Fluval 3.0 plant

[colley614@]

Hello everyone,

I've been looking for a thread with people's opinion on here regards to the 3.0. I've always regarded it as the best planted light but obviously that is compared to the average light in an average shop. What is everyone's opinion? Is there better lights on the market?

 

[Wookii]

I'd say it's a very long way from being the "best" aquarium light, though of course that can be a very subjective thing.

When I had one I found the colour rendition very yellow indeed which washed out a lot of other colours. Also because the light is very narrow, it is difficult to get even coverage of the aquarium from front to back with all but the narrowest tanks.

The programming and control system works well, but hasn't been updated in a long time (if it aint broke don't fix it in this case I guess).

In my opinion there are a lot better lights available from the likes of Chihiros, Week Aqua, etc where you want adjustable light spectrum, or the likes of Twinstar etc where spectrum adjustment isn't a priority. Far from being the best, I would probably place the Fluval Plant 3.0 closer towards the bottom of that pile.

 

[colley614@]

I'd say it's a very long way from being the "best" aquarium light, though of course that can be a very subjective thing.

When I had one I found the colour rendition very yellow indeed which washed out a lot of other colours. Also because the light is very narrow, it is difficult to get even coverage of the aquarium from front to back with all but the narrowest tanks.

The programming and control system works well, but hasn't been updated in a long time (if it aint broke don't fix it in this case I guess).

In my opinion there are a lot better lights available from the likes of Chihiros, Week Aqua, etc where you want adjustable light spectrum, or the likes of Twinstar etc where spectrum adjustment isn't a priority. Far from being the best, I would probably place the Fluval Plant 3.0 closer towards the bottom of that pile.

That's exactly the type of response I was hoping for.

All I want really, is whatever is best for plants.

 

[Wookii]

All I want really, is whatever is best for plants.

Well, honestly plants don't really care. They're as happy under a £10 flood light, as they are under a £300 aquarium light (output PAR and coverage being equal).

The choice of light really comes down to the preference of the aquarist in terms of features, form and function.

 

[MrClockOff]

The only issue I see with all those fancy lights (which is the reason I don't own one) is they are not suitable for using under the canopy. I really hope soon the manufacturers will include those auquascapers who don't mind (love) covered tanks.

 

[colley614@]

The only issue I see with all those fancy lights (which is the reason I don't own one) is they are not suitable for using under the canopy. I really hope soon the manufacturers will include those auquascapers who don't mind (love) covered tanks.

I do appreciate aquariums with nice trims and hoods. For me, it's like framing a picture.

 

[MrClockOff]

As mentioned above, take into consideration how wide the lights are. I'm using x2 superfish cheapos as they are narrow and very close to water surface and single light will not cover whole substrate, hence I have two.

 

[tam]

The only issue I see with all those fancy lights (which is the reason I don't own one) is they are not suitable for using under the canopy. I really hope soon the manufacturers will include those auquascapers who don't mind (love) covered tanks.

You can buy mounting clips designed for attaching the fluval 3.0 to the underside of a hood/canopy and it's IP67 rated so fine close to the water surface if you don't have cover panes.

Like most things how good depends on what you want it for and what you like. It can be balenced across a rimless tank, hung or mouted to a hood. It's fairly neat and unobtrusive.

The app is pretty easy to use, and has presets as well as custom colour tweeking. Timer is built in so no extra boxes/plugs - you can set gradual sunrise/setset - which I much prefer over a sudden on/off. You can also have an mid-day off period and a nighttime/dusk setting. Nice if you have fish that are active at night and want a lower light period.

The plant pre-set is very yellow. But you can tweek. Obviously if you take all the yellow out you effect the overall amount of light. It has a switch on the light that is full on/off or use the app settings.

Spread will depend (obviously) on the width/height of your tank and the height of your light. I found a 45w/h with it on the rim you got a 6" triangle shadow on the top edges. Rising the light would reduce this, but also lowers intensity. You could also run two. Again depends on your tank size and what you are growing. I would imagine it's not something people doing high tech tanks would pick, but I'd say works perfectly fine low tech.

It's a bit annoying in that if it loses power it needs to reconnect to the app (bluetooth) to return to the custom settings. On full brightness it makes a wining sound you can hear stood near the tank - but I would guess a lot of people wouldn't notice - some filters annoy me too!

I liked my first one enough that I brought a second for another tank.

 

[AlecF]

How do you reduce the yellow on the fluvial: it has RGBW settings. Does anyone have any preferred % for a low tech tank using this light? I'm on R 40, G 40, B 50, W 50.

 

[tam]

How do you reduce the yellow on the fluvial: it has RGBW settings. Does anyone have any preferred % for a low tech tank using this light? I'm on R 40, G 40, B 50, W 50.

My app has drag bars for pink, blue, cool white, pure white and warm white?

My smaller tank with emersed growth ramps up from 0 to 100% over four hours and then back down for the whites, red up 79% and blue to 30%. I'm not in bluetooth range of the other so can't check.

 

[colley614@]

Seems to be a mixed bag of comments. Would something like the twinstar I keep hearing about be a better investment?

 

[Tim1343]

I like my Fluval Plant 3.0. The app is super easy to use and tweak, and the coverage is fine on my 60 litre cube using risers off eBay.

 

[RickyV]

I use 6 fluval 3.0 for this 3000 liter tank. They have been growing the plants well, however they were my last choice of lights. I'm not the biggest fan of the color rendition, I feel the colors are a little washed out compared to a nice RGB light. But it doesn't look terrible, just much better lights out there in my opinion. I have the Chihiro's WRGB IIs on my tank at home and love the color rendition from them. Most lights will grow plants fine its really about finding one that lights up the tank the way you want.

