# Aqueon modular LED



## Clint

Anyone heard of these in a planted setting yet?
Only reviews I've seen are from fish only guys.

Thinking of running one with two daylight and one colormax on my 46 bow.


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## [email protected]

Interesting concept. 
If you purchase it, be sure to heed the warning to put it over a covered tank. Moisture carried by air bubbles or splashing can corrode the solder and circuit traces.


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## Clint

Will do, still haven't decided yet.

It will be $121 for the Aqueon 36" hood + 2 more light strips.

Also looking at a Ray 2 for $147, but only uses 7000k leds. 

Ray 2 says the leds last 40,000+ hours, can't find info on the aqueon's lifespan.

Seen quite a few negative reviews on the marineland lights, so I'll probably avoid those.


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## Clint

Well, I bit the bullet and decided to be a guinea pig.

So far i only have 2 of the three light strips in my unit, the colormax one is still on backorder.
With the two daylight bulbs in it the colors seem a bit washed out (I'm use to the warmer color tones), so I'm running my t8 florasun bulb along with them.

I'm seeing a lot of new growth on the sword and red lily plants, the crypts are looking fine, no melt off and have a healthy appearance. The wisteria is growing a lot faster than it had been and is getting a bushier appearance. 

(before this hood I was using a corallife t5 hood that was constantly giving me issues, never worked consistently.)

The moonlight option on this hood is really nice looking, it isnt "too blue" and has a nice look over all. 

The main downside to this hood so far is it's size, it is pretty wide but it isn't very tall, so it looks nice over the tank still.


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## Kaerey

I have the 36" with 2 Daylight and 1 Colormax on a 92 gallon corner (it's 24" deep). I have a glass lid over the top of this since I have some jumpers in the tank, and I think that was causing some nasty reflections when I had light just sitting on the glass with the legs provided. I felt I was losing as much light off the top of the glass and getting a bad glare when looking at it, so I unscrewed one end and slid the legs off and now the LED rests directly on the glass. I've seen a lot of growth from it, in the week I've had it over this new tank.

Edit: forgot to mention, I disagree with the OP on the moonlight, I can't even tell they are on in my tank. Not nearly powerful enough.


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## veryzer

Kaerey, how do you like the balance of color? Are the reds washed out? Do you feel there wouldn't be enough white light with all colormax bulbs?


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## Kaerey

Photo of my tank with the light on. Taken on a iPhone 4 non-HDR 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## veryzer

Looks good. Thanks.


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## zackariah

I got a 48 on my 55 long with one colormax in the middle port and two day light on the out side ones. My te well growing the handfull of plants I have. The shimmer looks cool and it has made the colors on my gbrs look great. did make a mod to it so the day light and moon light are on seperate timers. If anyone is interested in how let me know, its not to tough.


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## chunkychun

Please do tell about the moonlight mod. Thanks


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## fishfanatic24

I am very intrigued with these lights! I am thankful to all of you that have posted your findings here. I am going to continue following and hoping that these lights continue to work well, and if they do I will be purchasing some! Thanks again!


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## Atari

I called Aqueon to get some info on the 36" Modular LED. This seems like the place to post it.

Each diode is .22w. The 36" light uses 30" strips with 22 diodes each for a total of 5W. I guess the blue account for the missing wattage.

3 light strips rate 41 PAR at 12". They estimate about 20 PAR at 24".

Interestingly that's slightly less than the Marineland Doublebright per the LED Lighting Compendium (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=160396).

They come with a 1 year warranty.


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## Bryk

Did you ask about the white strips or the colormax?

I ordered a 30 inch with 2 extra colormax. I have a 37 gallon heavily planted low light plant tank. I am looking for medium to low light coverage. I don't want to have to get into the use of CO2. 

It looks like I should be ok, right?

(This is to replace a single T8 plant spectrum that didn't seem to be quite cutting it.


