Finnex FugeRay Planted Aquarium LED Light Plus Moonlights, 24-Inch

(CHECK END OF REVIEW FOR UPDATE)I am an avid fish keeper and I had not gotten around to purchasing a better light for a couple of my tanks. I thought I had arrived at an excellent solution with the Aqueon 30inch T5 Dual Lamp Fixture for my 36 gallon bow front tank, however, every time I got ready to replace my T8 daylight florescent light on my 29 gallon with that same fixture, something bizarre would happen with my Aqueon 30 inch T5 Dual Lamp Fixture and it would either melt, burn out prematurely, or the most recent time, the plastic decomposed as if it were 20 years old and left in the weather, but it was in reality only used for about a year 6-8 hours a day.I was becoming desperate to find a good light, because I could not stand to see the fish languishing under the other lights any more. After reading reviews and talking in person to a few people who had the Finnex Fugeray Planted + light, I decided to take the plunge. I had tried several LED fixtures from the local pet store and my fish sat there barely moving for two days with each of them, so I returned them just previous to deciding upon the Finnex.WHAT I LIKE-The plants began to green up intensely within 2 days of running my lamp-Plant growth has doubled in speed since putting the lights on a couple of weeks ago-I can run the lights with red and white, or include the blue if I want to-It has a night mode with blue lights only-You can turn off all of the lights completely (two switches - one on each end)-Does not overheat-Has great stands INCLUDED with the light so didn't need to set it on blocks for air circulation-My fish have come to life in a whole new way- happy activity has increased greatlyWHAT I DON'T LIKE-The light is not dimmable-Can see the light when sitting in a chair in certain areas of the room coming from under the lampALGAE GROWTH?I have had several people tell me that they are having trouble with algae and that they have to run CO2 to combat the problem since having these lights. If I am going to have algae problems, I would have had them within a few days of using this light. At this point there is NO additional algae problem growth at all. I do not have CO2 in my tank, I feed the tank Seachem Flourish once a week in a micro dose, and change my water once a week. I have a pleco and nerite snail in the tank which seem to do just fine keeping the tank clear of any algae growth same as always.THE BOTTOM LINEDespite the not being dimmable and the light shining into the room a bit from under the light, I feel that the light is such a vast improvement to my tank that I can easily overlook those things. My fish have really come to life - everyone in the family notices their drastic change in mood. The plants are doing fabulously in just a couple of weeks- I am seeing tons of new leaves starting on roots of java fern, and several of my other plants (all medium to low light plants) already, so I am very optimistic that this new light will turn out to be a great choice. I rate this five stars.WHO WOULD NOT WANT TO USE THIS LIGHT?I would like to add that if you have a tank that is less than 16 inches from substrate to lamp that you use caution with this light. I think it might be a bit too bright for shallower tanks, but it depends on your set up of course. Look into dimmable options if you have a shallow tank (such as a 20 gallon long) or a dual incandescent fixture with two mini florescent bulbs (600 lumens) like they sell at Walmart for $6 each until you can afford a dimmable unit. It will light up the 20 gallon long well enough to encourage plant growth and fish activity until you can get a a dimmable one should you decide to go with LEDs.UPDATE 12-7-14HOW DOES THIS COMPARE WITH OTHER LIGHTS?I have been running a variety of lights on my tanks. Here is a comparison summary now that I have had the Finnex running for a while, from most expensive to cheapest in price rangeBUILD MY LEDI am running the dutch planted tank light from Build my LED on my 36 gallon bow front tank. How does it compare to the Finnex which are both 30 inches?Before I get into the LIKE and DISLIKES I want to explain the difference a little bit. In the Finnex, you get tiny specs of light coming out evenly spaced out. Think of it in terms of a graphic paper and you only color in every square with two in between that are not colored in (being non light areas). That means that the Finnex has more diffused colors in their light so you get the appearance of one unified color.In the Build My LED light which is the Dutch Planted version, there are strips of colored lights. Taking that same graph paper, now you color in three squares in rows that are parallel with two spaces in between each row. That means that when the light hits the water, it will diffuse into different specs of colors once in a while. That might bother some people. The over all effect is more of a natural sunlight look whereas the Finnex is like full spectrum high intensity artificial light in appearance if that makes sense, but it still is a nice effect and plants and fish love it.Of course, the Finnex has the ability to have night blue lights or to turn off the blue lights during the day (via two switches) and just have red/white light. BML light does not. It is on or off- period. That can also be rather annoying for some people.LIKE-brings out more warm natural colors than Finnex-Seems to make tank look a bit more 3D-can have dimmer put on it-3 year warrantyDON'T LIKE-Finnex comes with a great stand- BML does not- I have to put it on blocks-costs over three times more than Finnex-can buy three Finnex over period of three years of necessary and still be ahead-colors do separate on leaves and all giving dots of color around the tank here and there (Finnex does not)AQUEON DUAL LIGHT T5 FIXTURE (30 inch)LIKE-gives nice visual depth to a degree-brings out colors of fish a little more than traditional T8 florescent bulbsDON'T LIKE-runs too hot- burns out fixtures in a year or less-looks flat in some ways visually (sounds like contradiction but isn't)-costs same as Finnex- Finnex is far betterPERFECTO DUAL INCANDESCENT FIXTURELIKE-gives fantastic realistic sunlight appearance-fish seem more energetic-makes plants grow-light will reach 20 gallon long nicely with full light at right intensity-can get bulbs for $6 each of mini compact florescent bulbs at Walmar-costs 1/4 the price of Finnex-mini florescent bulbs last about a year or moreDON'T LIKE-fixture itself does not cover entire width of 20gallon long tank (but can get a single fixture to add next to it) despite full light coverage in cast light through tankSUMMARYAll in all, I love the Finnex. For the price, the light is a bit more blue a full spectrum than the Build My LED, but it also has the night feature which I love. The stand that it comes with is a big PLUS for me.The fish are a little less warm and color intense in one respect, but in another, they seem more active and brilliant visually as far as definition to compensate for it (like focusing a camera to be more sharp). I wish that this light was able to have a dim switch on it, but for my 29 gallon tank with active fish in it, the plants and fish seem to all be doing extremely well still in this tank. If I were to get another light for a tank that was not shallow, I would choose a Finnex again even over more expensive versions at this point.I will update as time goes on with any other insights or changes.UPDATE October 4, 2015My original purchase of this light is still going strong. The fish are doing great, and the algae is not a problem still at this point.I have since purchased another light or my 20L tank - same size as for my 29, and although shallower, it is not as bad as I thought it would be. The fish seem much more animated and they have come to life. The plants have greened up well and the tank seems much happier.UPDATE May 28,2016I still have my original light going strong and have two additional lights that I purchased shortly after- so my total now is 2- 30 inch lights (one for 29 gallon and one for a 20 Long tank) and 1 - 16 inch light for my 16 gallon bowfront. In all three tanks, my plants are growing prolifically. The plants in the 29 are growing but my rainbow fish are eating them as fast as they grow so that is good too.The fish are doing beautifully- full of energy and healthy and colorful. I run the lights with all bulbs going sometimes and for a change, I turn off the blue during the day. The blue is great at night and the fish seem to like that too. Plenty bright but not too bright.I am still happy with my lights and will update in the future again. Now that Buildmyled has discontinued their aquarium lighting division, there is no longer another source for really good LED lighting that I am aware of. This is our best bet for now.

