The Best Budget Light for your Aquarium? Beamswork LED Light Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- It's cheap, but is it any good? Today we're going to discuss the Beamswork series of lights and whether or not they're a good choice for your aquarium.
The lights discussed in this review:
Beamswork EA FSPEC: amzn.to/2FTMhGX
Beamswork DA FSPEC: amzn.to/2LCpIdt
Beamswork Discus: amzn.to/30kFIF7
Fluval Plant 3.0: bit.ly/2xCG39z
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Thank you for talking about budget lighting! Not all of us want to put 3.0s on every planted tank. I'm not looking to grow the hardest, most high-tech plants in the world. I just want good success with most plants.
I got a ECO and timer pretty cheap on Amazon
@DikoMan I'd be curious to know which plants you're referring to. I've seen or grown some fairly demanding plants under Fluval 3.0s, it's all about placement and knowing your nutrient balance and CO2.
i did beamworks didnt like it tryed Aquaneat 24 7 it sucked .. i love my Finnex CRV i think its better then Fruval being some of the stuff is a waste for me im not controlling my light with my phone so for me its way overpriced wile the finnex is just what i want .. its like a night and day difference from the aquaneat 247 to the finnex 247
Thank you so much for the timer setting instructions! You should make that it's own video cause I had a hard time finding one!!!
Timers are handy. I have a grow light for my plants with a timer :)
I have bought five different Beams Work lights since 2016. Only one malfunctioned (flickering) after being in used for three years. Overall, I agree with all your assessment of the lights. I started a 75-gal planted tank one year ago, and I went with Fluval 3.0.
Which would you choose for a 75 gallon: nicrew or beamswork da?
You might actually find a little .ore control with either the JC&P or Hygger lights that are a bit newer.
@@BentleyPascoe thanks for the reply
I'm just going for the Beamworks Da. Thanks for the video.
I had the Beamswork DA 48" on my 75G and it didn't cover front to back like I wanted, so I then purchased the Fluval 3.0 Planted and now running both. I have the Fluval going through the sunrise, daytime, and sunset, and during the daytime, the Beamswork then kicks on and then off just before the sunset begins on the Fluval. Works pretty nice. Got mine on Amazon, and the Fluval at Aquarium Co-Op
Sounds like a good combo and timing set up! Two of my favorite lights almost exactly how I'd time it.
It's pretty good. I have the Fluval just back past the center of the tank, and the Beamswork in front of it.
Here's my new babies on my 20G Long. This is 1 of the 3 feeding stations. th-cam.com/video/kj05oLmiFjE/w-d-xo.html
my beamswork light fell into my tank, was fully water logged. pulled it out( i know your not supposed to) tipped it over to drain out the water, and left it on. never had any issues the thing works great.
I'd like some info on budget spot lights for aquariums/ripariums/paludariums. I know this isn't exactly an emersed plant channel, but all of my tanks use lighting at a distance, and there are advantages. Even my 20 gal that has no emersed growth and blackwater has 4 cheap 60 watt equivalent warm white leds with diffusers removed, at about 16 inches above the surface. And it's got a dusty cover, and it still grows plants (and algae). Personally, I like not having lights in my way, it's a pain in the ass. For my bigger and further away tanks, I just use cheap outdoor non-dimmable 90 watt equivalent led flood lights with the diffuser caps popped off which turns then even more so into spot lights than the regular bulbs due to the built in lens the outdoor ones have. Yeah it's not sophisticated, and may not be enough for people who have the cash for overpriced lights that are designed so show off plants and animals, but some of us need options. Let me just say this: Dey grow plant gud nuff; Ain't no money fo nuffin else. But what do I know, I'm just a backwoods hick with neurological disorders and a hobby.
To me it sounds like you have the experience and information you need on those lights.
