# Finnex Planted Plus Inquiry



## fishlover108 (Jun 25, 2013)

Folks who bought the Planted+.... could you please tell me if you are happy with the brightness with a single fixture on your tank????

I bought a Finnex Fugeray Planted+ for my 75gal (48in). I was not too impressed with the brightness with a single light fixture. So wanting to know more whether this is really suited for a planted hi-tech tank.

I run pressurized CO2 with regular EI and the reason I bought this was for the red spectrum. I was disappointed with the brightness. The blue lights were flickering when turned on and I am thinking this might be a defective one. I am thinking of returning this.

Despite, do you guys like the brightness suited for a planted tank from this light and are there examples of plants flourishing with this single fixture on a 48in tank? What other choices on LEDs for reddish plant growth?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.


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## JJVanier (Feb 4, 2014)

For a 75 Gal, which i assume is 18-24" depth, I would of went with the finnex ray 2 DS, even then I believe you are only in the medium light range.

Stacking 2 Planted+ is another option.

Perceived light from the human eye, and light emitted that plants can use are 2 very different things. Quite often a brighter(to our eye) light can be worse at growing plants.


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## JJVanier (Feb 4, 2014)

BTW, I purchased the finnex ray 2 DS 24" for a 33g (36" length, 18" depth) and im getting 35-40 par at the bottom of the tank.

Highly impressed with finnex fixtures.


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## fishlover108 (Jun 25, 2013)

JJVanier: Thanks for the response. Are you happy with the normal "human" eye brightness with a single fixture? Have the red plants stayed red with the Ray 2 DS?

Going with 2 Planted+ is not a great idea if I can get the same lighting in BeamWorks for a lesser price minus the reds. Just a thought.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

One ray2 does not look bright enough. I am not totally satisfied with the finnex lights for the price. My Monster Ray started flickering after 4 months. The Ray 2's are holding up. Ray 2's make the plants look washed out muting the reds. A single Ray2 and a Monster ray also looks too dim to me.

Two planted plus is probably the best option, assuming they last.

I ordered a Beamswork Pink Led to replace my Monster Ray, someone else mentioned them. For less than half the price they might be a good option.


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## stealthypotatoes (Feb 2, 2013)

I purchased it for my 20h to replace my t5s. I turned it on and I fell in love. I ordered another onethe next day. I would suggest a planted+ and a ray2 combo for your 75 if you want the red lights


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## fishlover108 (Jun 25, 2013)

Urkevitz said:


> One ray2 does not look bright enough. I am not totally satisfied with the finnex lights for the price. My Monster Ray started flickering after 4 months. The Ray 2's are holding up. Ray 2's make the plants look washed out muting the reds. A single Ray2 and a Monster ray also looks too dim to me.
> 
> Two planted plus is probably the best option, assuming they last.
> 
> I ordered a Beamswork Pink Led to replace my Monster Ray, someone else mentioned them. For less than half the price they might be a good option.


How is the Beamswork pink working for you? Does it bring out the red in plants from a photosynthesis perspective? Seems like a good idea.


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## Nikk (Oct 17, 2013)

I am using the Ray2 and took a PAR reading on a 24" tall 60 gal and at the brightest point at the substrate (20" from light) it measured around 65. It's a very bright fixture, growth is on point! (Also all of my red plants are very red...I dose CSM+b and a 3ml shot of seachem iron like 3-4 times a week) 

I use planted+ on my 10 gallons and it's perfect for them

Originally, the tank looked washed out to me, I went from using 2 T5HOs (nice fixture) but now I can't tell at all, everything is vibrant and in three days I can expect at least three inches of growth w/ stem plants..I'll post a pic of my tank in my tank section. I like the Ray2. Just my two cents!


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## shift (Jan 7, 2013)

I have the 18" on 6g. Not to far from the substrate and I have been very pleased with it


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

fishlover108 said:


> How is the Beamswork pink working for you? Does it bring out the red in plants from a photosynthesis perspective? Seems like a good idea.


Just ordered it, it's probably like the monster ray in that it only highlights the plants color


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## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

I would get a Ray 2 also with your planted plus. It is not nearly enough for your tank, that is what I did after I only bought a planted+. They are awesome and give your tank alot of growth but adding a Ray2 will be perfect for you! They are awesome lights and i have no complaints from them.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

JJVanier said:


> BTW, I purchased the finnex ray 2 DS 24" for a 33g (36" length, 18" depth) and im getting 35-40 par at the bottom of the tank.
> 
> Highly impressed with finnex fixtures.



