Choosing the right LED grow lights for your aquarium plants might seem time consuming and challenging as there are many different options available in the market. Let’s find out if LEDs are powerful enough to grow plants and find out if they are better than the alternative aquarium grow lighting set ups. 1st generation LED grow lamps were much simpler with less color options to choose from; just red and blue were available, which wouldn’t be sufficient for most aquarium plants. Newer LED technology incorporates a larger amount of light that will work much better for helping your aquarium plants grow successfully.Pros of LED Grow Lights Cons of LED Grow LightsBest LED Grow Lights For Aquarium Plants1. Finnex Ray2 Aquarium LED Daylight2. Finnex FugeRay Planted+ Aquarium Light Plus Moonlights3. Marineland Aquatic Plant LED Light With TimerFinal Say on Using LEDs As Grow LightsWhat Your Experience? First, you will need to know the different characteristics of the types of plants you are looking to grow.

Look for size, shape and height of the plants you plan to have in your aquarium. You will also need to look for the light intensity requirements of each plant and know whether or not they are sensitive to heat. Thankfully, most available LED setups come with menus and data sheets to make it easy to calculate the necessary specifications of light illumination and watts per gallon needed. Many people argue that LED lights don’t provide enough PAR for aquarium plants to thrive but this simply isn’t the case! With the latest technology, you’re able to find LED grow lights for your aquarium plants that match and even exceed the PAR output of a metal halide system!Here are some more interesting facts in this handy pros and cons list below. In this day and age, you are able to find several suitable LED grow lights in the market. Hobbyists now have some very viable options to choose from. Here are a few of our favorite lighting set ups that specialize in plant growth.

Finnex is a well-known brand when it comes to LEDs, it’s no surprise that they’ve made LEDs to cater for the planted tank crowd. They made a good one too. A really good one! The Ray2 features two LED light strips with 7000K output each which makes it ideal even for the most demanding aquarium plants. The dual strips also helps to cover a broader surface area for your tank. Finnex has done a great job with the design of this LED fixture. Used Furniture For Sale In Palm CoastIt’s small, sleek and the mount fits very well on standard sized aquariums.How To Hang Heavy Mirror No Studs One thing to note is that, these lights are bright! How To Make Ornate Mirror FrameSo bright that you might get an algae issue, so be sure to use CO2 and dose fertilizer to avoid this.

So, this might not be suitable for those of you running a low tech tank. For the price, longevity and quality, this is a great choice for an aquarist looking for the perfect aquarium grow lights for “Hi Tech” tank setups. Best Deal: We’ve found the best deal for the Finnex Ray2 for below $100 plus FREE shipping. This awesome deal won’t last for long though, claim it here (while stocks last!) See It In Action While the Finnex Ray 2 is perfect for a “Hi Tech” tank, the Finnex FugeRay Planted+ is more catered to the low tech tank. But that’s not to say that this won’t benefit your tank if you’re injecting CO2 and dosing your tank too. It’s just the best option for low tech tank owners. This ultra modern slim and light aquarium LED set up has enough output to grow low to med light plants. If you’re upgrading from a fluorescent setup, don’t be surprised by how drastic the change will be. Those who have taken the plunge has vowed to never go back.

The Finnex FugeRay Planted+ truly brings out the color of your tank and helps your plants flourish. Best Deal: How would you like to buy the Finnex FugeRay Planted+ for up to 33% less than the list price plus FREE shipping. Get it delivered to your doorstep for free here: claim deal here This Marineland LED Light are among the most popular among planted tank owners. There are many different sizes to choose from (ranging from 18 to 60 inches) to suit tanks of different sizes. This slim Marineland Aquatic Plant LED setup will give you a full spectrum of light (1 watt 6500k white and 3 watt RGB LEDs), which will help your aquatic plants grow. It also has easy to use controls and an integrated timers with lunar and daytime settings. This setup does such a good job that you might even need to trim your plants back from time to time. Best Deal: Amazon is currently offering this Marineland LED Light for 52% less than the list price plus FREE shipping. This awesome deal won’t last for long, check it out here (before it’s too late!)