I have a mix of Fluval 3.0, Finnex, and Wal-Mart shop lights. I prefer the Fluval 3.0. That app is awesome. However, the finnex and the shop lights work just fine in the areas I am using them. The first lights I ever had were cheap lights from Wal-Mart. I was using them because Joey (The King of DIY) had recommended them as a cost saving option. Those lights grew my easy plants just fine. I have slowly replaced them with Finnex and Fluval. Not because I'm suddenly attempting hard to grow plants, but because I like the look of the finnex and fluval better.
I think there is certainly a reason to identify "the best light for the job" and stick to it. I still use finnex and beamswork through various tanks as I slowly upgrade my way to more fluval lights - but there are several spots where a fluval would be overkill.
I believe 6500K CFLs daylight is the best for showing fish for me, but you have a great display on A deeper water tank. I believe all the lights you did are great for plants.
I personally prefer lights at 6500K as well, but all of these can grow plants, just having the additional color portions in your spectrum from the DA/EA lights tends to provide better growth. Thanks for watching and good luck with sales on your guppies!
On my last 3 or 4 comments I sent you I don't think we were on the same wave link . I'm watching the Beamswork video show however what about Hygger,Nicrew , Finnex Led aquarium lights ? Do you need plant light to grow plants ? Like there is a Finnex aquarium light and Finnex Stingray 24/7 planted . Low density or high density , low tank or high tank . Very frustrating . Thank you
Almost any led can grow plants, but some lights which have lots of blue can cause algae. It's about understanding how demanding your plants are that then determines what or how much light you need. Lots of low light plants like Java fern, you don't need strong lighting as an example.
What about a 28" hygger light on a 40 gallon breeder tank ?
You will likely have dim spots, but I don't have direct experience with this light yet
This is interesting Bentley,The Yescom LED I pushed for people to try as budget? 48" 156 LED for $47...they stopped making the larger sizes and when you do see the 48" for sale? They are slightly used...I guess reconditioned and going for $50 I did find one site ..and they pushed the price up to $57. I thought it was a very bright light,good deal at $47...I should have ordered 2 or more. Stopped making the price buster.
I also don't see it. Oh well
@@BentleyPascoe Its been no problem,runs cool to the touch. Longevity is 6 months and counting.
Is the DA Full Spectrum best overall for a planted freshwater tank (125gal) compared to the 6500k white-led-only model?
I think it's better yes, but there are more modern lights that are far superior nowadays
@@BentleyPascoe would like a 72inch light for my 125 Gallon. What would you recommend?
@@Sean3D2Y use two 36" lights or a 48 and 24. Gives you way more options
I used Walmart hypertough shop light. Grew out some ludwigia repens, and bacopa. Even got some nice color. It grew them very fast. Then I got the aquaneat 24 7, it's stupid bright. I would take it over beamswork everyday of the week. Brighter, and has the 24/7 function. Lots of color in those lights. Then I went to vivagrow the planted + knockoff... They're great. Good spectrum, 24/7 function is great. They're not as bright though. I have a planted + and it's a little brighter than the vivagrow, but spectrum is everything. I just got a light off han aquatics, it's my first high tech light. I have a 20" aquaneat on a 55 gallon tank in my house. Lights it up phenomenally. I'm working on a fluval 3.0 then if that don't cut it... Sbreef
Am I missing something with the timer? I’ve set it but it doesn’t ever change or switch off. Does it matter what the main switch setting is?
Yes, I think it needs to be in the neutral position
Fluval Plant 3.0 is $399 in Australia (to expensive). $185 in US, convert to AU and its only $264, doesn't cost $130 extra for delivery. I think that is why we look for cheaper options. Would love to have Fluval on all my tanks but i have 15 tanks.
I've heard that this was the case and I guess it's just massive import taxing which really sucks - certainly at that price looking for other options is the smart idea and I'd be doing the same.
If I have an Aqueon 40gal breeder, should I buy the 30" or the 36"? Are the legs on it retractable? And is it considered medium or high light?
Legs can be extended, I would do the 36" light and that would give you the high end of medium light.
