Last year I ordered a 72" LED light for my 220 gallon planted from BML with the intent to purchase a second one this year. BML no longer build aquarium lighting so I had to research other products. I decided on Finnex and went with the Planted + 24/7. I couldn't find one anywhere that was 72" so I purchased a 48 and 24" light. although my plants are doing really well with dosing and CO2 I felt the light was not sufficient for ground cover. I hope these along with my BML will have enough PAR to grow ground cover in the 30 " deep tank. Waiting delivery, hope I made the right choice.
OMG! I didn't know BML was out of business. I had won a solunar from them, guess I waited too long. I always heard good things from BML, I participated in their thread often. They were just a small company, and they got too big with too many new designs they couldn't keep up with, I guess. They are quite pricey, which spectrum did you go with? I would think the BML in the front might be able to grow low light carpetting plants. I can grow low light carpets in 25" deep tanks and 1W LEDs no problem. So I'd probably try the Finnex at the back half, where the plants (I'm guessing) are taller.
Quote from: angelcraze on December 22, 2016, 12:50:17 AM
OMG! I didn't know BML was out of business. I had won a solunar from them, guess I waited too long. I always heard good things from BML, I participated in their thread often. They were just a small company, and they got too big with too many new designs they couldn't keep up with, I guess.
BML are not out of business, they just stopped making aquarium LEDs and are now focusing exclusively on commercial "horticulture" LEDs.
Ecoxotic has done the same thing - they have decided to focus on the commercial game and the other brand they own - Current USA - is handling the hobby stuff. The commercial end is obviously a lot larger market, although I am sure the competition is just as fierce.
Quote from: Al on December 22, 2016, 04:08:09 PM
Ecoxotic has done the same thing - they have decided to focus on the commercial game and the other brand they own - Current USA - is handling the hobby stuff. The commercial end is obviously a lot larger market, although I am sure the competition is just as fierce.
Fierce and very lucrative horticulture market worldwide ;)
@ Angelcraze , i would suggest you contact them about your prize, there is a good chance they can still honour it.
Regards
Quote from: Al on December 22, 2016, 04:08:09 PM
Ecoxotic has done the same thing - they have decided to focus on the commercial game and the other brand they own - Current USA - is handling the hobby stuff. The commercial end is obviously a lot larger market, although I am sure the competition is just as fierce.
When you think about the horticultural LED market, which includes greenhouse vegetables, medicinal marijuana, annual/perennial flowers, herbs etc, the potential for profit is 1000x more than the aquarium market. Even if they were to focus on a small portion of the bigger mainstream commercial LED market ie; stores, warehouses, security lighting, street lights, etc, the potential for growth is so astronomical. Dropping the aquarium market is a no-brainer.
:(
I had the planted plus and finnex Ray II. The Ray II is substantially brighter for some reason.
The Ray II by Finnex is 7000k. The light is bluer than 65k, appears brighter for that reason and tends to wash out reds in plants with that fixture alone. I think it would be well suited for an iwagumi tank with only rocks and green carpet plants since the bluer spectrum causes the plants to grow so compact. Adding a red strip light or the planted+ is a good save for spectrum colour rendition.
I got my lights the other day and although they are very nice my BML is far brighter on the bright mode. I will keep them towards the back of the tank for the larger and higher plants and keep the BML in the front for the lower ones. I will make another attempt at growing a carpet in the new year. For now I have another problem, the rim around the top of my 220 gallon has cracked and is broken. I lowered the water level to half and put a cargo strap around the top while I try to find where to buy a new rim. I tried Big Al's but unfortunately their supplier doesn't carry that rim. Any ideas or help would be appreciated.
If you have a marineland tank you can try contacting them directly. Or you can try miracle aquariums in Toronto. They make custom aquariums and did a nice euro brace on a buddy's tank I know. http://www.miraclesaquariums.com/index.html (http://www.miraclesaquariums.com/index.html).