R
RetBioTchr
Guest
When I recently got back into trops, my lights were incandescent or fluorescent from years past. They generated heat, had to have rather frequent bulb changes, and were energy inefficient.
I looked into several brands and decided on eLive for a bunch of reasons. I put a 48 inch strip and a 36 inch strip on my 55 gallon top aquarium hood glass. I also have smaller length strips for my fry tank and QT. When you buy a strip, it comes with several modular pods that can be moved along the track. They have an all on switch and a blue only light switch which is dimmable and an off switch. They have adjustable side rails for hanging from the side or resting on the glass. I removed mine so the light is resting directly on the glass thus maximizing light output to the water.
These are great for the following reasons.
There are several pods available with specific light parameters like cool white, plant growth, high definition, blue, and color enhancing. There are also a few specific pods for reef aquaria. I can add as many of the pods to the strip of the type light I wish to shine down. This is so cool because I can arrange the pods to focus desired light. For example, the front strip has more color enhancing and high definition to show off fish colors as they swim by. My rear strip has more plant growth and cool white for the bulk of plants positioned in the rear.
I also find that I can have a higher concentration of light to the left or right as needed. My two rear corners of the tank are more heavily planted, so I've put more pods on the outer ends of the strip to meet those plant needs. Many of the other brands had a uniform array of lights all across the strip which was a limiting factor to me.
Also, should something go wrong with the other brands, the whole unit might not work as the lights are all connected together. With eLive, a pod may go bad which can simply be removed and replaced.
Now, the pods do cost around $9 or $10 each in the general market/pet shop sales, but I did find a website selling them for $5 to $6 dollars each. Check out kensfish.com. Actually, this website is among the best I've visited and have placed two orders just this week with very fast order processing. In a bit, I'll be posting about another super great product of theirs, but I have to finish using it to give a proper review.
When the prices for the various brands are considered, eLive is right in line. While their unit strips are a bit less than the other brands, the pod purchases add up making costs about a wash. One company did have programmable units, but since I wanted lights on/off primarily with the capability of literally designing how my tank lighting appears, eLive was the choice for me. If something should go wrong with these, I'll surely do a follow up post to tell all.
THE one thing that sets these apart from all the rest is the ability to create virtually any particular lighting need in.......intensity, type color, and lateral (left / right) positioning. Oh.....btw.....my plants are doing just fine so far and my all male platies and one male Dwarf Gourami show up beautifully as they swim around.
I did try to find bullet buttons and 'would recommend' icons, but failed. I have had these for a month and would definitely recommend this brand/type of lighting.
I looked into several brands and decided on eLive for a bunch of reasons. I put a 48 inch strip and a 36 inch strip on my 55 gallon top aquarium hood glass. I also have smaller length strips for my fry tank and QT. When you buy a strip, it comes with several modular pods that can be moved along the track. They have an all on switch and a blue only light switch which is dimmable and an off switch. They have adjustable side rails for hanging from the side or resting on the glass. I removed mine so the light is resting directly on the glass thus maximizing light output to the water.
These are great for the following reasons.
There are several pods available with specific light parameters like cool white, plant growth, high definition, blue, and color enhancing. There are also a few specific pods for reef aquaria. I can add as many of the pods to the strip of the type light I wish to shine down. This is so cool because I can arrange the pods to focus desired light. For example, the front strip has more color enhancing and high definition to show off fish colors as they swim by. My rear strip has more plant growth and cool white for the bulk of plants positioned in the rear.
I also find that I can have a higher concentration of light to the left or right as needed. My two rear corners of the tank are more heavily planted, so I've put more pods on the outer ends of the strip to meet those plant needs. Many of the other brands had a uniform array of lights all across the strip which was a limiting factor to me.
Also, should something go wrong with the other brands, the whole unit might not work as the lights are all connected together. With eLive, a pod may go bad which can simply be removed and replaced.
Now, the pods do cost around $9 or $10 each in the general market/pet shop sales, but I did find a website selling them for $5 to $6 dollars each. Check out kensfish.com. Actually, this website is among the best I've visited and have placed two orders just this week with very fast order processing. In a bit, I'll be posting about another super great product of theirs, but I have to finish using it to give a proper review.
When the prices for the various brands are considered, eLive is right in line. While their unit strips are a bit less than the other brands, the pod purchases add up making costs about a wash. One company did have programmable units, but since I wanted lights on/off primarily with the capability of literally designing how my tank lighting appears, eLive was the choice for me. If something should go wrong with these, I'll surely do a follow up post to tell all.
THE one thing that sets these apart from all the rest is the ability to create virtually any particular lighting need in.......intensity, type color, and lateral (left / right) positioning. Oh.....btw.....my plants are doing just fine so far and my all male platies and one male Dwarf Gourami show up beautifully as they swim around.
I did try to find bullet buttons and 'would recommend' icons, but failed. I have had these for a month and would definitely recommend this brand/type of lighting.
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