# Fluval Plant 3.0 - thoughts thus far



## Bebu

So, having had this unit (36”-48” - actual unit is 34”) for a short while, my initial thoughts are that this is a very very good light. However, that’s to be expected of my initial thoughts, as my research and request for opinion of others led me to this purchase. I guess a “one year later” review would be more beneficial to others as the initial excitement would dwindle and product flaws would manifest itself by then. 

But for those who just want to know if this buy is a “what a mistake!” or a “stay away - terrible build quality!”, the answer is no - I don’t think you’ll regret this purchase. This is by far the best light intended for planted aquariums I’ve owned. Although I’ve never owned the other popular brands (Current, Finnex), I can say that I’ve noticed a marked difference in my Plant growth compared to my Aquatic Life LED. 

And the app, although it’s no award winning Black Box or Old Mans Journey, is quite well designed. Easy enough to navigate and program. There aren’t a whole lot of features, but I think if there were, it would be harder to navigate and program. You can manipulate the intensity and colours easily (check out YouTube videos for pretty good run through of the app), and you get to customize your sunrise, midday, sunset, and night. For the sunrise, you select the start time, duration and coloration. The midday you customize the coloration. The night, you select the start time, duration and coloration. This is all under the auto function. Again, for a deeper breakdown of the Fluval app, checkout YouTube. 

The only negative thing I would say is that because the unit is very narrow, even with their claimed 120 degree spread, on my shallow 12 gallon long (with a rather thick layer of substrate), the rays don’t quite reach the entire width of the tank. I think if I raise it 2 or 3 inches (which I will have to anyway because the light is so intense), I will get the front and back full covered. 

All in all, a great buy. Apparently, this light will be available in Canada in late 2018. 


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## Salinger

I actually ordered it a few days ago myself! LOL I was going to get the 2.0, but it didn't seem to make sense to buy something that's already last generation. And because, as you mentioned, the 3.0 won't be released here for some time, they're still charging full price for the 2.0 whereas many of the US stores selling the Fluval lights are already marking their 2.0 units down for clearance. I'd thought about saving a few $$ and ordering the 2.0 that was on sale, but I think the new light has enough additional features that makes it worth the extra.

Anyway, in the end, as you discovered already, getting the 3.0 from the US, still ends up cheaper than buying the "old" version locally.

Out of curiosity, what are the dimensions of a 12 gallon long? I've never heard of that size. My tank is a 23 gallon long, and it's 36" long, 12" depth. Is the 12 long really 36" or did you just buy longer light than you needed?


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## Bebu

Salinger said:


> I actually ordered it a few days ago myself! LOL I was going to get the 2.0, but it didn't seem to make sense to buy something that's already last generation. And because, as you mentioned, the 3.0 won't be released here for some time, they're still charging full price for the 2.0 whereas many of the US stores selling the Fluval lights are already marking their 2.0 units down for clearance. I'd thought about saving a few $$ and ordering the 2.0 that was on sale, but I think the new light has enough additional features that makes it worth the extra.
> 
> Anyway, in the end, as you discovered already, getting the 3.0 from the US, still ends up cheaper than buying the "old" version locally.
> 
> Out of curiosity, what are the dimensions of a 12 gallon long? I've never heard of that size. My tank is a 23 gallon long, and it's 36" long, 12" depth. Is the 12 long really 36" or did you just buy longer light than you needed?


Yes - the dimensions are actually 35.4" x 8.3" x 9.4".

The light is almost the perfect length. If it was only 1/2" longer on either side, it would have been perfect coverage. I'm sure you'll see when it arrives.

Fantastic light so far, though. I'm interested in what you'll have to say when you get it.

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## Dis

Nice write up. Where did you order from?

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## Bebu

Dis said:


> Nice write up. Where did you order from?
> 
> Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk


Dr fosters and smith. Apparently Kens Fish also carries it and ships to Canada also. There are other retailers who carry, but many refuse to ship to Canada.

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## Dis

Bebu said:


> Dr fosters and smith. Apparently Kens Fish also carries it and ships to Canada also. There are other retailers who carry, but many refuse to ship to Canada.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Thanks. I'll have a look

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## infolific

Bebu said:


> So, having had this unit (36"-48" - actual unit is 34") for a short while, my initial thoughts are that this is a very very good light.


How does the light behave if you unplug it and plug it back in? Does it resume wherever the programming indicates it should be at the time power is restored?


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## AustinLear

Pets and Ponds carries the 48"-60" version but strangely no other size.


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## infolific

AustinLear said:


> Pets and Ponds carries the 48"-60" version but strangely no other size.


They have other sizes in stock, but not on the site. Send them an email and they'll let you know what note to leave when you place an order so that you get the 3.0 version.


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## infolific

I asked the Fluval folks for how their 3.0 plant lights behaves in a power outage and they said that while the light will remember the light settings, the internal timer will reset to midnight. To set the internal clock back to the right time you'd need to connect via the Bluetooth app.

Bluetooth is handy when using a mobile device, but too bad they didn't choose wifi which would've allowed for a constant connection (and remote access) since most of us have routers and such.


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