# 60cm light, dimmable and with some kind of timer. Options?



## castle (8 Feb 2021)

As title says, something I can program to fade in/out. Needs to be good at growing plants, but i'll have it on a low setting anyway.


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## Wookii (8 Feb 2021)

I’m about to list a Twinstar 600S with S2Pro dimmer unit in the next couple of weeks. Not sure what you’re budgeting but if that’s of interest just drop me a PM.


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## Sarpijk (8 Feb 2021)

How about the budget B line by Twinstar along with an S2pro led controller found on eBay for around 10 €.


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## Driftless (9 Feb 2021)

Sarpijk said:


> How about the budget B line by Twinstar along with an S2pro led controller found on eBay for around 10 €. View attachment 162457


I have a handful of these on my Twinstar lights.  No cell phone app or ability to change the light spectrum but they work.


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## CooKieS (9 Feb 2021)

Chihiros wrgb 2?


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## JeffK (9 Feb 2021)

I like the Fluval lights. I have the Aquasky, but I have next to no plants. The Plant 3.0 is supposedly very good for plants. Fully programmable by phone app and easy plug-and-play.


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## castle (9 Feb 2021)

Programmable by phone app definetly sounds good.


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## Wookii (9 Feb 2021)

castle said:


> Programmable by phone app definetly sounds good.



If budget is not a factor, the WRB II that @CooKieS mentions, or even the step up Vivid II are one of your best bets for a app controllable light - their colour rendition outclasses most other lights.

Sorry to @JeffK but I'd have to vote against the Fluval Plant 3.0. I lived with it for some time, and the colour rendition is fairly poor (very yellow), and the coverage of the light isn't great - my tank was only 30cm front to back, and the unit couldn't spread the light far enough to the rear to grow stems particularly well due to the very narrow row of LED's - you'd need two of them on a tank of 40cm width and above I should think.


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## JeffK (9 Feb 2021)

Wookii said:


> Sorry to @JeffK but I'd have to vote against the Fluval Plant 3.0. I lived with it for some time, and the colour rendition is fairly poor (very yellow), and the coverage of the light isn't great - my tank was only 30cm front to back, and the unit couldn't spread the light far enough to the rear to grow stems particularly well due to the very narrow row of LED's - you'd need two of them on a tank of 40cm width and above I should think.


No worries mate. You guys are the plant experts. And I don't have any actual experience with Plant 3.0, just the Aquasky 2.0. 

I guess pretty much every light unit's CRI would look yellowish in my blackwater tanks, so I've never noticed it as much.


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## Wookii (9 Feb 2021)

JeffK said:


> No worries mate. You guys are the plant experts. And I don't have any actual experience with Plant 3.0, just the Aquasky 2.0.
> 
> I guess pretty much every light unit's CRI would look yellowish in my blackwater tanks, so I've never noticed it as much.



I'm far from an expert mate that's for sure, but I have used a number of lights hands on during my own experiments to find one I preferred.

To be fair though in blackwater and habitat/biotope tanks, the lighting objectives are likely to be different to a brightly lit nature/high tech aquarium style, and a yellower light might actually be preferred. I've been through this thought process myself, as I'm considering more of a habitat style tank when I rescape, and switching at that point to my AI Prime so I can get some shimmer from the point source light, and the fact that it has a warmer rendition won't be such an issue.


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## Driftless (9 Feb 2021)

JeffK said:


> I like the Fluval lights. I have the Aquasky, but I have next to no plants. The Plant 3.0 is supposedly very good for plants. Fully programmable by phone app and easy plug-and-play.


I have the Fluval Plant 3.0 on three of my tanks, they work well although because they are low on the tank the light spread is limited as a result I run two of them of some of my tanks like my 75-gallon Discus tank.


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## castle (9 Feb 2021)

Hmm, I may go Kessil 160, as I've had them before - I just don't like their gooseneck attachments and find them very expensive, but being able to hang them is a positive. 

I quite like the twinstar s, but think it's limiting to be that it sits on top of the tank =/


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