# Need advice from Lighting experts



## archangelvk (Feb 15, 2016)

Hello community,

I currently own two LED lights. The Finnex Planted 24/7 and the Current Satellite LED+ (NOT THE PRO). Im deciding whether to go for a 33G long or a 40G long CO2 injected high tech tank. Both are 48" long 12" wide, the only difference being that the 33G has a height of 12" while the 40G has a Height of 16". So here is what Im wondering

33G long = 12" high - 2" aqua soil = 10" Finnex would have PAR of ~120 directly under the light, Current Satellite would have ~65 PAR directly under light

40G long = 16" high - 3" substrate = 13" Finnex would have PAR of ~90 directly under the light, Current Satellite would have ~34-35 PAR directly under light

These Values were taken from their websites or charts made from their company I found online. 

My question is 

Knowing that PAR gets WEAKER as it spreads, but also knowing that adding CO2 will LOWER the required light which plants need to successfully grow, which tank should I be getting if I wanted to grow some type of carpeting grass, along with some rooted plants for example Ludwigia sp. Red. Im NOT going to grow anything crazy difficult as I dont have that much time to micro manage the picky plants. My goal here is to MINIMIZE the chances of me getting algae or any sort so I dont want my lights to be super high or super low.

Thanks in advance


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

I would suggest to use the Current Satellite on the 40g long. It has the higher par numbers you want for carpeting plants, plus, if I remember correctly, you can also fiddle with the light intensity and color. 

One thing a lot of people forget they can do with their LED fixtures is to raise or lower how close they are to the top of the tank. The higher the light, the more spread it has, BUT less intensity (lower par). Find the sweet spot between the height of the light on the top of the tank and the intensity to match your CO2 levels and you are good to go.


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## archangelvk (Feb 15, 2016)

Nebthet78 said:


> I would suggest to use the Current Satellite on the 40g long. It has the higher par numbers you want for carpeting plants, plus, if I remember correctly, you can also fiddle with the light intensity and color.
> 
> One thing a lot of people forget they can do with their LED fixtures is to raise or lower how close they are to the top of the tank. The higher the light, the more spread it has, BUT less intensity (lower par). Find the sweet spot between the height of the light on the top of the tank and the intensity to match your CO2 levels and you are good to go.


Thanks for your response. However, I was wondering which tank to go for because I own both lights =D


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

I always advise to go with the largest tank to fit the space you want. I'd suggest the 40g long. It gives you a little more wiggle room.


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

Both lights are dimmable and will give you enough light for either tank.


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## archangelvk (Feb 15, 2016)

planter said:


> Both lights are dimmable and will give you enough light for either tank.


How do you dim the lights? Sorry if its a dumb question.


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

Does not light fixtures not have remotes?


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## archangelvk (Feb 15, 2016)

planter said:


> Does not light fixtures not have remotes?


Yes. Most of them are presets. Im able to turn down individual colours but I wouldnt know how many times to press the dim key to an acceptable value?


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## Northern Pike (Apr 8, 2018)

I have the Sattelite pro + on a 120 gal. If your light is similar with the remote it will tell you numerically what percentage of light you are choosing. Ex. Your read out will show 75 for 75% intensity or 100 for 100% intensity so on and so on. You can do this for each color. I have just recently reduced my white light to 70% and cut it back from being for 8 hrs to 7hrs because I was getting algae growth quite quickly. So far so good. Unfortunately every scenario is different. It might be some small tweaks with trial and error.


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## archangelvk (Feb 15, 2016)

Northern Pike said:


> I have the Sattelite pro + on a 120 gal. If your light is similar with the remote it will tell you numerically what percentage of light you are choosing. Ex. Your read out will show 75 for 75% intensity or 100 for 100% intensity so on and so on. You can do this for each color. I have just recently reduced my white light to 70% and cut it back from being for 8 hrs to 7hrs because I was getting algae growth quite quickly. So far so good. Unfortunately every scenario is different. It might be some small tweaks with trial and error.


Darn. My model doesnt have any digital numbers on it to tell me what %. Thats why I was confused as to how many times I should be pressing each light button. Guess Trial and error ?


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