Aqueon LED Aquarium Light Fixture, 48-Inch

Amongst the LEDs I've seen for fish tank this is the cheapest option for the size and I must say its GREAT.

What got me to buy this light is the fact that you can change the bulbs something I haven't seen in other brands, don't know if they work well with plants (will update in a month) but so far they are really bright and love the fact that you can switch to moonlight (can't do it by timer but not an issue for me).

Another good thing is that you can adjust the length of the stands, my tank is not standard size so 30" is to small and 48 is too big, but I adjust it and it looks fine.

The LED are encased in a plastic tube so the water wont get close to it (I still advise to close your tank if possible mine doesn't have a hood, I just use glass to cover it)

The light creates a nice shimmering effect.

I would recommend this light for anyone on a low budget. Is it better than regular bulbs? I have no idea as I never used one but at least its friendly on the electric bill

UPDATE: I promise I will update to tell you how this light works for plants and my egeria densa has grown 6 inches in 4 days, my java moss has spread like crazy through the driftwood it was planted on. So this light is appropriate for plants and I only have a single bulb, I imagine you would need the other two if your tank is too deep but as far as an LED for plants this is clearly the way to go

I own this model and the 20" model, both purchased from PetsMart in the Spring/Summer of 2012. Can't say enough good about them, but that's not why I'm writing.

Soon after purchase, I learned that Aqueon had gone out of business. More specifically, that the PetsMart parent company had purchased Aqueon and planned to make their products exclusive to Petsmart stores. This bummed me out simply b/c I don't put much faith into PetsMart. For months, I scoured the nets looking for (red) Colormax LED bulbs to no avail. And every time I'd go to PM looking for bulbs, they were always sold out. I was about to put these awesome lights up for sale due simply to the fear of not being able to maintain/repair/replace them. Then, 2 days ago, I stumbled upon this page. I can't express how happy that made me.

Rejoice! Take advantage of an absolutely fine product and support it so that we can keep it around for a good while. You don't know how close we all came to not even having this innovative light as an option.

And they are great lights. 3 (daylight spectrum) bulbs, in any size frame, is almost enough light to land commercial aircraft. I run one of the lamps (with 3 bulbs) over an open top and I have no water issues b/c the LED's are sealed in tubes. I just clean the tubes along with every maintenance session. The frame is a bit bulky (not as bulky as a standard hood and light strip), but that's a fair trade for the modularity offered. The mounting feet work well, the power cord is segmented to make removal even easier, the 48" model basically weighs nothing. The ONLY drawback is the design of the power switch, which makes it useless on a timer outside of simple on/off function. The blue LED must be manually switched on. Again, small price to pay for a great and affordable light.

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We bought this light for our 150 gallon tank to replace our old florescent tube light fixture. We had gotten tired of dealing with the alge that the old light created. This light is great it creates a nice white light and after two weeks no alge. We especially like the night light feature we can still see the fish but its a nice soft glow.

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I have a 55g and this fits perfect over the tank. Three bulbs are installed in it; Two white and one red. Next time, I might buy one additional red but this coloring is very nice and not too bright either. The night light was not a selling feature but after having it, it is very cool!

I removed the sliding arms because it caused the fixture to sit up off of the tank causing glare from the lids. The light now sits close enough that we do not notice. I do not have much of a shimmer, possibly because there isn't a strong surface disruption or maybe because the lights sits so close to the water surface.

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Overall I am very pleased with this light fixture. It is nothing fancy, but it is a reasonable design and well executed for the price. The capability to put the day lights on a timer separate from the blue moon light is an obvious desired feature, but would require two power bricks or some sort of built in timer. That would increase the cost either way. This is, after all, a value purchase and not a high end light fixture. I am not wild about the adjustable mounting legs and will probably remove those due to the reflection of the LEDs off the glass cover between the fixture and the water.

I also purchased a second Day LED lamp and a Colormax LED lamp. No issues with installing the bulbs and visually it provides plenty of light. The Colormax adds light in the red spectrum. That will add color to some fish and should also help give a fuller spectrum for growing plants. The blue "moon" light night mode also looks nice. I have plenty of surface water movement, but do not get any shimmer effect. That is probably because the light appears so bright.

I bought this for a 55 gallon planted aquarium that I am starting so I want to address the issue of PAR (photosynthetically active radiation), which is what matters for growing plans in an aquarium. I found values for this fixture at A Pet Forum (http://www.apetforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=164&t=265). At best, this fixture with three lamps provides a low level of light for plants with an average PAR value at 12 inches of 26.5 and a maximum PAR value of 41. Low PAR is below 30. Medium is between 30 and 80. That is not a disaster, but it means that I will select plants with low to medium light requirements and not allow a dense growth of plants near the surface. On the positive side, less trimming of plants and less CO2 will be needed.

I will report back on how well plants grow for me in this new aquarium. I figure that worse case I buy a second fixture to increase the light or replace it with something costing twice as much. I will stick with LED either way.

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