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## Atari

I think it is fine for low light. They recommended 2 white and one colormax but I have a deep tank and a little more lighting needs. The colormax are, according to the rep, 2/3 white and 1/3 red LEDs so you are still getting mostly white. It will probably look great. Please keep us posted.


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## In.a.Box

Someone should email aqueon and tell them to use higher watt led.
I like this ideas of 3 bulb but each led is to weak.
Stoping me from buying one. Don't worry soon you will start seeing knock off led like this.


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## chunkychun

One more thing to consider is that both ends you have about 3 inches of the housing and no light. I have the 30 inch and only get 24in coverage. I have a 36gal and quite deep, about 19 inches deep. with 3 whites i think i have low light. the good thing is my green spot algae problem is resolved.


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## Bryk

chunkychun said:


> Please do tell about the moonlight mod. Thanks


It would be great to find out. I would like to do it as well.


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## micheljq

Hello,

Do you have photos of the setup itself? I mean the modular leds mounted on the top? You have 2 of them?

Thank you,


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## Bryk

Extra bulbs arrived, unfortunately the fixture isn't set to arrive until next Wednesday. 

Guess it is time to start researching how to splice the moonglow.


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## Bryk

Picked up the fixture last week and so far it is doing well with the three LED strips. I find it to be bright enough(so far the plants do too). The moonglow is two seperate blue LEDs and I don't think it is worth it enough for me to wire it seperately. 

I'll update after a while to see if the plants continue to show growth.


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## Atari

Bryk said:


> Picked up the fixture last week and so far it is doing well with the three LED strips. I find it to be bright enough(so far the plants do too). The moonglow is two seperate blue LEDs and I don't think it is worth it enough for me to wire it seperately.
> 
> I'll update after a while to see if the plants continue to show growth.


What are the dimensions of your tank?


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## Bryk

The tank I am trying them out on is a 37 gallon, so 30 x 12 x 22ish. I am aiming for a cost effective way to get medium/low light. I don't want CO2/high light. 

With the 2 colormax and 1 white it seems to work well. Some may prefer what Aqueon recommends of the 2 white, 1 colormax.

I may go that route for the 46 gallon 36" setup. 

I do wish the bulbs went to the end and weren't just 24"s. 

I would have went with the buildmyleds but at double the cost, then having to add a dimmer seems a bit silly. Sure I could someday switch it to a high light/CO2 setup if I wanted but I highly doubt I will ever want to go that route.


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## Nue

I just bought 2 24" modular from Petco for 10$ each. They are clearing them out.


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## Bryk

Do they have other sizes? Like one 30 and one 36 and how much? PM if you are interested in picking them up for me and I could send payment via paypal.


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## hunterlook

I've been on the fence about these fixtures but never considered running 2 of them. Would 2 36" fixtures be enough light to co slider "medium" in a 40 breeder?


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## hunterlook

Atari said:


> I called Aqueon to get some info on the 36" Modular LED. This seems like the place to post it.
> 
> Each diode is .22w. The 36" light uses 30" strips with 22 diodes each for a total of 5W. I guess the blue account for the missing wattage.
> 
> 3 light strips rate 41 PAR at 12". They estimate about 20 PAR at 24".
> 
> Interestingly that's slightly less than the Marineland Doublebright per the LED Lighting Compendium (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=160396).
> 
> They come with a 1 year warranty.


Does LED light differ from fluorescent? The wattage seems very weak but par seems to be ok.


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## Nue

I went back for more. But they are all gone. And yes there was other sizes.


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## In.a.Box

Seem like these led is being call off. 
Petco wouldn't just sale them that cheap.
$10 for a 24"? That's $1 per gallon on led.


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## Atari

I called Petco. They say it is an online exclusive, you can see their website. I'm not sure what the deal is with the local store in this case.


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## zackariah

I have had mine on my tank for a month now. I dose with co2 booster and flourish. Cryptos and swords are growing great. Christmas moss does not seem to be growing much. Like Atari said it is good for low to medium light and slow growth. But for the price they are great.