Interesting that you are using the 24" ray 2 for your 36" long tank. Do you think the side of the tank is getting enough par..


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## prighello (Aug 19, 2007)

I have a fugeray 12" and a planted+ 12". The planted was decent by itself but I use both over my 30cm cube to get better coverage.


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## JJVanier (Feb 4, 2014)

tetra73 said:


> Interesting that you are using the 24" ray 2 for your 36" long tank. Do you think the side of the tank is getting enough par..


The finnex website shows par equivalents 3-6-9inches out from the placement of the fixture, I took a few par ratings off for being at the sides but I believe it would be very close to those same numbers. Plants seem to indicate so.


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## JJVanier (Feb 4, 2014)

JJVanier said:


> The finnex website shows par equivalents 3-6-9inches out from the placement of the fixture, I took a few par ratings off for being at the sides but I believe it would be very close to those same numbers. Plants seem to indicate so.


Oh ya, and my tank would be a High, not a long  Maybe I messed up on that, 36 L, 18" height, 12 depth*


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## owens81jw (Feb 7, 2009)

fishlover108 said:


> Folks who bought the Planted+.... could you please tell me if you are happy with the brightness with a single fixture on your tank????
> 
> I bought a Finnex Fugeray Planted+ for my 75gal (48in). I was not too impressed with the brightness with a single light fixture. So wanting to know more whether this is really suited for a planted hi-tech tank.
> 
> ...



i have a 40B , (36x18) I have 2 Planted + on the tank n i love it , Its not too Bright and im getting Great Par front to back of the tank , Currently have a Glosso carpet growing


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## fishlover108 (Jun 25, 2013)

To what I am reading, my understanding on the brightness is correct and is too low for a 48in tank from one single fixture. I will need to buy 2 of them to get the brightness which doesn't make a lot of sense to me or go with a combination of Ray 2 DS.

A good option I learnt here was to supplement my existing BeamsWork with another BeamsWork pink fixture which is half the price and that should give enough PAR/depth for my red plants to stay red.


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## Aurie (Jun 3, 2013)

I bought a planted plus but haven't used it for a long time even though I bought it on release day. It's a 48" but I put it on my 46 bowfront (36" long) and it did a great job lighting it up but the spread wasn't much. I do intend for it to be on a 55 and I think it'll be good since the tank isn't as deep front to back as a bowfront. I'd suggest since a 75 is deeper than a 55 but the same length to get 2 for front to back spread and put the plants that want the most light in the direct center of the tank. 

Currently on my 46 bow I'm using a coralife dual t5 HO (kinda low end of the HO lights IMO) but it works great for sticking with low end of medium light. I can grow water sprite, vals, crypts and chain swords. I will end up replacing this fixture with 2 finnex fixtures when I get the money.


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## fishlover108 (Jun 25, 2013)

Got my replacement for the defective Planted+ light today.

This one is a bit bright than the one which was defective. Still, this alone will not do anything for my highly planted tank. The brightness is JUST not there. I have to supplement this with my current BeamsWork LED.

So, if you are thinking (which I was infact) of just buying one Planted+ for a 48" or >18" of depth, you need to get another Planted+ or Ray II DS or BeamsWork bright LEDs.

Kind of disappointed that still LEDs are evolving around a reasonable price and companies are yet to carry one fixture for a high tech planted tank with the varied color spectrum in ONE instead of all these varied gimmicks on supplementing.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Adding a second Planted+ will likely address your complaints. It seems that the your expectations of this lamp and its application on a 75g tank seem to be askew.
with 48x18x21... the dimensions to consider when finding a suitable lamp is the width and height.

The 18" span wont be adequately lit by a single lamp (T5HO/LED), less so by LEDs with directional diodes.

The 21" height requires a higher par to provide medium high to high light if a High tech setup is what you are after.

My Planted+ running at 9" above the substrate has produced a fair bit of green algae on the plants in the upper regions of the tank sans co2. The red LEDs certainly has provided a warmer glow than the RayII or Fugeray. On my 40 gallon breeder, i run two finnex lamps to provide sufficient light coverage across the 18" width.


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