I have been on the hunt for a quality LED light for my freshwater tanks for over a year. Certainly there are plenty of good options out there for saltwater enthusiasts, which could also be utilized in freshwater tanks, but I was hoping to avoid spending $500 or more to get there.
Here is the premise:
The LED light must mimic the bright, high noon sun, similar to the bright lights of a reef tank. At 1/3 to 1/4 the cost. It must provide a shimmering effect. It must also have a toggle switch for daylight and moonlight LEDS. Last but not least, it needs to be in the $150 range. Not too demanding, but proving difficult.
For this endeavor, I chose the Beamswork 48" Quad Double Bright LED 72X1W. I went back and forth on the Beamswork website and almost went with their 48" Hi Lumen but was concerned the .20W LED's would not provide enough light for the application I was seeking.
Out of the box, the Beamswork 48" is black and sleek. It has a toggle switch which allows for all LED's or solely the moonlight's. It is an attractive piece of equipment. The weight of the light is next to nothing, a couple of pounds at most. A simple connection to the converter and it plugs right into the wall socket. It can't get any easier than that.
First impression:
Wow, this thing is bright! I tested it on a 24" deep 90 gallon tank. It is bright clear down to the sand bed. The color of the lights appear to be a crisp white and the paperwork it comes with claims it is in the 10K spectrum. I certainly made the correct decision in going with the 1W LED's. The fixture has much more light than all of the other LED fixtures I have tried thus far. It is easily double the brightness of my Current USA plus LED and triple of the Aqueon Modular LED. An added benefit....the light is silent. No more distracting hum to take away from viewing the fish.
Heat is negligible after running for several hours, which is good as it does not come with an internal fan. If heat becomes a problem down the road, a simple external fan should cure that problem rapidly enough.
I am not going to get into PAR ratings and other technical data as there are plenty of sites out there which can provide such information if you are seeking it. I would rather give a layman's opinion of the LED fixture. That being said, I tested the light on my 90 gallon Malawi peacock tank as I wanted to see how the various fish colors would look under this LED.
Whites really pop on my fish! Ultra bright! Reds shine through as well. My Dragon Blood peacock looks sharp under this lighting. The blues of my Flametails and Lwanda peacocks are showing up nicely as well. I can definitely pick out individual colors on the same fish easily and clearly.
Cons:
No independent switch or dial to adjust the LED brightness or color spectrum. I can overlook this feature easily enough because of the price.
No manual or warranty information came with my light. Here is to hoping it works!
Overall impression:
I am very pleased with this fixture. While not even close to being on par with today's reef tank LED light fixtures, which usually run at 3W's, it exceeds my expectations for a freshwater tank. As of today's date, this is the top freshwater LED fixture I have tested under $200. It is extremely bright and illuminates all corners of the tank equally. None of my fish seem to be adversely affected by the change in lighting. I think it hits the sweet spot price wise and just over $150 for this fixture. I am hopeful the light will live up to the company's claim of LED light endurance. If that proves true, this light will definitely save money in the long run. Time will also tell how much my electric bill enjoys this light.
