Review on Aqueon LED Aquarium Light Fixture: Illuminating Your Underwater World with Spectacular Brilliance by Morgan Davis

I have just purchased a new 30" Aqueon modular LED light for my 36 gallon bow fronted aquarium and the T8 Fluorescent lamp replaced. I read a lot of reviews and thought for a long time which brand to choose, and one day I decided which, which and how many additional LED strips to buy. satisfied. I chose to combine a Beauty Max LED strip with the Day White strip that comes standard with the light. With only these 2 bands installed (out of a possible 3) I am EXTREMELY pleased with the intensity and spectral performance. BeautyMax draws from the amazing blues and reds of my cardinal tetras, the shimmering pearl angelfish and the reds of my denison tines that are more vibrant than I've ever seen. LOTS of light to reach 18 inches to the bottom of the tank. No problem with the intensity. Colors and brightness are significantly better than with the Aqueon Full Spectrum T8 fluorescent lamp. Time will tell how my plants handle these LEDs, but I trust other reviewers. So I limit myself to only two LED strips for the time being. Blue moonlight is good. For those like me who are wondering before you buy: with this 30" light, you should buy "30" size modular bulbs. Bulbs are marked SIZE 30, not 30". Actual bulbs are shorter than 30", of course they fit in a 30" light. Pretty logical, but some descriptions on Revain refer to the lights as 30" (instead of "size 30"), which might be enough you're wondering , whether they will fit if they fit the light, or whether we need to buy 24" bulbs to fit. The license plates on the lights are the size of the light, 30" x 30" (maybe I just have too much thought reviews include: - A toggle switch between night light and full light would be better as two independent switches get plenty of light out from under the bottom of the light which is about half an inch above the surface it sits on. surprisingly wide ( maybe 6"). At m On a bow hood (aka Aqueon) the light will miss the front forage cap if I center it on the glass strip. Therefore, each feeding time will now d In a two-step process i) slide the light back onto the tank a few inches and ii) open the front cover to feed. Annoying, but I'll deal with it. I'm a little bothered by the way the LEDs catch and bounce surface bubbles/waves. It's nice to have the effect of water light streaming into the room, but I'm still not sure I like all that "movement" of reflections compared to the more stable fluorescent lighting I'm used to am. I really think I'll get used to it and the spectral quality and intensity of the light makes up for any concerns about it. - My own guess: will this product be phased out? These lights are not found at local pet stores so I am considering a future replacement. However, we probably won't need a replacement for a decade or more anyway. Edit: After over a year I still love this light. I recently added a 3rd light strip and rewired the light to allow the timer to control all three LED strips as well as the two blue "moonlight" LEDs. I can turn on any combination of the 4 "channels" at any time of the day. I used this timer: KNACRO PTR4-SP Controller 4-way programmable timer relay DC 6-40V 99 time groups. I used a 10-wire, 18 AWG sprinkler harness to rewire the light (i.e. the wire from the timer to the light). I connected a light switch so that it switches to certain modes. This was a multi-hour project that required careful soldering and modifying a small circuit board in the light switch assembly (to isolate the three LED connectors). So don't take it lightly. But the result is fantastic. My tank now has an automatic daily cycle that includes all light-off modes, moonlight, sunrise/sunset modes, and full daylight mode.