LED for viewing fish?

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Ranger

AC Members
Jun 20, 2001
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Everett, WA
Hi All,
Can anyone recommend a brand or type of LED for accenting and viewing fish?
I was recently at LFS and they had the Finnex Monster 2 LED on display. I think it made the fish look stunning! The colors on the fish really popped!
I recently decided, after many years, to switch my 75G planted tank over to a fish only Discus tank. I am still running my 65W CFs from A/H. Great lights for growing plants but really want to try some retro fitting some LEDs into my canopy for viewing my discus.
Totally new to trying LEDs so any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks
 
Last edited:

Agro

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Jul 25, 2013
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Treviso - Italy
Generally T5 lamps to enhance colors pump on red and blue spectrum, but risk algae proliferation.
 

FreshyFresh

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Jan 11, 2013
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Joel
You could go with twin marineland LED hoods for your 75g for just general lighting needs, plus you wouldn't need glass tops. I had one on my 10g before adding plants. The lighting they offer is great.

I've got a cheap Top Fin LED hood on my 20g (originally came with a 29g kit), that beautifully lights up the fish/tank as well. Obviously, either is a no-go for growing/maintaining plants.
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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IME it's the color spectrum (and not just color temperature) that will affect how your fish appear. if you aren't going to grow plants, it should make it even easier still.

a number of the commercially available LED fixtures will allow you to change the spectrum, by dimming or brightening red, green or blue LEDs.

Personally I've been impressed by the fixture from current...

[video=youtube;CZXFgRxgj34]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZXFgRxgj34[/video]

but you might find that you get good results simply by going with a less cool daylight bulb and adding something in the actinic spectrum too.
 

SANDYBOTTOM

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Oct 16, 2012
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Lynn
i have the finnex fugeray.it works great.the monster ray is designed for color enhancement.they are pretty cheap on amazon or ebay.it may be cheaper than lfs prices.
 

authmal

Pseudonovice
Aug 4, 2011
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Phoenix, AZ
I'd probably stay away from the high end, plant growth rated LED fixtures, due to the risk of algae. If you don't mind the algae risk, that Satellite+ fixture has *awesome* flexibility in its output.
 

jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
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Josh
I think the monster is on the low end of the Finnex line though...it's below the Fuge Ray and the Ray2 in terms of PAR as far as I've seen on plant forums. Finnex markets the other two for plants/corals but the Monster is marketed for fish display.
 

authmal

Pseudonovice
Aug 4, 2011
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Phoenix, AZ
I'll take your word for it, as I've not looked into any of the Finnex products. If it's the low end of the line, it should definitely provide ample lighting while not encouraging algal growth.
 
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