# 75g LED



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Beamswork DA FSPEC LED..is one example..
[email protected] $70 each..approx 10,400 lumens..

So 48" tank, 18" wide and 20" deep.. and what was your last fixture wattage and "color"?


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## SejRamkas (Jul 4, 2010)

jeffkrol said:


> Beamswork DA FSPEC LED..is one example..
> [email protected] $70 each..approx 10,400 lumens..
> 
> So 48" tank, 18" wide and 20" deep.. and what was your last fixture wattage and "color"?


last fixture was a crappy 4 bulb t5ho. I only ran the rear 2 bulbs one 10k, one 6,500k. Not ideal but I got the fixture and 6 tubes for $40 so I couldn't resist. Now that it's dead I'm looking to upgrade.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

SejRamkas said:


> . I only ran the rear 2 bulbs one 10k, one 6,500k.


The above suggestion should not be too shocking (in a bad way..) in color then. 
Output will be higher..

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LFF07XS?psc=1

Can't find a decent photo using the 5 row model ATM..
Actually @ Amazon there is one..


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

jeffkrol said:


> The above suggestion should not be too shocking (in a bad way..) in color then.
> Output will be higher..
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LFF07XS?psc=1
> ...


This is a good light. May require some floating plants or mesh screen/tape to reduce the par depending on your plant mix. I have the same-ish light on my 125g and am pleased thus far. Another option is the vivagrow RBG. Even a finnex 24/7 would be within your budget and should be enough light for your tank. I used one on my 55g, same height, without issue. The only trouble with a single LED light is that you will have 'dark spots' near the surface. Basically, the top 4-6" near the front and back won't be good for growing plants, not that many people have plants there anyway.


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## SejRamkas (Jul 4, 2010)

Freemananana said:


> This is a good light. May require some floating plants or mesh screen/tape to reduce the par depending on your plant mix. I have the same-ish light on my 125g and am pleased thus far. Another option is the vivagrow RBG. Even a finnex 24/7 would be within your budget and should be enough light for your tank. I used one on my 55g, same height, without issue. The only trouble with a single LED light is that you will have 'dark spots' near the surface. Basically, the top 4-6" near the front and back won't be good for growing plants, not that many people have plants there anyway.


This was exactly my concern. I'm not sure if I should do 2 lower wattage LEDs or go with a single strip higher wattage. I have looked a lot at the Finnex 24/7 and really like it, but I'm not sure if 1 is enough spread and if 2 is too much light...

So I guess it leaves me with two options I need answered:

1 high wattage light - will it be enough spread to make up for the front to back depth of the tank
2 lower wattage lights - is this the better option? Will it be too much light without co2?


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Freemananana said:


> This is a good light. May require some floating plants or mesh screen/tape to reduce the par depending on your plant mix. I have the same-ish light on my 125g and am pleased thus far. Another option is the vivagrow RBG. Even a finnex 24/7 would be within your budget and should be enough light for your tank. I used one on my 55g, same height, without issue. The only trouble with a single LED light is that you will have 'dark spots' near the surface. Basically, the top 4-6" near the front and back won't be good for growing plants, not that many people have plants there anyway.



Well for me it is really the fish.. Hate it when they go in and out of the light..
Raising over "standard" is also an option, though w/ a decrease in light at depth..



SejRamkas said:


> 1 high wattage light - will it be enough spread to make up for the front to back depth of the tank


Wattage has little to do w/ it.. It is the angle of the emitters.
Yes going higher wattage and raising the light will decrease "wattage" but this is problematic for some. 




SejRamkas said:


> 2 lower wattage lights - is this the better option? Will it be too much light without co2?


In regard to the Beamsworks, there are 3 row and 5 row versions.. Obviously a 3 row is 3/5ths the power of a 5 row.
Really applies to any..
Like one stingray, one planted plus..
One planted plus raised ect..

On a side note, and related to any of these "strip" type lights that run constant voltage.. any PWM dimmer can be hacked in.
Or simply 2 timers w/ different time periods..

Currently your real choice is more look than output.. w/in your budget..
https://www.amazon.com/Finnex-FugeR...TF8&qid=1488905264&sr=8-35&keywords=beamswork
this and a stingray for fill light.. 
or this:
https://www.amazon.com/Finnex-All-P...d=1488905340&sr=8-10&keywords=finnex+stingray


> A tri-color blend of True 660nm RED, 7,000k, and 460nm Blue LEDs mixed in with the MonsterRAYs color enhancing LEDs makes this fixture both plant capable and a fish highlighter.


