# LED lighting suggestion non planted tank, best for colors



## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

This is for a 90 Gallon 4'x18" non planted tank.

I'm familiar with a bunch of different types of LED lighting from my SW tanks, but those were specific to reef tanks and corals. One of my favorite out of the many LED lights I've tried, including the Chinese leds fixtures, reef breeders, Kessil etc were the Kessil LED lights

They by far gave the best color and coral growth on my SW tanks

I'm afraid of Algae issues with to much light, and the wrong color spectrum

Since this is for a non planted tank, I do want the best LED lighting for their colors to pop

I also want something that ramps up and down

I saw Kessil makes a 160WE Tuna Blue, which is 10K color , it thought 2 of these would really make the fish colors pop

However , their $269 a PC, plus another $99 for their controllers, or I could by the cord and run off a Apex down the road

I looked into the Current USA plus Pro also, as well as the Beamworks . After many hours of research, I'm leaning towards the Current USA Pro

Any thought?

They will be mounted in a canopy as well


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## jv87ttype (Jan 7, 2015)

I have the marineland Product No. ML90612-00 on my 65gal and really like it. For me the light has great color and has the moon effect if I choose to use it. Next week I am redoing the tank with black sand and texas holey rock so we shall see how the light preforms then with the black sand.


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

Thanks, I went with black sand also, and 3D Rock back ground

Please post pics, as we have a similar set up

Good luck


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I use the Current Sat Freshwater LED+(think that's what it's called).

Definitely gets the job done with fish and their color. Customizable settings are amazing IMO.

I don't have any tanks with black sand, but you can see the lights in use on my fish/tanks on my videos. YouTube link in my signature.


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## Roger That (Aug 12, 2015)

Yeah that ^^^

I have two 24" Current Satellite + Freshwater LED's on my 6' Mbuna cage. I love them, a lot of features and customizability. I also have the dual ramp timer but haven't yet set it up....I want to find a wall mount bracket that hangs out 16" so I can suspend the fixtures above the tank. I've already connected them together by removing the foot brackets on the inner side of each and cut two steel rods and connected the fixtures with that...works great.

I also have a National Geographic LED that you can add different LED modules, pretty good light too but doesn't have the features of the Current fixture.


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

Thanks

I think I'm going to go with them

I found their reef ones refurbished for $135 on Ebay, I think it's called the Orbital


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

I still haven't choose a light yet

I'm reading T5's with 12k bulbs with blues really make the colors pop, but drawback is bulb replacement and algae issues

The Current USA plus looks like it's in the 6500k

I been spending hours looking for LEDs in the 10k - 12k range


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## sparky4056 (Sep 1, 2014)

I would still consider using the current satellite plus. The whites are in the 6500K range, but you can adjust the blues to whatever you like. I've never tried the orbitals, but I like the fact that if your lighting preferences change over time, you can pretty much choose whatever spectrum you want with the red/blue/green capabilities of the satellite plus. It also has low enough par to not have to worry about algae problems. I think you'll be able to achieve the 10k -12k range you're looking for with more customizing options at a lower price with the current fixture. Hopes this helps as I am someone who has tried a bunch of different fixtures and really likes the ton of options you get with the satellite plus


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

Ok that's 3 people all voted for the Current Satelite Plus. They must be nice lights.

I been stuck on the Spectrum. I know I went through this on my salt water tanks , ended up with Kessil's

I just don't want to spend $700 on the pair with the controller, cords etc to run them.

Everywhere I read the Satellite Plus gets great reviews, I just which their Kelvins were higher. 
The colors don't look washed out on the fish do they?

I'll probably end up going with these over their Orbit's. I don't want the par to get to high, and get into the reds and grow algae all over


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## slater32 (Apr 27, 2015)

Fltekdiver
Just wanted to add to your confusion, been there myself & still have no idea if I made the best choice for my 90gal tall build. 48x18x31tall
My wife has an Ecoxotic E Series on our 125l tank which has all the features of the Sat Pro but has 8000k bulbs vs 6500k in the Sat pro.
The tanks are both on the same wall about 12 feet apart & I can plainly see the the lighting on the Exo is a cleaner white than the Sat Pro hence the 6500k is more yellow.
Not a huge dealer breaker but I do notice it, I have no idea what K makes fish color stand out more....
FYI:
Think the + Pro is brighter than the marine orbit?
If I was to do it again I think ide look at the brighter versions of The Beamswork options or other lights that Topdogsellers has on eBay. Forget the ramping option & just by a cheap appliance / electrical outlet timer to turn the light on / off & be done with it...


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

I think you have a 110 Gallon ? I have a 90 and its 48" x 18" x 25: tall

Thanks, I appreciate your help. I looked at the Ecoxotic E series, and the Finnex LED's, that was going to be my next question, has anyone tried those compared to the Satellite Plus?