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## zackariah

Bryk and chunky I did a thread called aqueon modular led mod explaining how to splice the moon glo. It was fairly simple. And well worth it.Let me know if you have questions.


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## Gretchen

Atari said:


> I called Petco. They say it is an online exclusive, you can see their website. I'm not sure what the deal is with the local store in this case.


I know when people buy things on petco.com and return them in store, they go on clearance after about a month or two if they aren't a part of the normal inventory. I don't know if that's what happened in this case since there were multiple sizes.


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## Bryk

zackariah said:


> Bryk and chunky I did a thread called aqueon modular led mod explaining how to splice the moon glo. It was fairly simple. And well worth it.Let me know if you have questions.


Yeah, it seems a bit much getting it from radio shack. They wanted $35 for the power supply for a 12v 2.5Amp. Then following your instructions I would still need to wire the female/male side with some other connector.

I found the power supply on Amazon for $6. So yeah. I'm not sure it is worth it. I would be looking at $11 for solo timer, $6 for power supply, need female connector. At $20 for just the two tiny blue LEDs, I am thinking of just doing it manually when I want to use the moonlight feature. I did want to put it on a seperate timer to have it go on before the light in the morning, and also go on before the light goes off at night to reduce the shock effect. Just not sure it is worth it.


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## Bryk

Gretchen said:


> I know when people buy things on petco.com and return them in store, they go on clearance after about a month or two if they aren't a part of the normal inventory. I don't know if that's what happened in this case since there were multiple sizes.


Couldn't find them locally at Petcos, only Petsmarts at a slightly higher rate than what is available online.


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## Bryk

Update:

My Anubias Fraz on a piece of driftwood, so probably 12 inches away if I had to guess has added a few leaves in 2 weeks. It is 6 almost 7 when I got it it was 4. 

My italian vals are shooting runners, but not noticeablly growing taller. 

Two clumps of Hornwort deep in the tank are shooting a branch upward towards the light. 

Red Wendetti and Giant Hygro are slower, but seem to be recovering from T8. (they are at 18 inches deep or so).

Moneywort is holding steady.

Riccia and Flame moss are status quo.


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## zackariah

I got lucky with mine, I bought it through roxiespetden.com it showed up with a few cracks so they sent out a whole new fixture. I had spare parts to work with. I plan to take the broken fixture, and using it for a diy led fixture in the future.


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## zackariah

Here are some pics of the mod I did and the light on my tank. I have 4 day light strips and 1 colormax. I removed the glass and end caps to get the fourth strip fit.


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## madness

I almost removed the glass and end-caps (among other things) when trying to add a 2nd and 3rd strip to mine.


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## John F.

All,

I have a 48-inch, 55-gallon All-Glass Aquarium. Currently, I have a four-tube Coralife fluorescent fixture, but I want to upgrade to LEDs. I'm leaning towards the Aqueon being discussed here. The ability to replace LED tubes if one or more goes bad seems like a big plus.

I have a planted tank with CO2 supplementation. Java moss, annubias, bamboo grass, occasionally hornwort. When I get my Aqueon (hopefully soon)- should I go with three daylight strips, or 2 daylight and a ColorMax?

Thanks in advance for any advice!


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## mjbn

I would go 1 daylight and 2 color max. In addition make sure you have a versa top or some sort of lid for the tank, there is no splash guard on the Aqueon units.


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## Derek1126

Atari said:


> I called Aqueon to get some info on the 36" Modular LED. This seems like the place to post it.
> 
> Each diode is .22w. The 36" light uses 30" strips with 22 diodes each for a total of 5W. I guess the blue account for the missing wattage.
> 
> 3 light strips rate 41 PAR at 12". They estimate about 20 PAR at 24".


What is the best way to remove the rubber end of the LED tube in order to pull LED strip out? 
I have a 30" hood comes with a day light tube. I have hard time to remove the rubber end cap while I also try not to break anything.