Ok, plant tank enthusiasts can be a rather technical bunch, so let us begin with some numbers to feed the geek in all of us. Or some of us, anyway. Tank Size = 5.5 gal, PH = 7.6, GH = 400 ppm, KH = 83 ppm, as measured by a test kit. Water values are measured, approximately 10 minutes after coming out of the tap, but before going in the tank. The water in the tank has the same values as the water coming in. There is only one occupant in the tank, 1 Ghost Shrimp. Lots of plants and two pieces of mopani wood (approximately 5-6" apiece). Water is changed twice per week, 25% of volume, to clear away the tannins produced by the mopani. The tank is three months old. No measurable ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate due to the one lone occupant and only an occasional fish food flake added to the tank. I suspect there are very small amounts of nitrate being produced, but that amount is taken up by the plants before it shows during my tests. Otherwise, the plants would not be growing. No algae in the tank.Plants are as follows: Moneywort, green rotalla, Java Fern, Anubia nana, and dwarf hair grass. CO2 is added via liquid supplement, Flourish Excel. Flourish supplement also added at the same time as Excel. Both per directions from the manufacturer, Seachem. Moneywort is growing fast, rotalla growth is moderate, hair grass is also moderate. Anubia and Java Fern, as expected, are both growing very slow. Lighting via Coralife Mini-Might (2X 9 Watt PL Lamps, both 10K). Filtration via Aquaclear 20, using the media sponge and a fresh bag of carbon.Anyway, the Coralife CF fixture produced a lot of heat. Enough to raise the temperature of the tank to exceed 80 degrees. I decided to switch to LED. After much research, I decided on this Finnex fixture. I chose this model because it was designed for the planted tank. Here are my thoughts:The Finnex is an attractive fixture, made primarily of aluminum. The amount of light appears to be at least equivalent, or slightly more, than the Coralife fixture that it replaced. Without the equipment to objectively measure the amount of light, all I can do is use plant growth as the measuring tool. Plant growth is the same as before. The fixture gets warm, but not nearly as much as the previous one. A big improvement in terms of avoiding temperature fluctuations. The unit has adjustable legs and makes mounting on the tank an easy process. While the unit has an acrylic shield to protect the LEDs, it is still a good idea to use some kind of canopy. However, if you buy a glass canopy, the plastic hinge will block some light. You may be better off going to a home improvement store and having them cut plate glass to your size. That way, there will be nothing blocking the light. If you decide to use acrylic for your canopy, go with something thicker than 1/8" to prevent sagging.Overall, a highly illuminating fixture. Is it perfect? It would be if it had a manual dimmer. But please keep in mind the very reasonable purchase price. At this price point, a good quality dimmer may not be a good value since trade-offs may have to be made.I have tried a Marineland LED fixture prior to this. An 11" fixture, approx. 5 Watts. It was less than $30 but the light output was not high enough and the beam angle was not sufficient to illuminate the whole tank. The Finnex is much more expensive, but the light output and the coverage are perfect for the tank.My goals were to reduce heat, maintain good plant growth, and avoid algae. So far, so good. I can recommend this light fixture to anyone who wants to upgrade to an LED system for their planted tanks.I added two swordtails to the tank last week. I expect that I will start seeing measurable ammonia, nitrite, and perhaps nitrate in the near future. Hopefully, the tank will continue to run without algae. I plan to move the swordtails to a larger tank that is currently being prepared. I want to return this tank back into a plant-and-shrimp only tank. By the way, the red LEDs on the fixture seems to enhance the red colors on the swordtails.

