# Good, inexpensive LED plant lighening



## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

I am looking to upgrade the lightening on a couple of my tanks. One is a 29G with standard florescent light and the other is a 10G with two 13w 6500K CLFs. The 29 doesn't have plants right now, but I plan to add them soon. The 10 already has a few plants and the CFLs are working ok, but they run pretty warm and i don't really care for how they look. I would really like to add LEDs to both these tanks, but I don't want to spend a lot of money. Here are a few options I'm considering at the moment:

1. Finnex FugeRay
2. Beamswork Hi-Lumin 
3. Marineland Double Bright LED

Right now I'm really leaning towards the FugeRay. I have heard a lot of good things about them and are they are priced very nicely. I like the fact that they come in a 30" length -which is great for my 29G - and the other two don't. I've heard that the Ray2 is even better for plants, but they are a little out of my price range. I'd rather get the FugeRay unless there is a compelling reason to get the Ray2. I might get the Ray2 for my 10G since the 20" fixture isn't too pricey. I've heard that the ML Double Bright ins't all that bright and probably wouldn't grow plants so I'm not really leaning leaning towards it unless some one tells me differently. I don't have much experience with the BW Hi-Loman, but I would be interested in what any owners of that fixture had to say.

So what would your recommendation be out of these three? Is there a better option i should consider? I'm not looking to spend much more than $80 a fixture so try to include options in that price range. Thank you!


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

From what i've seen, LED's are still in the early adopter phase, and are relatively expensive when you are talking "high" light as may be needed for many plants. If you are planning to grow low light plants and not have CO2 you probably have a number of options, but for light intensive plants, there is no cheap option yet. The best value is probably T5HO currently.

I'm interested in what other have found


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## Pseudeotropheus BB (Jan 24, 2013)

You mention inexpensive but if you truly want a quality product without worrying why not pay a small premium and purchase one of the following. I am in no way saying that the items you are inquiring about are not quality however these LED's offer incredible performance and value at a very modest price. The LumenBlaster is actually built in the USA while the AquaRay is built in the UK.

LumenBlaster

or

AquaRay Grobeam 600 Ultima


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Pseudeotropheus BB said:


> You mention inexpensive but if you truly want a quality product without worrying why not pay a small premium and purchase one of the following. I am in no way saying that the items you are inquiring about are not quality however these LED's offer incredible performance and value at a very modest price. The LumenBlaster is actually built in the USA while the AquaRay is built in the UK.
> 
> LumenBlaster
> 
> ...


I will look into those options.

Maybe I should list the plants I'm interested in keeping:
Amazon Sword
Kabomba
Jungle Vals
anubias
java fern
dwarf baby tears

I've heard that dwarf baby tears need a lot of light so I could swap those out for something else. Looking for a decent carpeting plant for the foreground.


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## Pseudeotropheus BB (Jan 24, 2013)

I have grown all six at one time or another and the first five are much easier to care for than the Baby Tears. The Baby Tears are definitely the prized plant of that group, imo, and need to be cared for in a particular fashion. With my success I provided Co2, high light and they seem to thrive off warmer water, 80-82 degrees. The Baby Tears also need to be trimmed on a regular basis to have them look there best. If you are more than just a beginner with plants and want the Baby Tears I would probably look for some different species than the ones listed as several are low light plants which may not like the high light the Baby Tears require. Now if you are a beginner I would probably ditch the Baby Tears and go with the others listed.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Pseudeotropheus BB said:


> I have grown all six at one time or another and the first five are much easier to care for than the Baby Tears. The Baby Tears are definitely the prized plant of that group, imo, and need to be cared for in a particular fashion. With my success I provided Co2, high light and they seem to thrive off warmer water, 80-82 degrees. The Baby Tears also need to be trimmed on a regular basis to have them look there best. If you are more than just a beginner with plants and want the Baby Tears I would probably look for some different species than the ones listed as several are low light plants which may not like the high light the Baby Tears require. Now if you are a beginner I would probably ditch the Baby Tears and go with the others listed.


I will probably ditch the baby tears then because I really want the other five especially the amazon swords. They are going in a tank with angels and I think angels look awesome with swords. I've had plants for almost a year now with some success, but I'm not a real vigorous groomer so maybe the baby tears aren't a good idea.

So with the other five plant species in mind, what would your light recommendations be?


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## Graffiti (Aug 17, 2013)

Beamswork hi lumen hands down they are amazing lights at one heck of a price and that's what gets my vote. You can have anubias, Val's, and java fern with the kind of light it puts off no problem.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Graffiti said:


> Beamswork hi lumen hands down they are amazing lights at one heck of a price and that's what gets my vote. You can have anubias, Val's, and java fern with the kind of light it puts off no problem.


What about swords? Getting some free this week so that's why I ask.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

OK, checked into the Beamsworks Hi Lumen. The 30" plant fixture is $80 plus shipping, but the 30" FugeRay is is only $84 on amazon with prime. Think I'd rather go with a name brand unit unless some one thinks that the Beamswork is better than the FugeRay.


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