Led Lighting For Planted 125g

I am researching replacing the pair of fluorescent lights that I currently have on my 125G with a LED fixture. The tank is a low tech with plants that should be fine under low light conditions. I am currently looking at the following:

2 x 36" Finnex Planted + 24/7 - $210 for the pair
2 x 36" Current USA Satellite Plus - $200 for the pair (depending on sale prices)
1 x 72" Beamswork DA 6500K Led Aquarium Freshwater Plant - $130

I know some people have had issues with Beamswork lights, but I have had one for a couple years on my 55G and never ran into any problems with it. So is the Beamswork light going to be suitable, or are the Finnex or Current USA lights worth the additional $70+

I like the convenience of having 1 light with the Beamswork fixture, but if something goes wrong it is a whole new fixture at 72" instead of replacing a 36" fixture with the others. On the flip side, its nice just having to run a single plug / timer with a 72" fixture.

I looked into some DIY lighting, but by the time everything was added up the cost looked to be more than buying something off the shelf, even before taking into account the time it would take to build.

Are there any other options I am missing that would be worth checking out? Do LED lights typically go on sale at any particular time of year? The fluorescent lights work, but I want something more efficient and I suspect the bulbs I have are going to need replacing soon.

Thanks.

 

What kind of plants do you have? The Beamswork is fine for low light plants according to many other members on here.

I would suggest also considering the Finnex Stingray. You can get two 36" fixtures for $130

 

I have some vals, crypts, Java fern a couple other stem plants I forget the name of. Hoping to add some Amazon Swords and Anubias.

Might have to look at the stingray, thanks.

 

Finnex is considered a fancier brand than Beamswork and is usually more expensive, so if they're the same price, I would go with the nicer light. Both will grow your low light plants well though, I don't think there's an advantage to either one there.

 

I use this Beamswork 72" which has an array of 1w LED instead the .5W in one you posted for same price:


Works great for me!

 

I love my stingray, more then my beamswork.... possibly even more then my 24/7... one tank I have is 24 inches high... I replaced the beamswork I had on it with a stingray..


Beams work above



Stingray



Both together.... how I currently have it

Excuse the mess currently reacaping

 

I use this Beamswork 72" which has an array of 1w LED instead the .5W in one you posted for same price:


Works great for me!

Ended up ordering this one, made a best offer on eBay of $100. Hopefully it gets here before the end of the week, ordered from the same seller before and they ship quickly. Will be nice to get rid of the old looking fluorescent tubes (especially as one is faulty).

 

I love my stingray, more then my beamswork.... possibly even more then my 24/7... one tank I have is 24 inches high... I replaced the beamswork I had on it with a stingray..

Which Beamswork do you have?

Ended up ordering this one, made a best offer on eBay of $100. Hopefully it gets here before the end of the week, ordered from the same seller before and they ship quickly. Will be nice to get rid of the old looking fluorescent tubes (especially as one is faulty).

How did you do a Best Offer on that? I don't even see the option.

Regardless, keep posted on how it works out for you. Good luck!

 

How did you do a Best Offer on that? I don't even see the option.

I think it was the only one, was listed as "Used" and the description said it had been a demo unit. Was listed at $116 or best offer, I figured at only about $13 cheaper than new I would just get a new one. But, if an offer of $100 was accepted then it's a nice discount I figure since the price was not much less than new, the condition should be good.

 

Jamieson22


I first had it on my 36 bowfront (24deep), got a stingray and I moved it to my 20long... was ok on the 20, but my fissidens was looking a bit dark so I added a second one... eventually changed it to one stingray and one beamswork on each... beamswork is good, stingray is better... all depends on what you are growing

 

Jamieson22


I first had it on my 36 bowfront (24deep), got a stingray and I moved it to my 20long... was ok on the 20, but my fissidens was looking a bit dark so I added a second one... eventually changed it to one stingray and one beamswork on each... beamswork is good, stingray is better... all depends on what you are growing

Yeah seems that Beamswork you had is much lower output that one I recommended (the DHL). Would be curious to see how that compares.

 

Light arrived today, wow what an awesome difference it has made to the old fluorescent tubes I had on there. Now to hopefully see some plant growth

 

Can't edit my post from yesterday, but thought I would attach a before and after picture, along with a picture of just the actinic lights on. You can clearly see how much better the LED performs, especially when looking at the driftwood and rocks. The fish (especially the corys) love the actinic lights only and are very active.

I may pick up the Beamswork timer module if it allows me to program both modes individually, at the moment I have to manually switch them from mode 1 to mode 2. Not a big deal, but would be nice for it to do it automatically.

Edit: No idea why my phone camera distorts s, but it can be very annoying!!

 

So the timer module will allow you to control "blue" and "white" lights separate. So you can have white turn off while blue stays on longer for night effect.

Unfortunately it will not allow you to set a siesta period, which is what I wanted to do. So I had to buy a plug timer and am no longer using timer module.

 

Cool, thankfully I am not worried about a siesta period so being able to program the white to turn off and the blue stay on is perfect for my intended use.

 

I just bought a Beamswork DA LED. Does anyone know if a ramp timer will work on beamworks lighting? It's a current USA single ramp timer.

 

Not sure.
Usually people buy the specific Beamswork timer module to control the two channels.

 

Not sure.
Usually people buy the specific Beamswork timer module to control the two channels.

I already had the ramp timer from my last light. I will see if it works an if not then I will just order the Beamswork Timer. Does anyone have any experience with using a Beamswork DA series LED? It for a planted tank. I'm growing Water Wisteria, Anubias, Java Ferns, Hygrophilia Compacta or Temple Compacta in play sand substrate and using Seachem Flourish 2x a week and DIY Root Tabs once a month. Any help would be appreciated as I'm new to live plants but not fish keeping.

 

Thought I would post a 3-month update with the Beamswork lights, plants are growing like crazy. The first photo is taken a day or two after I got the light back at the end of January, the 2nd is taken today. Lights are on for 7 hours a day, dosing with root tabs and Excel (when I remember to add it). I need to trim soon, which is not something I had to do with my previous set up!!

My only complaint and this is not with the light itself, is that if I move the light further towards the front of the tank it highlights all the scratches on the glass (bought the tank used, did not notice the scratches until I got it home and cleaned up). So the front is slightly darker than the back, the fish don't mind though.

Definitely, recommend this light for plants.

 

That looks nice, I need to invest in better lights