my experience).
Click to expand...
The new model 24/7 has a 3 hours of total blackout where as the older model has just the very dI'm midnight color from what I have read about the new model
 
Hey All,

After plenty of research, I have decided the light for me is the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 (Pretty firm on that)

So, I have a few questions!
I currently run my lighting for 6-8 hours (split between morning and night). Will I be able to do that with this light?

Is there a way for me to set the light to come on at certain times/lengths of the day, like I would with a conventional timer?
Click to expand...
I have the same light, but it's from Aquaneat. Found out if you put it on a timer, but when it comes on it defaults to 12am setting all the time.

So what I do is set the timer to come on at 3am and off at 10pm. I have 5 hours of total dark. When the timer comes on at 3am, the light comes on at it's 12am setting or moon light. It's just 3 hours off. Just means you get the brightest light from 3pm to 9pm instead of 12pm to 6pm. No algae growth at all.
 
The new model 24/7 has a 3 hours of total blackout where as the older model has just the very dI'm midnight color from what I have read about the new model
Click to expand...

This is correct. I recently bought two of the newer "CC" version and the light is completely off late at night.

This version is also supposed to allow you to customize your 24/7 cycle. So while there is a standard 24/7 default mode which runs through brightening and darkening at certain times, you should be able to change it to however you want it (make it brighter for longer, darker for longer, etc.). I still haven't tinkered with the customized settings yet.
 

Advertisement



I have the same light, but it's from Aquaneat. I did testing and you can put it on a timer, but when it comes on it defaults to 12am setting all the time.

So what I do is set the timer to come on at 3am and off at 10pm. I have 5 hours of total dark. When the timer comes on at 3am, the light comes on at it's 12am setting or moon light. It's just 3 hours off. Just means you get the brightest light from 3pm to 9pm instead of 12pm to 6pm. No algae growth at all.
Click to expand...

I also have the vivagrow 24/7 and they also work great. But they just don’t seem to be making them anymore. I will try the aqua neat thanks for posting that.
My 90 has a finnex and vivagrow both on 24/7. The lights always look great B887C9A9-9CEC-4D7E-8C0B-F6B757C2A3CB.jpeg
 
Liking the Fluval 3.0 better.
You can tune the 24/7 to how you want every minute of it including actual blackout at night or however you choose ..
1 out of my 3 or 4 finnex 24/7 died very close to one year or so ...I never investigated , just crossed my fingers since I had 3 more to go bad ..
The other 3 still work fine but I have 4 of the 3.0 and they really rock !
 
Liking the Fluval 3.0 better.
You can tune the 24/7 to how you want every minute of it including actual blackout at night or however you choose ..
1 out of my 3 or 4 finnex 24/7 died very close to one year or so ...I never investigated , just crossed my fingers since I had 3 more to go bad ..
The other 3 still work fine but I have 4 of the 3.0 and they really rock !
Click to expand...
Are your fluval 3.0 on planted tanks? Showing good plant growth?
 
During my Light search for a Planted Tank. The Finnex 24/7 had mixed reviews. Similar to what has been posted here. Decided to go for a Planted + 24/7 (caught it on sale @50% off).
I did experience a lot of Algae on the 24/7 mode also the color scheme was not to my liking. Tried different program setting, still not entirely happy. I read some members were using it on a timer. Max setting 4 hours on 3 off 4 on then off. It appears this is the sweet spot for my tank. "Good" growth with the low to medium light requirement plants, and the algae was under control.

jIUkQhO.jpg

I think tfreemahas the newest model.

Just remember every tank is as different as a fingerprint.
Good Luck on your choice.
 
So I see everyone posting the "new model" and "old model"

Can anyone define which is which?
 
The new model will mention a 3 hour blackout during the 24/7 mode where as the old model will not mention it if I remember correctly
 
So I see everyone posting the "new model" and "old model"

Can anyone define which is which?
Click to expand...

I had the same problem when I was buying my lights - I couldn't figure out which was new and which was old. I believe the new ones are the "CC" series, but even knowing this, it was a little unclear to me because they are described differently on different websites. Sometimes as "CC", sometimes as "Customizable", and sometimes as "Controllable."

Here is the link to the light I ordered on Amazon which is the CC. Just make sure under "Style" to select Controllable.
 
Are your fluval 3.0 on planted tanks? Showing good plant growth?
Click to expand...
I am a fish guy not plants . I grow plants for my fish they do not need to be perfect for me .
That being said the fluval is a better light and any saying different just haven't tried both personally .
No more finnex for me .
The difference in price is because the fluval canhave the 24/7 feature customized on all 6 or 7 colors which the finnex can not ..
The fluval allows you to program ramp up daylight ,ramp down and night and the % of every color for the 24/7 feature .
The lack of any control on the finnex 24/7 setting is why all are running them at 100% with a timer ...They lack the ability to be adjusted at all !
Go Fluval and don't regret your choice.
 
I am a fish guy not plants . I grow plants for my fish they do not need to be perfect for me .
That being said the fluval is a better light and any saying different just haven't tried both personally .
No more finnex for me .
The difference in price is because the fluval canhave the 24/7 feature customized on all 6 or 7 colors which the finnex can not ..
The fluval allows you to program ramp up daylight ,ramp down and night and the % of every color for the 24/7 feature .
The lack of any control on the finnex 24/7 setting is why all are running them at 100% with a timer ...They lack the ability to be adjusted at all !
Go Fluval and don't regret your choice.
Click to expand...