Would be a totally different look.. even w/out me knowing what it looks like.. (new model, limited data but looks to be 1 channel RGB diodes, one channel 660,7000k,460 blue)


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## SejRamkas (Jul 4, 2010)

So looking at the 24/7 vs the beamswork model listed which will be a better fit? Cost will be roughly the same for 2x beamswork vs. 1x finnex 24/7. Will the single finnex provide enough light spread? Will the 2x beamswork fixtures be too much light? Obviously the 24/7 has the wow factor of the sunrise/sunset and programmability but I'm concerned about light spread being enough.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Then how about one Vivagrow and one Beamswork??
Choices, choices, 
Too much light, w/in reason is easier to deal w/ than too little..

note that there are a few minor things to consider.. Orig. 24/7 had, to some, too much annoying moonlight. Can't be cancelled.. sort of (see timer trick)
new 24/7 foobarred their timer so it becomes problematic to set a 24/7 on a timer, which some have done to stagger their 2 24/7.
The old style , if you put it on a timer would "revert" to 24/7 @ 6am.
New one just stops and you need to manually reset.

Point is sometimes the devil is in the details.
That said taking it off 24/7 mode and just using a pre-set allows dimming (set to a dimmer output) but no ramp up/off..


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## SejRamkas (Jul 4, 2010)

soooo what if I purchase one beamswork for now and see how I like it? I have no lighting in the tank at the moment. Then if I determine it's not enough I could either purchase another one or find a suitable addition. Just feel like that's kind of guessing at it and I'd like to have a more ironed out plan as far as estimated PAR values etc. before purchasing a setup.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

top 2 are 3 row BW.
bottom bw is 5 row. white or colored diodes shouldn't make much difference..


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## Kampo (Nov 3, 2015)

big fan of Beamswork like Jeffkrol I really think there the best bang for buck out there. if it were me I'd do 2xDA 6500k 5 row lights. 

I have both the Fspec and 6500k lights, the Fspec are a bit too "cool" for my taste for a planted tank, light looks more 10-12k color temp, great for a Mbuna tank but not so much on a planted, just my personal opinion though.

If you are enamored with lights like the 24/7 having ramping sunset/sunrise (its nice for a display tank so lights clicking on and off aren't as noticiable when your hanging out arround the house) look into a TC420 controller that will give you the ablity to schedule your own lights, not completle plug and play but as long as your research it should be pretty easy for most, first one took me 20min to setup, second 5min for me.

Jeffkrol, on that chart I really would love if we could get some new Par data on the 5 row lights, I know I mentioned it before but the par data from the 5 row on that chart seems quite a bit higher than it should be considering its only 66% more bright than a 3 row. par for 12in should be 90 or arround there not 203.

EDIT: on a wim I simulated a beamswork light in spectra and the FSPEC comes out to be arroun 12k-14k which is as cool as i thought it would be. the 6500k is arround 8k-9k depending on how i simulate the whites. after looking at the data myself i'm looking even more at just the 3watt evo lights since there are annoying blues to make it too "cool", the 1 watt 3row beamsowork which unfortionally are less avail are nicer since its less blues to white and come in arround 7-8k which is nice.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

The more data the merrier..
Briefly went through the raw data the originator posted.. no glaring errors..
Need to revisit it..


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## SejRamkas (Jul 4, 2010)

I just ordered the 48" Beamswork DA 6500K. I figure I'll try a single and see how I like it and then I can add another light for added intensity or color. I have prime so shipping is free no need to order 2 at once.


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## gooey613 (Feb 2, 2009)

Any updates?


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## KrypleBerry (May 23, 2017)

SejRamkas said:


> I hate to start a new "pick my LED" thread, but I'm at a loss when it comes to lighting my 75 gallon. My T5HO light died recently and I'm looking into an LED setup and I have a budget of around $200-$250. I'm looking to run low/medium light, low tech only dosing a general fert and liquid co2. My biggest concern is covering the whole forward to back depth of the tank. Would this require two separate LED's to get full coverage, or will one LED strip cover it well enough? Any recommendations on light setup within my budget? Unfortunately I'm just too buys for DIY at the moment.


2x 50w 6500k led floods would put you around 50 par at substrate and cost s total of 45 dollars. If you want to see the spectrum etc heres a photo of mine. I went overboard on my lighting and get >130 par so need co2 and nutes, my tank is only 15 gal.


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