# Led lighting to grow carpet plants in a 55 gallon



## Lornek8 (Jul 3, 2013)

First option has actinic bulbs which you'd probably want to replace. So add a few more bucks for bulbs.

Second option might be a bit underpowered or just boarderline. It may be equivalent to 1-2 bulbs on the first option. A better option might be the Finnex Ray II.


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## Mojo028 (Jan 25, 2013)

Buy the finnex ray 2 on Amazon they have great deals.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Thank you two for your suggestions. If i want to go for the finnex ray 2 - 48 inch. How many fixture should i get? One seems not enough for me but 2 in combo is ~ $350


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

You should get two of the satellite plus fixtures if you don't mind bumping up your budget a bit. It's definitely worth it because you have a lot of flexibility in controlling your color output, intensity, and even the dynamic (fun) modes like lightning storm and sunset. Plus, Current is coming out with Ramp Timers to automate the whole lighting cycle....it's very neat!

My second choice would be BuildmyLED.com. I like their full spectrum led lighting and higher powered diodes. Certainly helps in light penetration in taller tank applications. 

I wouldn't get the Ray 2 because colors tend to look drab and stale. The exception to this is if you get a Ray2 and Monster Ray combo to supplement the other spectrum (i.e. reds and greens), or lack-there-of in just running Ray 2's.


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

You mean two of the 48 "-60" current sateline plus freshwater? They do look good. But i dont think i can handle 2. Would one be enough?


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

The PAR would actually give you low light with that height. So you'd need two to at least get you moderate light. 

You can possibly get by with a Ray 2 because you do get more PAR bang for the buck. It's heavy in blue spectrum so it can work with the carpet plants in a 21" tall tank. I had one on my 26g bow front that had the same height. It's a great light but after awhile I started to notice my red stem plants fade to green. I also noticed how colors look a bit stale, IMO. Like I mentioned earlier, you can add a monster Ray (later) to supplement it if you want more pop in the colors. 

Otherwise, t5ho is still a viable option. I'd probably get two 48" AquaticLife fixtures. They come with bulbs and reflector quality is good. Just annual bulb replacement is the downside.


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Ok. Thank you for your advise, brian!


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## tricken (Jun 27, 2013)

i have the same tank. with a 48inch build my led bar with 90 optics with tank mounts. and at the edge at sub-straight using a hoppy par meter i had 55par and 80 par directly under the light. this light will grow 99% of carpet plants. overall i am very happy with there light. I also have the dimmer right now and it works like a champ.


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

How much did it cost you, tricken? I just tried buildmyled.com and its $270 something


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## tricken (Jun 27, 2013)

i order for 2 tanks so i have 2 48inch bars 2 sets of tanks stands and a dimmer and it was under 600 shipped.

i know that is alot of money, but they carry a 3 year warranty and the product seems very top notch. no yearly bulbs to replace like a t5 setup and with a dimmer you can scale it down, as far as i know rays wont do that


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## Lowe (Nov 11, 2011)

Carpet, eh? Here's a RAY2 over our dealers 75:



















Superb growth. I will say that if you plan on a variety of colors, the Satellite fixture will do great if you add two of them. That or wait for the FugeRAY planted+ LED.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

I purchased the T5HO on ebay that you are considering... received it on Friday and I think its good quality... I haven't looked at any of the other lights people have mentioned, but figured for the budget I had in mind this fixture worked nicely. I'm currently running just the (2) 12000K bulbs, but plan to replace them with a 6700K and colormax... don't think I need to run all (4) bulbs, but I bought this fixture just in case I upgrade my SW later on and decide to move this fixture to the SW tank if the LED's I just put on my SW don't work for growing corals as well as I'd like...

The built in timer is kind of cheesy on how you have to program it because you have to set the time, then set the time you want light 1 to come on, then exit the program and go back in to it, then set the time you want light 1 to go off, then exit the program and go back in to it, then set the time you want light 2 to come on then exit the program and go back in etc. etc... I tried programming all of the lights at once and it doesn't save the programming when you do it that way so it took a bit to get it programmed, then again to undo the program since I only want it running the 2 lights... but *shrug* oh well... it works thats what matters...

I'm running this light over my 55 gal currently... with all 4 bulbs I think it will be very high light and will require good CO2, so planning on just running the 2 bulbs at least for now...


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> I purchased the T5HO on ebay that you are considering... received it on Friday and I think its good quality... I haven't looked at any of the other lights people have mentioned, but figured for the budget I had in mind this fixture worked nicely. I'm currently running just the (2) 12000K bulbs, but plan to replace them with a 6700K and colormax... don't think I need to run all (4) bulbs, but I bought this fixture just in case I upgrade my SW later on and decide to move this fixture to the SW tank if the LED's I just put on my SW don't work for growing corals as well as I'd like...
> 
> The built in timer is kind of cheesy on how you have to program it because you have to set the time, then set the time you want light 1 to come on, then exit the program and go back in to it, then set the time you want light 1 to go off, then exit the program and go back in to it, then set the time you want light 2 to come on then exit the program and go back in etc. etc... I tried programming all of the lights at once and it doesn't save the programming when you do it that way so it took a bit to get it programmed, then again to undo the program since I only want it running the 2 lights... but *shrug* oh well... it works thats what matters...
> 
> I'm running this light over my 55 gal currently... with all 4 bulbs I think it will be very high light and will require good CO2, so planning on just running the 2 bulbs at least for now...


Please post a picture of the lighting running on your tank if you dont mind. Thank you in advance.


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