As you can see, LED lights should be considered as one of the best LED grow lights for your aquarium plants. They might have a few downsides like cost and heat production but the benefits far outweigh the downsides. They are easy to maintain, provide great controllable light to stimulate plant growth, are cost effective, energy efficient and will outlast any bulb system. So perhaps after reading all about LED grow lights, you have changed your mind about LED lighting. Do you have experiences with LEDs for growing aquarium plants? We’d love to hear all about it in the comments section below. About Dennis HansonDennis is an experienced aquarist with many years of knowledge and experience in keeping successful tanks. He also has no relations to the pop group Hanson.LED’s have redefined lighting in the 21st century. The majority of new aquarium owners choose LED lights for a number of reasons. LED lighting uses less power per lumen output when compared to other planted aquarium lighting types.

This means cheaper lighting costs. The best led lights for the planted aquarium have dramatically decreased in cost and have become affordable for even beginner hobbyists.LED lights commonly last 50,000 hours. Let’s put that number into perspective. In a normal scenario your LED aquarium lights are active for 8 hours per day, 365 days per year. In this case it would take just over 17 years until they needed to be replaced. If that fact hasn’t sold you, consider that T5, T8 and Hallide lighting will change spectrum over time. This can lead to increased algae growth and ineffective lighting. LED lights will maintain their spectrum for their entire life and do not need to be replaced.Whats more is LED lights generate very little heat. LED lighting units for planted aquariums practically sell themselves. So we know the upsides. What are the disadvantages? LED has generally been less affordable than other lighting types. This has changed somewhat over the last 5 years. LED units are now equal cost or sometimes cheaper than the older technologies available.

LED units can also be confusing to purchase and highly quality dependent. If one of your LED’s burns out it’s not easy to ‘change the lightbulb’. LED units are often hardwired and require a certified electrician to perform maintenance. That being said, high quality LED units should never need LED’s to be replaced.Let’s explore some of the best LED lights for the planted aquarium. What are the best LED setups for 2016? Well, we discuss these below.The Current Satellite + Pro is a programmable, planted tank specific LED lighting unit. It is slightly more expensive than other brands listed here but makes up for it in features and rock solid reviews. It is hard to find a negative review on the unit and after personally inspecting one I would somewhat agree. They are well made, run very cool and are definitely worth the money for the quality of LED and programability that you receive.The Finnex Planted + 24/7 is another planted tank specific LED lighting setup. The lights have moonlighting, sunrise, sunset and a host of other features.

The light also incorporates a splash guard (and it’s mildly waterproof) although I have never had issues with water around aquarium lights. The legs can be slid inward to allow for attatchment to custom length aquariums (a very useful feature if your tank isn’t 12, 24, 36 or 48 inches in length!). Once again, the reviews cannot fault this light and there is high sentiment about it’s build quality and lasting durability. Finnex includes their power adapter mid length along the power cord which some users found annoying. However, the Finnex is very affordable and can be purchased under $100 here.The Finnex Ray2 includes dual lighting strips with 7000K output. This is an LED Grow light for aquariums that tend toward more of a Hi-Tech setup. This LED lighting unit is genuinely very bright. It doesn’t come with a remote control like the other units. Lighting can’t be dimmed to suit low-tech planted aquariums. This means users should be prepared to be using both fertilizers and CO2.

Otherwise you may see a spike in algae. It is a good light for a reasonable price. It is slightly older than the Finnex + 24/7 but has gained mass popularity with the planted tank community.Like the pro version, the Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus includes a remote control. Unlike the Pro version you should be able to pick up this light for less than $100. The intensity of the light is much lower than that of the pro version. It should be used for middle brightness requirement plants and most likely avoided for higher lighting requirements such as HC or Red Lotus plants. It may not be as sleek as the Finnex models but it has excellent build quality and durability. The legs can be moved about 12″ to suite a shorter, non-stock length aquarium. This light is notorious for having low heat output and only consumes 18 watts of energy.Thats the summary of the best LED lights for the planted aquarium. The prices and products available are outstanding for 2016. Each year LED technology becomes less expensive and more advanced.