I want to build my own tubes with 1W white (6500K) LEDs mixed with few red LEDs. Soldering and wiring is the easy part for me. Power LEDs are dirt cheap on eBay. Just need to find where to buy additional glass tubes. Any idea where I could find those long glass tubes (24" x 0.6" to 0.8" dia)? Plastic tube might not stay clear and transparency in long run.

For the blue moon lights, I bought some low power blue LEDs and wired/attached them to the top of all my tanks and all controlled by a single timer. No need to mess with the Aqueon hood wiring.


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## wiru

hi, newbie here.

just purchased 2 day led and 1 colormax on a 36" aqueon hood. my tank is a 44 gallon bow front. have bunch of parrot and oscar and plan to introduce anubias, jungle val and amazon swords into tank. how many hours per day would you guys recommend running?TIA.



Kaerey said:


> View attachment 57413
> 
> 
> Photo of my tank with the light on. Taken on a iPhone 4 non-HDR
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Guest

*Aqueon 48" 3 day white heavily palnted 90 gallon.*

The concept of this inexpensive Modular L.E.D aquarium light is fantastic, but leaves much to be desired. Even with 3 Day whites, it is not enough quality light for a low tech heavily planted aquarium. My plants faltered and starved for light. I added an additional 94 watss of flourescents to get them back on track. I have since moved this Modular LED light assembly to a non planted 55 gallon cichlid tank.


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## Gdubya

*Not a Good Option*

I had high hopes. I even ordered extra LED strips. Ive tried 2 colormax and 1 daylight. Then I tried 3 colormax. Its just not very much light at all. 

Im ordering my next attempt from Build My Led.

If anyone wants this brand new light set up. Let me know. Ill send you all 4 bulbs and the fixture for a discount.


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## micheljq

This Aqueon led is an old concept, takes place, rather wide and the intensity is not there. Better pass on it, there are now much, much better led fixtures on the market.

Unless you can get it used for a very cheap price as a viewing light. Anyway i wonder if it is still available new.

Michel.


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## AnonymousNck

*I am using this on my 55gal*



micheljq said:


> This Aqueon led is an old concept, takes place, rather wide and the intensity is not there. Better pass on it, there are now much, much better led fixtures on the market.
> 
> Unless you can get it used for a very cheap price as a viewing light. Anyway i wonder if it is still available new.
> 
> Michel.


My tank is lightly planted and I am using this currently. 2 daylight and 1 colormax. What is better for less money? I just paid $27 per 48" bulb on petco's website. Free shipping over $50


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## micheljq

As for me i own one Beamswork and one Finnex Ray 2 DS led fixture.

You can check the Beamswork's on Aquatraders, cheap prices.

Michel.


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## Rossell

Hi everyone,

I am new to the Forum and have 3 planted tanks, a 10g, a 15g, and 30g. i've recently purchased a New 36" Aquaeon LED light for my 30g. As of now i am still just using the standard white light, i'm looking for some recommendations of light combination to use for a Planted tank, All plants are low light with the exception of the Hygrophyllia Pinnifida, which ive struggled to find much information on but was doing just fine under my old T8 setup. Anyways, i've heard either:

2 colormax and 1 White LED strip
or
1 Colormax and 2 White LED strip

I was wondering what everyone experience where with either combinations alternatively if anyone has tried the NEW beautymax colour strip i'd love to here any opinions on that as well, as i am considering doing :

1 Colormax , 1 White , and 1 Beautymax LED strip

Thanks,

Rossell


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## Clint

Hello all, 
I know this is an old post, but since these are still available, I figured I'd toss in an update. After 3 years of use two of the 3 led strips have faded a lot (one of the day lights and the colormax). The two that faded also have a haze on the inside of the glass near each led light. Replacements are only $18 or so these days, but for the cost of three, you might as well buy new light fixture. Also, the main connection to the power cord had a small amount of corrosion in it (a blue-green crusty residue). The light strip that did not fade as much was the one that originally came with the unit. I have retired this light to quarantine tank duty.

I bought a Beamswork 6500k unit as a replacement, very happy with it so far, even bought the optional timer unit.


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