Arrived a week early from the US so I’m very impressed considering it takes Royal Mail twice as long to deliver a letter in its own country. This isn’t my first set of Finnex lights so knew how good they were. The added photo is my 4ft Juwel Rio running two Finnex lights and as you can see plant life goes crazy for these lights. I recently set up a new Juwel Lido so I went on a hunt for two more 24 inchers and as I live in the UK they are bloody hard to find! They are brilliant lights, extremely bright and plants love them so its well worth the anxiety of them disappearing in the post from America 😂 buy some you won’t be disappointed!

The media could not be loaded.  The white LEDs have blown out (almost completely) leaving Reds and Blues active, light was indeed very good (when new and working!), only 16 months of practical usage achieved (6 hours a day!) with this strip!Very convenient to have a years warranty!

Light lasted for 1month + 3 days, which is 3 days past the return date, and then it stopped working.Looking for a way to return / replace this light, as I liked it when it was working!

Al día de hoy no estoy seguro cuántos lumens da esta lámpara pero lo que si puedo decir es que ha sido una de las mejores compras para mi pecera. Las plantas de mi tanque de 20 galones (75L) crecen muy bien y las plantas tapizantes crecen al ras del suelo como debe de ser.

Good light! Pretty easy to instal ! But i had to put a DIY co2 system to control the algea after installing this light .