I have a Fluval 3.0 and a Finnex Planted+ 24/7. The Finnex CAN be adjusted at a very fine level, in color, intensity and duration, it's just a pain (my experience. Again, with apparently the older model light, even though I got it this Christmas >_<). The Fluval 3.0 is app controlled, so that's really nice. But mine only allows adjustments to control precisely at dawn and dusk, so the dip the OP wants in the middle of the day isn't possible. Mine IS one of the smaller ones (the 5x5 instead of the bar), but I believe the app is the same as the larger models. The Finnex on the other hand has the option to set the light color/intensity at 3 hr intervals around the clock. That COULD produce the desired effect to have it off or lower at the mid-day, with some fiddling.
I will admit that I like messing with the app a lot more than with the Finnex remote, because what you're going to end up with is much clearer. I had to cycle the Finnex again and again to check, and still ran into hiccups when it is actually running (and lets not even talk about Daylight Savings >_<).
 
installed this light on my new 40 gallon tank, it is currently set to the 24/7 cycle.

The tank is becoming covered in algae and it is due to the light.

How should I program do you like to ensure that this doesn’t happen?

Thank you
 

Advertisement



i use this light too though its a smaller one on my 29. but i dont use the 24/7 mode as the tank is in my room and the light is too dang bright to sleep so yeah. anyway . im here because im interested in answers you get also you get my bump :p but i can think of a way to combat algae since your light is always on. is using live plantsco2 combats algae which is why i started using it . though i still get some of it because i dont think my light, ferts and co2 are balanced out (or maybe it is now and i just need snails to eat the leftovers) anyway. also live plants are fun. but thats just what i do. grain of salt n all that
 
I use this light as well, and I love it. When I first got it I used the 24/7 setting as well and my tank quickly started getting covered in BBA and spot algae. I did 2 things. First I decresed feedings to 1 light feeding per day. More importantly, I decreased the lighting duration to 6-7 hours per day. The lights are on only when I'm home.
I also decreased the light intensity and did some programing to ramp the light up and down.

By making those changes, the algae is 90% gone.

The programming instructions that come with the light are terrible if not useless. I found somebody that redid the instructions in plain English. Let me know if they would be helpful and I will get them to you.
 
A friend has this for her tank and had same issue until we set up her CO2 system. Its a very powerful light, so if you aren't running a high tech tank with a lot of plants you are most likely going to get a lot of algae in the default 24/7 mode.

You could try looking up various light configurations for low tech/plant tanks. Or just experiment with reduced time and light intensity. You could also look at raising the light a few feet above the tank. Its a very common issue with this light. You basically need CO2 and heavy plant growth to avoid algae with Planted+ 24/7.

Finnex Planted+ 24/7 Decreasing Light | Lighting Forum | 324096
 
Nickguy5467 Thank you for your suggestion, I’ll have a look into that product! Also might follow your new thread regarding this light and CO2 use!

SotaAquatics Thank you so much, I appreciate it. Currently, I have this light set up ok my newly setup 40G tank, which I want to heavily plant - however I am just in the process of adding more plants etc.

I would say however, that my 40G is quite low tech, I don’t use CO2 and have never tried it. I may start looking into it though, what advice would you give someone who is looking to start a CO2 system in their tank? As for ferts I only use the Seachem Flourish. I would love to have heavy plant growth and a CO2 system in this tank.


FishDin Thank you for sending that manual, I will definitely have a look through it. I'll definitely take your advice and reduce feedings. Also to have the light on only when I am home, I work from 9:00-5:30. Do you think that having the photo period on the tank from early in the morning and late evening, when I am home is acceptable?
 
I would go by the total hours of light, so, for example, 3 hours in morning and then another 5 or 6 or 8... hours at night. Also, consider the intensity of the light. I programmed it to ramp up the intensity and then ramp down at the end of day. So while my lights may be on for say 9 hours, six of those hours are at a lessor intensity. Not everyone will like that approach, but I like seeing the tank "come to life" as it ramps up and then slowly ramp down as bed time approaches. I think you should be able to find a light schedule that you like and that will work for your tank. Also, being able to change the light spectrum is cool and is described in the instructions I posted. Hope this helps.
 
My new tank should be here in a couple of weeks (60"L x 30"H x 24"W) and I have two 30" Finnex ALCs. Went with the ALCs because they had a higher par and thought might help with 30" deep tank. Trying to program it now. Not the most user friendly set up. I'm thinking for the cycling process and until things settle down a bit with the plant and fish load that I should program a lower light setting. The attached image is the factory 24/7 program. I was thinking maybe reduce all those values by 50% and maybe extend the dark period until 9:00 AM. I thought remembered seeing a set up video for the Fluval 3.0 where they programed for a new set up but can't seem to find it. I think it recommended very low red light but not sure on the color. Any recommendations/thoughts on the initial set up lighting programing?
 

Attachments

  • image001.png
    image001.png
    203.3 KB · Views: 107
The instructions I posted above discuss the color mix. This was one person's approach.
 

Random Great Topic!

Coral Fragging - Zoanthids
Coral fragging zoanthids

Today's Deals


Amazon Daily Aquatic Deals

Amazon Aquatic Coupons


Advertisement



Advertisement








Advertisement




Fish Lore's aquarium fish forum - aquarium hobbyists helping hobbyists since 2005!

Fish Lore is an amazon affiliate and some pages may contain links to aquarium related products on amazon: Affiliate Disclosure

Aquarium forum statistics

Threads
427,382
Messages
4,714,404
Members
127,550
Back
Top Bottom