Happy day,
In a soon-to-be-posted journal, I'll be engaging in a dramatic re-enactment of the building of my 9.6gl UNS tank tank, complete with all the poetic license that one can...well...license. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few comments about this light, which I have placed on a UNS 4.6g tank.
Pros
1. I love the app. It was easy to install and although some folks with fat fingers might have trouble with the sliders, it worked very well.
2. I love being able to set 10 different points in time with 10 different lighting effects...I currently have a sunrise, mid-day and sunset cycle which is simply fantastic to watch. As fish don't have eyelids, and the room they are in is dark, I like not startling them with the instant-on. I have changes made on the hour.
3. The setup of the light was so simple even a gecko could do it.
Cons
1. If you don't know anything about the science of lighting, you're screwed. If you live in a place where Youtube is blocked, you might be screwed, but for more important reasons than aquarium lighting. The good news is that Bentley Pasco has an amazing array of settings:
2. If you want an emmersive (emergent?) plant experience, the light isn't tall enough.
3. Even in daylight mode, with everything at 100%, the light does not seem to be as bright as the Onf Nano. Another Youtuber measured PAR value differences and it seems to be much lower than the Onf.
4. The cable bracket is a bit wonky. A second one across the top arm would be welcome, and I may just use a black wire tie from my next bag of bread.
Preference
1. I paid $88 including tax. Everyone has their own value proposition and this one fit mine.
2. It is a definitively square light and would probably look best on a cube tank. While being quadrilateral, my tank is not a cube, but rectangular. That said, the light provides more than enough cover for this nano tank, and would have done well on the larger one, too.
Plant Behavior
1. I generally have badly behaving plants. They are very undisciplined and grow wherever they want, with the java fern in particular is rather rowdy. Recently they've gotten into a battle with the red root floaters, which are now more red than with the Onf Nano light, with no change in water chemistry.
2. The dwarf sag grew very well under the Onf Nano, and I can't discern any real change between the lights at this time.
3. A pile of Christmas moss couldn't care less.
Conclusion
I am not a plant expert or a lightologist. This is a simple dirt tank with a gravel cap, no filter, no pump, no CO2 and no ferts. I didn't particularly care that the red root floaters were more or less red, and the little white flowers are still little white flowers. But the java fern has been more ornery than it was before and while I regularly throw out bunches, it just seemed to not really grow well in this tank until I put the new light in. But the main reason I bought it was because of the app...I wanted that shifting light as the day went on. For a non-technical person like me who is just smart enough to know that even though ice can be dry, water is definitely wet, having the Youtube review with the settings made me feel like a plagarist who has it made in the shade. I wanted to try out the Onf Nano+ light, but could not find it in the US, so I can't really compare it. But for the $88, I'm a happy camper.
In a soon-to-be-posted journal, I'll be engaging in a dramatic re-enactment of the building of my 9.6gl UNS tank tank, complete with all the poetic license that one can...well...license. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few comments about this light, which I have placed on a UNS 4.6g tank.
Pros
1. I love the app. It was easy to install and although some folks with fat fingers might have trouble with the sliders, it worked very well.
2. I love being able to set 10 different points in time with 10 different lighting effects...I currently have a sunrise, mid-day and sunset cycle which is simply fantastic to watch. As fish don't have eyelids, and the room they are in is dark, I like not startling them with the instant-on. I have changes made on the hour.
3. The setup of the light was so simple even a gecko could do it.
Cons
1. If you don't know anything about the science of lighting, you're screwed. If you live in a place where Youtube is blocked, you might be screwed, but for more important reasons than aquarium lighting. The good news is that Bentley Pasco has an amazing array of settings:
3. Even in daylight mode, with everything at 100%, the light does not seem to be as bright as the Onf Nano. Another Youtuber measured PAR value differences and it seems to be much lower than the Onf.
4. The cable bracket is a bit wonky. A second one across the top arm would be welcome, and I may just use a black wire tie from my next bag of bread.
Preference
1. I paid $88 including tax. Everyone has their own value proposition and this one fit mine.
2. It is a definitively square light and would probably look best on a cube tank. While being quadrilateral, my tank is not a cube, but rectangular. That said, the light provides more than enough cover for this nano tank, and would have done well on the larger one, too.
Plant Behavior
1. I generally have badly behaving plants. They are very undisciplined and grow wherever they want, with the java fern in particular is rather rowdy. Recently they've gotten into a battle with the red root floaters, which are now more red than with the Onf Nano light, with no change in water chemistry.
2. The dwarf sag grew very well under the Onf Nano, and I can't discern any real change between the lights at this time.
3. A pile of Christmas moss couldn't care less.
Conclusion
I am not a plant expert or a lightologist. This is a simple dirt tank with a gravel cap, no filter, no pump, no CO2 and no ferts. I didn't particularly care that the red root floaters were more or less red, and the little white flowers are still little white flowers. But the java fern has been more ornery than it was before and while I regularly throw out bunches, it just seemed to not really grow well in this tank until I put the new light in. But the main reason I bought it was because of the app...I wanted that shifting light as the day went on. For a non-technical person like me who is just smart enough to know that even though ice can be dry, water is definitely wet, having the Youtube review with the settings made me feel like a plagarist who has it made in the shade. I wanted to try out the Onf Nano+ light, but could not find it in the US, so I can't really compare it. But for the $88, I'm a happy camper.
