LED Light: LT Freshwater & Plant System

[Anubias]

I'm about to order my first LED lighting. What has been peoples' experience with respect to Fluval etc. It is for a planted 30 gallon. Has anyone used mail order company Pets & Ponds?

[exv152]

Pets and ponds are really good. The fluval plant led is apparently pretty good, but you might want to consider adding co2 and ferts if you don't already have that. Fluval hasn't published PAR values but it appears to be a strong light from the pictures in this thread. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=312713&page=7

[lucius]

I think they have an LT Freshwater LED fixture on display at BA's east.  And I think both Critter Jungle and LaNiche have the Fluval LED fixtures.

[wolfiewill]

Pets and Ponds are terrific. I order from them and J&L Aquatics a lot and both are excellent.

As for the Fluval LEDs, Jason has three on a display tank at Critter Jungle, I'd talk to him about his level of success with them before I'd order one, or two, or three. Also, at the AGA conference we went to in April, one of the best presentations was by the owner of Build My LED. He stated that one should never buy a light from a company that doesn't publish their products PAR values openly. And I had a long discussion with a Fuval rep at Aquamania, here in Bells Corners, about that very fact. And only after a very long time did he admit that their LEDs were not planted tank capable. That was two years ago though, and perhaps they have up graded the product but.... !

Here are some web sites you may want to investigate before you buy an LED, and forget about the dates in the URL, they second two have each been up dated in March of this year. Also, there is a forum that tried to get all the LED suppliers to post their products' PAR values, but I can't find it right now. Perhaps someone else has the link?

http://www.buildmyled.com/freshwater-products/
http://aquarium-digest.com/2010/04/11/led-aquarium-lights-lighting/
http://aquarium-digest.com/2010/06/30/led-light-review-tmc-xg-1500-maxspect-more/

[exv152]

And I had a long discussion with a Fuval rep at Aquamania, here in Bells Corners, about that very fact. And only after a very long time did he admit that their LEDs were not planted tank capable. That was two years ago though, and perhaps they have up graded the product but.... !

I remember that presentation by the fluval rep, and I was a bit surprised at how they, and another large company who sells LEDs in the hobby (which I won't mention the name) also do not publish PAR info. In fact the second rep didn't know what PAR was. Go figure. To be fair to fluval, I believe back then they only had the fluval ultra bright LEDs, and have since come out with the fluval aqualife & plant LED (not the same light), and the fluval marine & reef. The plant LED is considerably more light, hence the higher price. I just wanted to make that distinction.

[charlie]

Not taking anything away from the previous posters, but as with a lot of equipment choices , we need to evaluate what we are trying to achieve & what are the dimensions we are working with.
OP stated he is doing a 30 gallon tank, that we know.
is it a low light tank? or high light tank?
we know the maximum height of a breeder 30 gallon is 18 inches without substrate & the standard 29 gallon is 12 inches again without substrate.I would venture to guess that the fluval will fit the bill with either tank if it`s low light.
As mentioned pop in and see Jason at Critter Jungle, he has a show tank that is about 18 inches high from substrate which as wolfiewill mentioned is powered by 3 of the fluval fixtures & successfully grows pearl weed & a red stem plant of which i`m not aware of which one he used , among others, as the saying goes , the proof is in the pudding  .
I can`t speak to the LT fixtures.
I can second the opinion of both stores you mentioned, that they are quality, reputable vendors.
Regards

[wolfiewill]

I'm about to order my first LED lighting. What has been peoples' experience with respect to Fluval etc. It is for a planted 30 gallon. Has anyone used mail order company Pets & Ponds?

What kind of tank are you setting up? What kind of plants? Are you using CO2 or is it a dirt tank, or low tech?

[Anubias]

What kind of tank are you setting up? What kind of plants? Are you using CO2 or is it a dirt tank, or low tech?

It's a 30 gallon with CO2 and fertilizer. I'd like to thank everyone for their helpful pointers. It appears that the GrowBeam is excellent, but pricey. There may be a bit of hype, so I'll probably go with an LT.

[neon1423]

I'm using the finnex Ray2 led system on my 20high. I have nothing but good things to day about it. Its smaller then I expected it to be, but very effective. But I do have to carefully balance co2 and ferts to avoid huge algea growth.