Well I came across the micmol aqua air 1200 for my planted aquarium and its awesome! So far! Has all the bells and whistles and will grow difficult plants! I have posted an unboxing video, review video to follow
I have 72g bowed tank which light you reccomend i like plants
Because of the size and shape you might be best suited with a fluval 3.0 plant light, otherwise you'd need several budget lights to give good light for a lot of plants in that size and shape tank.
Great video! I am actually in the process of slowly migrating from DA lights to Planted 3.0 - and so happy you posted that segment about the timer, i think its a great add on with horrible documentation. I have had to walk friends thru how to set it many times in the past now i can just point them to your channel :)
The fluval 3.0 actually puts out less PAR than the fluval 2.0 (PAR of 32 vs 27) on a 125 gallon tank.
Hey Bentley which finnex light is considered high lighting. I need 1 for a high tech tank to grow BT carpet.
Depends on tank size. I think the only truly "high" light finnex is the 24/7 SE, but at that point I'd rather have a fluval 3.
@@BentleyPascoe 40 breeder
Thanks...so not buying a Beams work...this is the last review I need of them (I have watched like 4 others)...especially hearing they are out if they get wet..so not worth it. Great video.
hı friend could you pls tell us total howmany led , and color ratings-ratios how many whit,red,blue etc
thanks
It depends on EA vs DA and light length, example being 36" EA FSPEC light has: LEDs: 42x 0.50W (2000 lumen)
Config: 29x 10000K, 6x Actinic 460nm, 3x Red 620nm, 4x Green 520nm
@@BentleyPascoe thank you friend
but 10000 k white is wery high ı thing it makes algea ?
@@m.muvaffakismen1746 it can if it's in excess or the tank is not well planted. I've not had much algae issues with mine.
why not just get a gro light5 bulb
One minor correction. IP ratings have to do with the water resistance. UL has very little to do with water resistance on its own and is more to do with "this product is certified to be unlikely to spontaneously burst into flames".
This turned into a novel, and I apologize for that.
My biggest beef with most of the cheap led fixtures is that the color on them is awful.They may be sufficient for plant growth, but they don't emit on a broad spectrum and they look like crap as a result. It's the same issue with generic LED light bulbs compared to higher end ones from GE and phillips. Good color in a lightsource is essential in my opinion. I'm not sure where the beamsworks lie, but I've seen fish tank lights with CRI values in the 50s which is simply inexcusably bad. Those look better than that, but they certainly aren't exceptional. It's hard to tell on camera, but a real question to ask is whether or not they beat the 40 dollars for a 2 pack of LED floodlights that are IP 65 or IP 66 rated on amazon? LEPOWER makes good ones and I have a few in my yard.
The thing for me is, even the high end lights are rather underwhelming as well for their price in my opinion. Most of them mix warm and cool white diodes in the 70 CRI range to get better color rendering, but they all seem to have pretty mediocre cyan so even simple things like neon tetras don't have that 'pop' that you'd get with more traditional florescent and metal halide bulbs.
Which brings us to the novel portion of this post. Have you looked into building DIY solutions at all? The lumileds fresh fish line (it's meant for seafood displays, not aquariums, but that's besides the point) has extremely good color, packs a similar punch to a 36 inch fluval strip, AI prime, or kessil 160 tuna sun, and you can build an assembly with a heatsink and a fan for under 40-45 bucks (50-55 for the bigger one), or a few more for a large enough passive heat sink. That doesn't include the LED driver, but you just add an appropriately sized meanwell HLG driver to power the entire array at once which is in the 10-15 dollar range per fixture assuming you run them at full power. A 3-4 fold price decrease is nothing to sneeze at given the quality of the light from a DIY fixture with high end COBs.
Specifically look at the L2C5-FS001208E1500 cob and it's bigger cousin the L2C5-FS001211E1900. Look at the data sheets for them and you'll see that the spectrum is really solid, both for plant growth and for high CRI light to make the tanks look excellent. These are a bit more energy efficient than the CREE leds you see in AI primes and related fixtures, and they have extremely good color rendering compared to the 70 CRI diodes you find in many fixtures. One of these DIY fixtures is in the ballpark of a 220+ dollar Kessil 160, and offers the same spot light shimmer quality.