Also do you run one , or two on a 18" wide tank? From what I'm reading, most people run two to give it the same brightness at T5's

I was thinking of running T5's , but not HO.

Ramping up Is usefull for corals, My LED's on my SW tanks ramped up to 60% brightness, and back down over the day. I had the full brightness timed for when I get home from work, for our viewing , and it would ramp down into blues by 10pm

Thanks for the help. Do you have a pic of the two tanks with their lights on?

Here's a video of my SW tank:


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## slater32 (Apr 27, 2015)

48.5 x 15.5 x 31.5
Today is maint day, ill try & take a few pics after dark. You should only need one fixture on your tank.


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

Ok thanks, I'm leaning towards the Satellite plus, the pro looks like for planted tanks, and Finnex


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## slater32 (Apr 27, 2015)

fltekdiver said:


> Ok thanks, I'm leaning towards the Satellite plus, the pro looks like for planted tanks, and Finnex


48" fixture
both + & pro are running 6500k
light output:
+: 2000 lumens
Pro: 3800 lumens

spec sheet comparison:

http://current-usa.com/wp-content/uploa ... son-V3.pdf


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

Thanks, I didn't see their PDF, perfect, I appreciate it


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

what about Beamworks, got great reviews, and colors are 10K


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

Check this video out I just found, good comparision on the looks of the tank with a few options for lighting

I really like the last lights

I posted him a question to ask which ones they were


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

I pulled the trigger on the Current Satellite Plus !

I found a thread where someone ran that, with a strip of 12k LEDs behind it, and it looked awesome. I like that I can dim them, and use the full RGB spectrum

Ordered it Amazon Prime 2 day shipping


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## Jrox72 (Oct 22, 2014)

I have the Nat Geo light and it's everything in one package...48 in, so covers the whole tank, white and blue lights (no need to add any strips). Comes with a timer and the colors look great with both white and blue on...Great light for the money (about $160)


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

Thanks, if these don't work out, I'll look into them. Amazon has a great return policy


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## rawdealla (Jun 9, 2015)

i was looking into the current usa marine led. this led looks brighter and from what i've seen has many options to play with in terms of getting that color right.


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

It's bright but I'm not sure on a 24" deep tank. You may need 2 , maybe others can help

I would look into the Current Orbit LED, as for the same money as the plus it has the timer, where the plus you'll have to buy it. Also the plus runs 6500k and the Orbit runs a 10k spectrum, If im not mistaken

I'm looking into 10k to 12k to show the Cichlids colors better.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

IMO less light is better. This way you create depth, shadows and provide subdued areas on the ends of the tank. Too often I see tanks that have soooo much light it detracts from the scape and fish.


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## rufretic (Mar 30, 2015)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> IMO less light is better. This way you create depth, shadows and provide subdued areas on the ends of the tank. Too often I see tanks that have soooo much light it detracts from the scape and fish.


THIS! haha, I totally agree. I've had quite a large selection of leds on my tanks and most would be surprised by what I think looks best. I've had leds from $180-$35. The more expensive ones definitely put out the most light, however that does not make them the best choice. The satellite is cool because you can adjust the color spectrum to your liking but I was a little disappointed in the limited amount of change and it is definitely the least bright of what I've tried but a much better value than the more expensive fixtures and still looks nice imo. My choice for best value by far is beamworks. They actually are way to bright for my taste, no shadowing and they just make the whole tank glow and actually wash the fish color out a bit. You fix this with a $3 dimmer on ebay. This is the cheapest option and gives you a ton of brightness adjust-ability. I would like them even better if they were a touch more in the blue spectrum but they are still a nice true white. The funny thing, my favorite for fish color is some cheapy old flourescent I got with a used tank. I don't know what type of bulbs are in it but it does seem to show better fish colors than any of my leds :-( All comparisons have been made side by side with 4' 75gallon tanks with 4' fixtures so it should be a fair comparison.

Side note: if your looking to bring reds out in your fish, nothing comes close to the monster Ray led for fresh water. It makes cherry reds glow so bright they almost look fake! It will cast a slight redish tint over the whole tank which wouldnt be noticeable unless you have another light next to it for comparison and it also will give you yellows a slight orange appearance. It's well worth it for the stunning reds imo.


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## Deerlady (Dec 4, 2015)

I just tried TMC Aquaray lights along with their Smart Controller 8 for ramping up and down. I found the high pitch whistling while ramping to be too much. I've heard that this is a side effect of Pulse Width Modulation used for dimming LEDs. Has anyone else dealt with this and have a solution beside to get rid of them? Has anyone using the Current Satellite Plus Pro experienced this high pitch while the lights are on at lower that maximum output or while ramping up and down? Thanks alot


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