Why do people lust after programmable aquarium lights when basic LEDs do the trick?
I get it, the sunrise/sunset effect is nice and all, but my plants are taking off like weeds under my reasonable $20 white+blue LED strip. My friend spent $200 on a programmable “smart” light and his algae went nuts, clearly playing with fire. I’ve just been using a timer, and got some cheap hanging kits to mess with height adjustments. The secret sauce was adding a reflective foil background to bounce light back into the tank – no extra money at all. I even bought a random waterproof LED connector on Alibaba to extend my light bar for my rimless tank. Anyway, if there’s beef to be had here, why do manufacturers not publish PAR info? I had to borrow a meter to see if my light was good enough for my dwarf hairgrass. And don’t even get me started on “full spectrum” claims - my red plants are doing fine with just 660nm diodes added! Am I nuts? Do I really need a ramp-up feature to reduce fish stress? Also, has anyone tried even cheaper “grow lights” from hardware stores? I’d love to hear your lighting rants!