Admittedly, 30 and 43 watt spots are overkill for small shallow tanks, but pricewise you still come out ahead even if you are under-powering a pair of them on a smaller tank like a 20L or a 30B, plus an eliptical lens would let you simply suspend one high above a smaller tank. The people I know running setups like this on their big tanks seem to be quite happy with them. You do miss out on the wifi connectivity without adding your own micro-controllers, but you do have the option of adding one down the road if you want. The lack of a tunable color spectrum definitely limits them, but I've yet to see much evidence that simulating sunrise and sunset color actually meaningfully impacts plant growth. People growing "tomatoes" in their basement certainly don't seem to think it matters much as long as the lights are emitting on the correct spectrum to begin with. Actually on that note you can also get growlight COBs. such as the L2C5-SPP11208E1500 in the SunPlus line. Unfortunately the pink one is only available as a 100 watt cob, but the purples are available in smaller sizes. If you don't care about the look of the tank or are doing something like a refugium, these are incredible and once again offer similar performance to a high end kessil at a fraction of the cost.
Thanks for the correction and the swathe of diy info. I personally don't get the time to explore DIY solutions, also when looking at TH-cam content I try to stick to things I fell the average beginning aquarist can do and learn from. Have I looked at reports in them? Yep! For me it's a time vs money thing, I don't really get much free time, and when I do it's usually dedicated to TH-cam or my lady, so I'm willing to shell out the extra cost for a decent prebuilt light to which I think dollar for dollar the fluvals right now just give you the best combo of price, power, spectrum and control. Beamswork is a fine light if you want to go cheap, but yes, there is a color cast to them and the CRI is not the best. At their price though, expecting the best is a little much.
For those who can do DIY solutions, following much of what you're discussing is very valid if they feel it's worth the time and effort. It's the age old question: what is your time worth to you right? If you enjoy diy, make a sweet light and save some serious money as well.
That's fair.
I will say that by the time you make a custom hood like you were talking about, the DIY component of assembling the lights is relatively minor.
35 minutes to tell me if the light is good or not. cmon dude
Too long
Try Eheim led lights, and i think you will think twice before assuming fluval is the standard best.
If you are referring to the Eheim pendant style light which is pure white they're not widely available here and frankly the few people I've known to use them switched rather quickly to lights like Kessil or AI Prime. If it's another light, I've never seen it for sale here in the US.
@@BentleyPascoe I'm referring Eheim power leds. They available at Aquaristikshop.com or in aquaristic.net. Aquatlantis is also very good! Another brand that is also one of the best is TMC from UK.
Thank you for your breakdown on the pros and con of beamswork . I started with the EA on my 65 gallon deep tank and it wasn’t bright enough. Because my budget was very tight, I bought the DA and have them both on. This is my first ever planted tank. So far so good and I’ve had them for a year. Because of this video, I plan on getting the fluval once these break down.
Happy to help and glad you're having good experience with the Beamswork lights!
Thx.
I've read that the Fluval 2.0 has stronger light than the 3.0. I'd like to try before buy, Finnex Ray2 (serious high lighting, no frills, no bells and whistles)... Try before buy? :○ Never seen that offered, ever! LOL...
I haven't tried any Beamswork LEDs. Albeit, I do have a Nicrew ClassicLED Plus, 18-24". Mounted piggie-back - sits directly on tank's top glass (thin glass from Lowe's) on a standard 10 gallon. Anyways on the box it reads, "15W, 6500K, PAR @ 12" - 72, Lumen 850.
24-HR / Military Time is easy. Simply add 12 to whatever the 12-HR is, when and, only when the 12-HR time is greater than 1PM (1:00). For example, 1PM (1:00) + 12 = 13:00 (13 hundred hours); 8AM + 12 = 8AM or (0:800, zero, eight hundred) because 8AM is less than 1PM or 1:00 (0'one-hundred hours) Hope this makes some better sense of converting 12-HR to 24-HR / Military time .
