# Finnex 24/7 SE right for me?



## Severum Snape (Mar 21, 2017)

I have a 45 gallon with a cheap ebay light over top currently. It is actually quite bright, and grows the plants well, but I'm attracted to the idea of 24/7 mode. I have to cut lighting to 12 hours a day to keep algae at bay. And I'd like extended viewing times on the tank. But part of me worries, with the taller tank, that 24/7 mode won't be enough light. 


My current light is the " LED Light Aquarium Fish Tank 0.5W Full Spectrum Plant Marine FOWLR." 36 inch. 36 Watts total. 

Here are some pictures of my plants and tank. Without Co2. Just started dosing half a dose of liquid carbon every other day. Root tabs and Flourish half dose once a week. 


Is the Finnex 24/7 SE in 24/7 mode right for me? 

Thanks in advance.


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## Severum Snape (Mar 21, 2017)

Also, is there any "flicker" as the light progresses in 24/7 mode? Or does it transition smoothly.


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## Hard Hat Harry (Sep 4, 2015)

I only have the regular 24/7, but the light transition is very smooth; i'm sure the SE would be the same. In my opinion the 24/7 mode is nice and provides some nice viewing conditions and grows plants decently, however, I keep mine on the max setting for about 6 hours a day; I think it grows plants better. The 24/7 mode has some issues, namely the lack of total darkness at night time and only a couple hours of max light during the day. These issues may have been fixed with the SE, but i'm not sure. My tank is 21 inches tall and seems to grow plants on the bottom just fine and from what I can find your tank is either 19 inches tall or 23, which should be fine with this light on 24/7 mode. I'd recommend the light and if you don't like the 24/7 mode, keeping the light on max mode will grow your plants just fine.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

12 hours is to much light im sure


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## Severum Snape (Mar 21, 2017)

Thanks for the responses. 16 hours was way too much (where I had it before) but 12, at the moment, is giving me crystal clear water (although I too worry about that and so am debating new lighting). And my bristle noses are keeping the glass nice and clean. Since I removed a Pleco, that was way too big for the tank, and decreased the lighting, I've noticed my phosphates drop quickly. From 3 to 1. And they've held steady there. I just couldn't keep up with the Plecos bio load. Nitrates, of course, were through the roof as well. 

I worry the 24/7 mode won't be enough light (That chart shows it only above 75% max Par readings for 5.5 hours a day). If that proves true, then my plan to set it and forget it is out the window. But, it can't be too hard to set a moonlight setting when feeding at night, have timer go off. Come on in morning on a moonlight, set it to max, or sunny, or whatever, and repeat. I'm not looking for a flourishing tank, overgrown with luscious plants, hence no C02, but, at the same time, I don't want medium and low light plants to wither away and die. My goal is healthy, slow growing plants, with extended viewing times. The tank is in my living room, so no worries about light on late into the night. I'd actually prefer that. Mimicking star/moonlight late, then a moonset of dark for 3 hours, seems cool to me. The new SE does shut off for 3 hours very late.


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## AbbeysDad (Apr 13, 2016)

I have the 48" Finnex Planted+ 24/7 on my 60g which is 24" tall. (I don't know what the difference is in the 'SE'). I felt it stayed to bright in the wee hours, so I put it on a timer, on at 6am and off at midnight (in 24/7 mode, it always comes back on at 6am feature time).

This is sufficient for a low tech tank, but of course I wasn't growing any true carpet plants which typically grow in shallow waters with bright light. Plants were healthy with slow growth.

Recently I've migrated to what I'll call 'medium tech' by adding DIY Bio-CO2 and a little more light and ferts. I put the 24/7 on max from 10am to 3pm, then back in 24/7 mode (again, still on the timer). This provides a bit more light that I feel is needed, especially with the 24" depth. Now some days I'm not around to switch the light to max and that's fine as it's just a 'cloudy' day.

In any case, I quite like the surrealism of the 24/7 mode as it more closely mirrors real world sunrise to sunset both for the fish AND provides continued viewing throughout the day and evening. I do think the light would be even better if it provided a way to alter the brighter light period (as I am doing manually) as I feel my tank needs just a bit more mid day 'sun'.


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## ustabefast (Jan 24, 2017)

You can always set the fixture on the timer to come at max setting a few hours a day and then just manually turn on the moonlight or other modes when desired. This defeats the 24/7 advantages however. To me, the fixture is not worthwhile it if I still have to use a separate timer.
In your case I'm thinking if it aint broke don't fix it. Your plants look pretty good and the 12 hour low light cycle seems to be working.


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