****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
If you're looking at aquarium lights for your planted freshwater aquarium, I'm going to assume that you have done some basic research and know what you're looking for to some degree. This is my second Finnex 24/7 light - unfortunately the remote sensor on my previous model took a swim in the tank water and it no longer works - and I bought this as a replacement. What an awesome upgrade and excellent value/features for the price! I loved the previous model, and my positive experience with it made me immediately look at Finnex when I started looking for a replacement.I'm not going to review every little feature of this light and will, instead, focus on my experience having used this light for the last couple of weeks and its older sibling - the previous model - for the better part of a year. My goal in building my aquarium was to make it as simple and automated as possible, so the built-in 24/7 lighting feature was a huge sell for me, and I run my tank using the built-in 24/7 mode at all times. I also wanted something that would be powerful enough to be sufficient for a heavily planted, "high-tech" (CO2-injected) tank with nutrient supplementation, though I also use another LED fixture to supplement the Finnex light for 6 hours out of the day. For my purpose, this light has done extremely well so far, and I have no worries about lighting being the limiting factor to make my plants thrive.Some general notes and observations:- Compared to the previous 24/7 model, this version is a SIGNIFICANT improvement for two reasons: first, the IR sensor is now built-in to the housing, which makes for a much cleaner look, and second, there is actually some feedback in the form of an LED in the housing whenever you're making changes. These were my two least favorite usability aspects with the previous model, and both have been corrected with this version. Thank you!- You have the ability to create custom lighting profiles if you so desire, though as I mention above, I simply use the default 24/7 profile that's built-in to the light as it's "good enough" for my purposes. A new feature of this model, however, is to create your own custom 24/7 lighting cycle. I haven't availed myself of this feature, but if you'd like to have even more control over your lighting, you do have this option - another nice upgrade compared to the previous model. The included manual walks you through the process. Note, however, that you are only able to customize the lighting in 3-hour intervals. The light WILL smoothly transition between the settings that you set, but you do not have the ability to more finely tune the lighting interval beyond 3 hours.- I don't have a PAR meter so I haven't been able to test brightness myself. Both Finnex's own documentation as well as reviews online provide a PAR of ~60 at maximum brightness at a depth of 12". This is more than enough lighting for nearly all planted applications. My tank is ~18" deep so I assume my effective PAR is a little less than that (thus the reason I supplement with a second light). So far, I haven't had any trouble keeping some dwarf baby tears going at the bottom of my tank. Take that for what you will. This light is not magical and is not going to suddenly make your struggling tank thrive if there are other issues going on with your setup. You still have to do the basics: making sure that you're dosing nutrients (if needed), doing regular water changes and routine maintenance, and so on. However, if you have at least some idea of what you're doing and are otherwise maintaining your tank well, I don't think that this light will be the thing that holds you back.- The build quality of the light itself is solid with a nice aluminum housing. The included mounts are also an improvement compared to the previous model and add a little height above the tank, which I personally prefer. These mounts also offer the ability to "swivel" the light front and back, in case that's something that you care about.There's more to say about this light - and if you're interested in reading more about it, I would suggest reading reviews and discussions about it online at various aquarium fora - but I'm quite happy with it, especially compared to the previous model. Even if you've got a functioning, previous version of this model, you may want to think about upgrading to this version as, in my opinion, the changes that have been made increase the usability of the light significantly. If you don't currently have a light and/or are looking into creating a planted tank, I think this is an outstanding, relatively entry-level light to start off with. The 24/7 feature makes having a basic lighting setup easy to implement, and assuming you don't have an extremely deep tank, this light will be sufficient for nearly all applications. If you really get into the hobby you will likely outgrow this light and want something a bit more specialized (and expensive) in the future, but for your first lighted tank, you can't go wrong with this choice.Great work, Finnex!