Yep, I did the military time conversions pretty late at night and my brain went into la-la land - hence my edits. As for the Fluval 2 vs 3, yes the par on the 2 is slightly higher, but it also has a slight yellow color cast to it's light and doesn't look pure 6500K like the 3. Personally for the difference in control (I have a 2.0 in my bedroom) I will take the 3 any day of the week.
I think the low end beam work will be a perfect option for my 20long sword tank. Java moss, java fern crypts, dwarf sag and hornwort.
I just bought a 30" Beamswork DA FSPEC for $40 and the timer was included off Ebay for the new 29 gallon setup and it is super bright compared to the Finnex Fugeray Planted Plus on my 40 breeder!
So your telling me to put the beamswork on my new my new tank . That's ok . the Fluval 3 .0 has to many Bells & Whistles . Hygger has a simple programmable mode . I saw a Utube show on the new Nicrew . It was given to one of your associates to try and give results . My old Nicrew just has a on & off switch . I don't know if Hygger or Nicrew is better than and last longer than Beamswork . But it makes for interesting conversation .
I know this video is two years old but I bought the Fluval 3.0. It has been on my tank for about two weeks and I just can’t stand the yellow in the spectrum. No matter how I adjust the three white lights, it still looks too yellow to my me. Maybe it is just my preference as I have read other complaints about the yellow light from the fish forums. Maybe I will try it on one of my other tanks before I send it back. I just ordered the DA fspec and see if I like it.
16:52 This is where you can really see the difference in brightness from the Fluval.
It hurts when a $200 light goes dead right after warranty. I" go with beams work or Necrew
And f I pay $200 for a damn light for your average aquarium I’m going to rethink my life choices
I switched to this light about 6 months ago. Only thing it's managed to do is grow algae like crazy
I have a 6 ft. tank 18 " tall 24 " wide . What name brand light should I use and what length ? I am growing plants and setting up a community tank . Oh I'm watching your video on lighting Beamwork vs. Fluval . Would you please give me your suggestion for lighting on this tank . I have already spent the money on the tank ..
So this depends a LOT on your goal. If most of you plants are really low demand you can do something like JC&P, Beamswork or the Aquasky. If you want more demanding plants and plant to use some CO2, you'll want to look at the Fluval Plant or similarly powerful lights.
Really good video enjoyed it. I’m a big fan of the AI Prime. And I also have a friend who gets me a discount so that helps as well. ✌️
Do you use 2 lights on any aquarium ?
Yep, I have two beamswork on my 135g rainbow tank
Could I ask , with LED lighting for plants growth is warm white or cold white light best to add to blue and red and green lights, cheers gary
You don't want to add much blue, algae can take advantage of it. Adding some green and red is good, this helps plants grow more robust
@@BentleyPascoe So which would be the main white light, Cold white or warm white and then I should add green and red leds
Really good information. On my show tank with plants that have color like the pink flamingo and Rotalas, i have the fluval 3.0. . I have a stingray on my 10gallon shrimp tank and a 48” Koval on my 55. My determination as to what i spend often depends on the light requirements of the plants e,g Swords vs mosses or plants with red hues.
The Koval is one I've looked at in the past and been interested in testing - maybe some point down the road I will.
I'm pretty happy with my Nicrew ClassicLED Plus and Nicrew SkyLED lights. They're nice and simple and they do the job well.
I tried Yescoms $47 for 48". I count 4 reds,4 purples, 4 Greens,12 blues..and 156 total LEDs. That I believe beats other brands for the price.
All I know is,I took one for the team to count those lights..jeez,you would have thought I stared at the sun...
It looks good. I wont say its a wonder light for plants. But,mine is on a tank 24" deep and wide...this same light on a 50 gallon only 14" deep would be very bright.
