# Best led lighting system?????



## fishkeeper01 (Oct 2, 2012)

So I'm looking to put led lights on top of my African cichlid all male show tank. I'd like to here what you all think is the best led system for all male show tanks based on these three criteria

1) best bang for your buck
2) color that fish show
3) simplicity


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## Whjdm069 (Dec 14, 2013)

Look into the monster ray by finnex. Designed to bring out the colors in your tank.


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## green18 (Jan 6, 2014)

The satellite+ is pretty much as good as it gets for pure coloration if you don't need high intensity. I say that as someone that has reef led units that cost 5 times as much.

You can bring out any color you could want to highlight by altering the rbg lights.


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## fishkeeper01 (Oct 2, 2012)

Yea, but I just don't really understand how to work all of its features.


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## green18 (Jan 6, 2014)

Nothing to understand and you can ignore them if u want. There are 5 or so color buttons that will give you a heavy flavor of that color. You can stick with that or customize it further.


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## BigL_RIP (Jul 12, 2013)

I think the best/easiest solution is that which I use: a Finnex Ray2 in conjunction with a MonsterRay. Great output, tank coverage, color rendition--of both plants and fish. If you're interested, I will be selling my 36" pair, in perfect shape.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

I'm with green's suggestion, too. The Sat+ offers color enhancement of fish due to the RGB lights. 

The Finnex combination, Ray 2 with Monster Ray, suggested by BigL is nice for planted tanks with co2 injection... otherwise, there's no way to dim it easily and you'll end up with algae. It's also more expensive to buy both those lights than a single Sat+. Not to mention, African cichlids and planted tanks don't usually mix well together (depends on the species).


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## Lowe (Nov 11, 2011)

If I may kindly suggest, via Darkwater in Orlando, their Finnex MonsterRAY build for a customer:


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

BigL_RIP said:


> I think the best/easiest solution is that which I use: a Finnex Ray2 in conjunction with a MonsterRay. Great output, tank coverage, color rendition--of both plants and fish. If you're interested, I will be selling my 36" pair, in perfect shape.



I wish I had seen this 2 days ago! just bought a pair on Sunday!


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

fishkeeper01 said:


> So I'm looking to put led lights on top of my African cichlid all male show tank. I'd like to here what you all think is the best led system for all male show tanks based on these three criteria
> 
> 1) best bang for your buck
> 2) color that fish show
> 3) simplicity


Well more for food for thought than a recommendation:
But as to your criteria
1) Ease of use .. 2 on board dimmers one for the "blue" channel.. one for white
2)bang for buck.. $239 incudes shipping for:



> Evergrow Dimmable Full Spectrum D120 120W LED Light For Reef saltwater aquarium


3) color that fish show.. dimming one channel or another will bring out one color or another..

Caveats.. Not "programmable", not linear, not exactly cheap, and I'm not crazy about the layout/color choices for FW but they will do, OH and it uses fans......
SW1 Blue 460nm 8pcs 
 Royal Blue 440nm 15pcs 
 Purple Blue 410nm 4pcs 
 
 
 
 SW2 Cool White 6000-18000K  10pcs 
 Neutral White  4500-6000K  6pcs 
 Warm White 3500-4500K 6pcs 
 Deep Red  660nm 4pcs 
 Green 520nm 2pcs

A. Blue on, White/Red/Green off; 60W 　
B. Blue off, White/Red/Green on; 60W 　
C. Blue on, White/Red/Green on; 120W


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## green18 (Jan 6, 2014)

The problem I see is like Brian mentioned…he has a cichlid tank which I assume is not heavily planted. Some of these recommendations are great but some of these just seem like they will get someone in trouble with algae and/or be overkill.

The monster ray does seem like a good option, that is a great look for the tank.


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## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

So you got the lights? Awesome!


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

green18 said:


> The problem I see is like Brian mentioned…he has a cichlid tank which I assume is not heavily planted. Some of these recommendations are great but some of these just seem like they will get someone in trouble with algae and/or be overkill.
> 
> The monster ray does seem like a good option, that is a great look for the tank.