 

[oreo57]

Seems to be a mixed bag of comments. Would something like the twinstar I keep hearing about be a better investment?

What are your aquarium dimensions?

 

[colley614@]

What are your aquarium dimensions?

It is a Juwel Rio 180 101x41x50 CM

 

[oreo57]

It is a Juwel Rio 180 101x41x50 CM

So 40" x 16" x 19.6"
55gal
This is the Fluval size of err "best fit"

Plant 3.0 Bluetooth LED, 46W, 36-46″ / 91-115 cm​

Item #: 14522

Fluval looks to have about 2.5cm dead space on each end.
Therefore the diode panel is approx. 31cm +/-.
So say light sources are about 4.5cm from the edge.
3cm from the light face to the top of tank is the sweet spot for left/right coverage.
10cm "up" off the water line to cover front/to back at the water surface.

Lets use my "rule of thumb" here for a minute..
@45.7cm from the light face (which we set at 10cm, so water depth is 35.7cm (14") PAR est. is 46-ish

In 2019 a Fluval 3.0 was measured using a Seneye.. and found this:

The Fluval 3.0 sits about 14.5 inches from the substrate and it gave me a reading of 114 PAR!

So 42 par @ 18" seems to be a fair ballpark. Better to error low than high.
So now you have an idea about 1 way to calculate setting up your light.
Oh and the use of this:
LED Lighting Beam Angle Calculator

As to "better" for err which reason?
Fluval gets a knock by some for having a more warm tone i.e yellowish.
Which can be adjusted but at the cost of par.
So next "step" is what 'shade" do you prefer?
Counter example to the Fluval yellow is the Beamswork DA fspec (non-adj, non-dimmable (out of the box)) budget friendly light
which runs quite cool. Like 10000k. Nobody would say its too yellow unless they had tons of tannins in the water.

If one wanted all around high par color adjust-ability they start to get more expensive than the Fluval 3 @ $200US

G3 Aqua air 900 is $299.99
But at 2x the wattage.
Direct from Micmol. Cheaper at Alibaba btw.
Has a funny channel layout but functional.
They state the 36" has 150-200 par at 14-ish inches
LEDs Power: 216 * 0.5W which is 108W
According to err "me" should be around 108PAR at 18" light face to 18" down.
Keep bracket height in mind.

Aqua Air 900

Item No.: AA-900
LEDs Power: 216 * 0.5W
Size: 33.8" * 5" * 0.6"
( 865 * 128 * 15mm)
Weight: 3.5kg
Packing: 40" * 6.7" * 2"
(1010 * 170 * 50mm)

Planted:
84pcs 7000K White CH A
84pcs 7000K White CH B
21pcs BLue CH C
21pcs R+G+WW+UV CH D

"Better" is often defined by what you "need"..

Disclaimer: No lumens were hurt in making this post.

 

[colley614@]

So 40" x 16" x 19.6"
55gal
This is the Fluval size of err "best fit"

Fluval looks to have about 2.5cm dead space on each end.
Therefore the diode panel is approx. 31cm +/-.
So say light sources are about 4.5cm from the edge.
3cm from the light face to the top of tank is the sweet spot for left/right coverage.
10cm "up" off the water line to cover front/to back at the water surface.

Lets use my "rule of thumb" here for a minute..
@45.7cm from the light face (which we set at 10cm, so water depth is 35.7cm (14") PAR est. is 46-ish

In 2019 a Fluval 3.0 was measured using a Seneye.. and found this:


So 42 par @ 18" seems to be a fair ballpark. Better to error low than high.
So now you have an idea about 1 way to calculate setting up your light.
Oh and the use of this:
LED Lighting Beam Angle Calculator

As to "better" for err which reason?
Fluval gets a knock by some for having a more warm tone i.e yellowish.
Which can be adjusted but at the cost of par.
So next "step" is what 'shade" do you prefer?
Counter example to the Fluval yellow is the Beamswork DA fspec (non-adj, non-dimmable (out of the box)) budget friendly light
which runs quite cool. Like 10000k. Nobody would say its too yellow unless they had tons of tannins in the water.

If one wanted all around high par color adjust-ability they start to get more expensive than the Fluval 3 @ $200US

G3 Aqua air 900 is $299.99
But at 2x the wattage.
Direct from Micmol. Cheaper at Alibaba btw.
Has a funny channel layout but functional.
They state the 36" has 150-200 par at 14-ish inches
LEDs Power: 216 * 0.5W which is 108W
According to err "me" should be around 108PAR at 18" light face to 18" down.
Keep bracket height in mind.




"Better" is often defined by what you "need"..

Disclaimer: No lumens were hurt in making this post.

Wow, that's some response! Honestly, after years of looking at marine tanks, I really like the yellow and pink look from the 3.0. When I say better, I mean in terms being able to set up a high tech system when I invest in co2.

 

[oreo57]

Wow, that's some response! Honestly, after years of looking at marine tanks, I really like the yellow and pink look from the 3.0. When I say better, I mean in terms being able to set up a high tech system when I invest in co2.

Well at that time and if desired, you can add another one. .

Not uncommon to run 6 tube t5's over a high tech 46" tank. That's 324 watts.

Even "best case" conversions would point to 162 watts of LEDs.

It's still beneficial to add CO2 at any light level really. At least that is my opinion.
May not need 30ppm though.