I have a really really cheap light that I specifically use just for my QT. It works excellently for keeping that QT a QT. If I put a nice light on it you know I’d start planting it and then it would look all good and then I’d have to get a new quarantine...
In my opinion, the color spectrum is all wrong and it makes it look like a movie with a blue filter to make it look all dingy.
6500K is optimal as thats as close to sunlight as we're going to get in Kelvin. The casting does bother some folks, usually the "warm" yellow casting is the most obtrusive to me personally, but when you get the cheap sometimes you just put aside the complaints LOL.
You pay for what you get Bentley, I've had 2 of these, I got the higher output light, not sure if the model no, but it has 1 watt led instead of 1\2 watt. Both of these out out a ton of light, can't put any low light plant's or they will burn. Both of them starting going out in less than a year. Leds started flickering, you cannot fix them, they are encased into the board.
I have a finnex planted plus, the older model, the only problem I've had with it is the power supply went out about a yr and a half, my lfs out a new power supply, about a 4 dollar part from china, and it has been going since. I've has it about 5 yrs. I guess this was a common problem with the early planted plus.
Thanks for the explaination but 930p.m. is 2130 hours not 1930 that's 730p.m. you might want to edit your video. I enjoy all your videos both content and presentation. Keep up the very good work!
Great comparison, thank you for the video. Debating on getting a fluval in the future, maybe there will be somthing better available in a year or so though when Im ready.
Everything has its price,saving a little longer is mostly the most rewarding. In Europe we have several brands( mostly same brand as the tank to fit the lits)and they are all about the 200 dollar/ euro range . Reliable and simple adjustable is a must( timer and dimmer)
Same story for the rimmles tanks ,cheap is often fragile and therefor sometimes dangerous to work with. But everyone has his own budget and any light will do,depending on your expectations. If it's only for plants the best light is free( open your curtains at 8 am and close them at 16 pm)
Have a nice weekend All
Wish I'd seen this sooner! I've gotten increased plant growth, but now am seeing GREEN green algae on the glass. It will do for of myThanks for your presentations.
Great video but you need to learn your military time. Lol 930 is 2130 not 1930 that's 730pm Just had to mess with ya.
Yea, I realized that after I finished filming and then corrected in my edit - it was pretty late at night when I did the filming and seeing the 1900 my brain chopped off 10, not 12... I laughed at myself quite a lot each time I messed it up in the editing.
Very nice comparison Bentley! Appreciate the detailed analysis.
Shared out on fishtubers notifications
Thanks Mister B!
Great video. Nice to see the lights one after the other . It really helps.
Thanks for the great comments on lights and showing the ones you have.
It's a bad comparison sorry not sorry
Congratulations
Thank you for help i know what i need
Hey..thanks...I've been wondering how these compare, great video. I love your content...thanks for contributing so much to the hobby
Thank you for watching! I've used quite a lot of them, so I feel like I have a good feel for the light, but it doesn't mean there isn't something more recent that has it beat.
I purchased a fluval 3.0 about 3-4 weeks ago,the main reason I did was so the light Can sit inside the lid and its water proof
I saw bentleys video on the 3.0 and will soon be using his settings also or blue light at least 2%
I travel a lot with work so as off now the light is on for 8 hours a day was 9 hours plus the 10w light it had but have lowered light to 8 hours and removed the 10w light.i started to get diatoms algae.i know this is caused by many factors so I started with the lights.my dosing is Eli for two weeks only and I find myself stuck in the rabbit hole of ppm now I also have c02 also at 1bps
My tank is fluval Roma 125 L80cm w35cm h50cm
Great video again Bentley
Thanks for watching!
👍
Imo chihiros wrgb > fluval in performance and price. I feel like the brand chihiros never gets talked about by youtubers, but I've seen a lot of these lights being used.