> Monster Ray 28W: 96 Multicolor LEDs


Well not to be too critical but monster ray.. low wattage in comparison, one "color".. not dimmable (?)..
The one I posted could be , in theory anywhere from 1W to 120W output (so much for worrying about algae )w/ almost any color temp.. Granted it is 2.5X the cost but the flexibility is almost endless... 

BOTH provide "bang for the buck"... 
As far as I'm concerned the strength of LED is dimming and color blending.. 

When this is not needed.. then HO flour. are just fine.. Except LED's do seem to create more "pop" re: of spectrum, within the "daylight" regions..... (arguable of course)
HO flour usually offer better coverage..they are not point light sources. a bit o/t. 
Personal opinion and YMMV... 

OP needs to define a "price point"...


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## fishkeeper01 (Oct 2, 2012)

Won't the red and green lights of the satellite plus lead to algae growth?


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

fishkeeper01 said:


> Won't the red and green lights of the satellite plus lead to algae growth?


green no.. that wavelength and intensity red, .. not likely.. Algae are "plants" so there is always a balance....

Now if you get this:.. 









http://www.lumigrow.com/algae-to-om...ution-for-energy-efficient-indoor-algae-farm/

for fun:


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## green18 (Jan 6, 2014)

fishkeeper01 said:


> Won't the red and green lights of the satellite plus lead to algae growth?



Not anymore than any other color in my experience.

I also love the fixture posted with full dimming. In fact I am using something very similar over my 150 cube and it is great having the flexibility on intensity and limited color variation with the dual channels. 

None of that is bad and they are great fixtures and give you ultimate intensity if you want it. I still prefer the Satellite+ if you do not need high light because it is cheaper and you can actually control the color across 4 colors versus 2. Considering any of the 4 can be at any level you basically can dial in any color you could imagine.


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## fishkeeper01 (Oct 2, 2012)

Alright so with the satellite plus, am I able to just turn the lights on and leave it at that. Or will it go into some default preset program?


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## green18 (Jan 6, 2014)

It remembers the setting it was last on. You can absolutely turn it on and off and be done with it.


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## fishkeeper01 (Oct 2, 2012)

Basically I'm wondering if I can just turn the lights on and leave the white lights and rgb on. And then when I feel like it put the moonlights on or turn it off.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Yup.. All you have to do is push the full spectrum preset button. Then when you want moonlight, just push the moonlight button. It's very easy. 

Watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dpc7mNflVg&feature=youtube_gdata_player


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

ctaylor3737 said:


> So you got the lights? Awesome!



yep, I'll be posting up pics tonight in the Finnex section of all three (Ray2, Planted+ and MonsterRay)


I love the Ray2 / Planted+ combination, and am hoping the MonsterRay really sets it off


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## fishkeeper01 (Oct 2, 2012)

Man you know I'm really just stuck between the satellite plus and marineland double bright, so I've come up with some questions.

1) for the satellite plus how can I turn it on, but get the moonlights to come on first. Like with the marineland. All the videos I watched show the white lights immediately coming on when turning the satellite plus on.

2) aside from features what makes the satellite plus better?


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## green18 (Jan 6, 2014)

Trust me, the double bright has no such feature as ramping up or down. You either have all lights on or just moonlight and the switch is a toggle so one or the other.

The only way to ramp up the satellite is to buy the timer made for it. Otherwise you have to manually switch between modes.

Oh, and as far as other features it looks cooler (IMO), the remote is very handy, the customer service is top notch (as is Finnex).


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## fishkeeper01 (Oct 2, 2012)

So your saying when I hit the power button it will come on white and then I have to change it to the blue lights. So there will be a few seconds of white then blue lights?


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

The Sat+ turns on from whatever setting you last had it on prior to turning off. It has built in memory like that. Makes it handy when using it in conjunction with a basic timer. The ramp timer option just adds another level of features. So basically, if you push the moonlight button at night and then turn it off in that mode, when you turn the light back on, it's in moonlight (until you change the setting).


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## green18 (Jan 6, 2014)

The great thing about what Brian says is I use that to make it like a "ramp up". At night I switch it to my custom "dusk" setting and it goes off on its own with a standard timer. When the timer comes back on it is in that same dusk mode and I just flip it to daylight when I stop home at lunch.

It is a little bit of a manual step but you could just as easily leave it in daylight mode and skip the ramp up if you were going to be gone.


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