Hello... this is my first post on these forums. I live in Ottawa. I'm a 10 gallon newbie, planted with both fish and shrimp. (java fern, amazon sword, ludwiga, marimo, hornwort, (large) baby tears, crypt and one more I do not know the name of and dwarf hair grass. I basically did a potluck of various to experiment. Having serious trouble with dwarf hairgrass. I have learnt much after buying the starter kit that it was not the best decision. Anyways, given this background and since there is not much time for DIY LED project due to dire situation of my dwarf grass, I ask the following.
1. I'm considering to buy Satellite Plus or Satellite Pro. Only Big Als seems to sell them here in Ottawa. $150 vs $250 (excluding tax) difference, is it worth it ? The Pro has more wattage then plus but rest of the numbers are similar.
2. The US online shops give much more options for this price range but I'm wary of Shipping / Custom issues. If anyone have experience buying equipment from States, please comment. (build my led site is so tempting but it easily gets into $300 range)
3. I'm open to any other ideas and suggestions, including any good Canadian online retailers.
4. Lastly, also considering buying a glass canopy, would an LED light over a canopy reduce its effectiveness drastically?
Much thanks in advance
Truly pets and ponds they are an online Canadian business.
Why dont you put spiral bulbs that have 6500k in the standart light fixture that the tank came with? Thats what I did and my plants are growing crazy. Bulbs are from walmart for 12.99!!!
Finatic: Thanks. Thanks I looked them up at and they had the light I was mentioning and another site I found (with a bit cheaper shipping cots is jlaquatic they run from BC.
Sanny: I looked into that route but set my mind on LED for now. When I have space and plan to have more tanks thats something I can consider. But I will keep this in mind. Thanks.
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The Current USA Satellite Pro comes with fancy settings etc., costs $240 + tax. ($200 online in canada) The National Geo Deluxe with time control is on sale at petsmart for $79 or so. It is a 7k-10k range light. Another consideration for me is to buy two of these (which is still cheaper than Satellite). This light business is so confusing. :)
Welcome to planted tanks.
I would suggest you stay away from the National geographic lights.
Another option to look at is the Finnex planted 24/7 or the Finnex Fuge Ray planted +.
These are by no means high quality stuff but gets the job done at an affordable price, Amazon is about the safest way to go for these lights as all charges are paid upfront & no surprises at your door, note that not all the Amazon Finnex lights will ship to Canada but they are a few.
There is also a new line of LED from Fluval that is supposed to be released in Canada very shortly that appears to be much brighter than it`s older models, i think they are called Freshwater planted 2.0.
Regards