There's frankly a lot of stuff out there. If it's not commonly found in stores, then it can be hard to get on the radar for some people. In looking at the WRGB, it's effectively the same price at the 36" light, but you get more options for the smaller sizes lights and tanks. I may test it at some point
Hey Bud I have a fspec da for my new 40breeder. ??? Is . Would 2 of these fixtures be considered high light on a breeder and is two okay because of the depth?
Two would certainly be high light in a 40B with how shallow they are. You might try shorter photo periods as you could run into some algae with that much light (or just put in a LOT of plants)
@@BentleyPascoe ty
@@BentleyPascoe I run just my one at 7hrs a day now. Maybe a slight film on my glass every few days. I try to maintain my tank on a regular basis.. you reviewed my old tanks which I appreciate. But my new 40g breeder you can get a glimpse by looking at my profile picture. 😀
Enjoyed this video, thanks Bentley!
I recently came back to the hobby and setup a 18 tank breeder rack and two 40G tanks. In one 40G I went with an Aquaneat RGB 24/7 and setup the tank as a display tank. It's been about a year now and the light is still working fine and my plants are doing good. I really like the color in the tank, my fish pop. In the 40G below it I left it bare bottom, added a few plants in containers, java moss and used the Aquaneat white & blue led light. The moss is doing great, the plants are okay and the fish colors are good. I just prefer the look of the RGB as the white & blue light seems like a cold white color but it is bright. Oh and both work fine on a household timer.
I put a 20" Aquaneat white & blue on my 10G quarantine tank.
For my rack setup I just used single tube style LED shop type lights. I really just needed some kind of cheap light to see in the tanks. For giggles I added some java moss and water sprite to some to give the babies somewhere to hide and cut down on algae growth. The plants are still doing good after about a year, surprised me since those lights aren't really bright.
I'm planning on setting up a 125G I picked up used and cheap. I already bought a 6 foot Aquaneat RGB 24/7 for it. I'm going with a South American theme so I don't want it too bright and will only add low light plants from SA (like swords). If the lighting isn't bright enough I will look into adding an addition light source.
I was setting things up on a "very low" budget so Aquaneats fit the bill.
Just for comparison purposes:
20" Aquaneat W&B = $12.00 || 24" Fluval 3.0 = $135.00 (4" to big)
36" Aquaneat RGB 24/7 = $45.00 || Fluval 3.0 = $160.00
72" Aquaneat RGB 24/7 = $88.00 || 36" Fluval 3.0 = $160.00 x 2 = $320.00
So thanks to Petco and Petsmart for their dollar per gallon sales and cheap equipment supplies (lights, heaters, etc...) on eBay, oh and my wife, I was able to get 21 tanks going and breed angels and guppies.
3 shelf breeding rack in our dining room:
Top row - eight 10G's
Middle row - eight 20G highs
Bottom row - two 75G's
Living room:
Two 40G breeders on homemade 2x4 stand
One used 125G with oak stand & canopy not setup yet (have to polish out a few scratches, yes I'm anal that way)
I'm sure my Aquaneats are about the same as Beamworks and I have to say, at least for smaller tanks they seem to work for low to medium light requiring plants.
It is important to pay attention to the Kelvin (color temperature) and Lumens (brightness).
Just thought I would share!
I agree that using more generic shop lights (Costco has some nice ones that are super cheap) are great for rack systems. I'll run a singular 4" light across several tanks where I raise up rainbow fry - makes the power a LOT easier too. Thanks for the detail and good luck in you breeding projects!
@@BentleyPascoe Glad to share my lighting experience (although maybe too much), hope it helps someone. Thanks guppies & angels breeding like crazy so far. 😀
Actually Bentley... I'm going to build my own, controllable, timer integrated, fully customizable WiFi LED strip. I'm looking to pack the power of an sbreef into a strip the size of the fluval 3.0 I priced out everything to build it, and I'm going to. Would you be interested in testing one?
Would love to!
@@BentleyPascoe alright man. It's a work in progress but once I get them done, I'll message you personally
Fl7val eco light??
The eco honestly is not that great, I think there are better budget options out there.