Glowrium smart led

gimme30 · Feb 25, 2026

Back in May 2025 I was at Petsmart picking up food for demoncat and ran across a damaged-box Top Fin 5 gallon AIO. I really didn't need another tank, and I hate AIO's, but for $20? Couldn't pass it up. I don't hate the included pump/filter as much as I thought I would, but the light is WAY too bright. It wasn't long before I had hair algae everywhere, but it took me until now to get around to replacing it.

With this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4DZZLR8?tag=ff0d01-20
(showing as 'currently unavailable' now, larger sizes can be had)

It was on sale when I bought it but still a little on the pricey side for such a small light. I had to cut off 1/8" of the support bracket so it would fit between the filter cover hooks, but otherwise the installation was trouble free. The QR code in the instructions (I use that term loosely) did not work, but the app was easy enough to find at the play store. (Just type in Glowrium....if you look for Glowrium smart led it won't come up.) There's versions for Android and iPhone, installation was easy peasy, and the software works flawlessly. It is very similar to Fluval's app, I suspect they took inspiration from that. One of the cool things about it is it connects via Bluetooth or Wifi, so if you like to keep your battery-draining BT turned off like I do you can still control the light.

There's a small hardwired controller hanging roughly 10" off the side of the tank that you plug a temp sensor into. You can set low/high thresholds in the app to receive notification via email or text if the temp goes over or under, although that's not a particularly useful feature. Not much I can do about it if I'm at work and the heater does fail. I guess it eliminates the surprise part of coming home to a tank full of fried fish.

I love wireless control, best thing that ever happened to aquarium lights as far as I'm concerned. The ablility to make adjustments in increments of 1 is what sold me on this over the Nicrews/Hyggers with their limited adjustments. It doesn't have the warranty Fluval offers but 2 years is good enough for me. I'd never heard of this brand before or read anything about it so I have no idea about its longevity, but I'm happy to have an affordable alternative.

Pardon the picture quality, it's not easy to get downstairs to a real camera on crutches.

anewbie · Feb 25, 2026

I guess the open questions are watt/par per $ and the spectrum. Your picture makes it look a tad blue. Of course a lot of people complain the fluval plant 3/4 are too yellow (but it does have something like 6 or 7 different led colours you can tweak instead of the 3 some the less expensive lights have). Mind you i'm not saying 5x the price is justified just pointing out the difference. As for plant impact that would take a controlled study as you can grow a lot of plants with a $30 flood light.

gimme30 · Feb 26, 2026

I think the blue might have to do with my phone camera. It doesn't look that way looking into the tank from level but I see what you mean.
CRI is 90 (120 degree spread) which I think is fine for an aquarium.

They list max wattage at 38 but no par values are given. It's currently set at 3% for r/g/b and white at 5%, which may still be too much for this little tank, and at 100% it's blinding. I have no idea how their bigger lights for deeper tanks might work, par-wise. A little digging revealed they've been around since 1999 with a focus on terrestrial plant lighting but there's no mention of when they started making aquarium lights.

anewbie said:
as you can grow a lot of plants with a $30 flood light.

Or a $3 T8 for that matter. I think specialized aquarium lights are over-hyped but it's nice to be able to adjust individual channels I suppose.

anewbie · Feb 26, 2026

gimme30 said:
I think the blue might have to do with my phone camera. It doesn't look that way looking into the tank from level but I see what you mean.
CRI is 90 (120 degree spread) which I think is fine for an aquarium.

They list max wattage at 38 but no par values are given. It's currently set at 3% for r/g/b and white at 5%, which may still be too much for this little tank, and at 100% it's blinding. I have no idea how their bigger lights for deeper tanks might work, par-wise. A little digging revealed they've been around since 1999 with a focus on terrestrial plant lighting but there's no mention of when they started making aquarium lights.

Or a $3 T8 for that matter. I think specialized aquarium lights are over-hyped but it's nice to be able to adjust individual channels I suppose.

A couple of comments - having that 4th white led should help a lot - the wrgb 2 flaw is lack of white though they added it to the pro model which was released later.

38 watt is pretty decent for a small unit.

To be honest on paper it looks like a plant 3/4 for 1/4 the price.

gimme30 · Feb 27, 2026

anewbie said:
To be honest on paper it looks like a plant 3/4 for 1/4 the price.

That was my thought too. I really like the 3.0 despite the complaints I see on the internet but near $200 pricing is ridiculous. Diodes are dirt cheap as are PCBs. I get paying for the convenience of having it come assembled and the programming required to make if function but still.....it's just a light!