had one of my main tank lights fail... at just a little over a year...

[Magnum Man]

I hate that... things should last longer than that... the directions are near impossible to read, the print is so tiny, so it'll be hard to get the replacement set like this one was... this one was a full 36inch NICREW SkyLED Plus Aquarium Plant Light, so it was not cheap... just venting the frustration... I don't typically buy the extended warranty, as then I need to make saving all the paperwork, as part of the hobby...

 

[GaryE]

Let me guess - it failed 3 hours after warranty expired...

 

[FranciscoB]

I bought 4 of those Nicrew., 36”, for various uses. One of them failed at the years mark. The other 3 have been in continuos use for -3 years with no problems. I also have several Finnex, and have had about the same experience. But I do have a couple of old ones that still work fine. Go figure!

 

[Magnum Man]

I have 2 others, same light, same size that are still working, at least for now

 

[Back in the fold]

The modern technology and technological era we live in often disappoints . Best to stick to the tried and true until the gee whiz new stuff has been around for a while . It will either prove reliable or will ride off into the sunset never to be heard from again .

 

[Uberhoust]

I have 4 Nicrew lights, one the same model that you are using. They are all over 3 years old and still working fine. I suspect that you are having a single component fail on the light, capacitor burned out, trace broken... The other possibility is you have open or partially open tanks. None of my Nicrews are waterproof, or even rated as far as I know, you might be having a water issue with the light fixture, the RH overtop of an open aquarium is pretty high.

 

[Magnum Man]

LED's seemed like such an advance over fluorescent... in fact when I wired my main group of tanks,. 30 years ago, I included 2 incandescent sockets over each tank, on a separate plugged circuit, so I could put timers on them... that's how much I hated fluorescent

 

[Magnum Man]

my tanks are almost all open, but being built in most lights are mounted on the ceiling, At least 18 inches above the tanks, and the controls are all off the side, where they are not above the tanks...

 

[fishorama]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with those Nicrews. I have 2 48 inch 1s that I've had for 4 & 5 years now, so far so good. I like them, although they are both slightly different models. They were my first foray into LEDs, I was nervous. But plants grow well & fish look good...&n they were cheap.

 

[GaryE]

As one of the resident vaguely crazy fishkeepers with too many tanks, I can tell you led lights impress me. Different manufacturers have different quality, and I haven't tried your brand. But when I lucked into a large number of Fluval LEDs at once and switched a fishroom over, my electricity bill dropped radically. Plants began to grow.
I have kept fish with incandescent, fluorescent, compact fluorescent and now LED lighting, and I would never go back to the others.

I've been fully LED for a while, and have fixtures running after 7 or 8 years.

We're always going to face the issue of bad quality devices. It's nice for a company to have a good reputation, but the unnecessary filling of landfills is highly profitable. An expensive light that lasts a decade isn't as profitable as one that dies after three years. We're stuck with that. I feel personally offended if a HOB doesn't last 15 years, but lights, heater and air pumps are like marriages between 19 year olds.

The biggest annoyance with LEDs is when they eventually fail, it's a large object compared to a bulb you can change.

 

[Magnum Man]

in the "old days" I never did live plants, in the tanks, unless close to a window, so I acknowledge the improvement... my 1st dawn to dusk set up, was a high pressure sodium light, that would come on 1st, go off, and come on, again in the evening, with a metal halide light that was on, through the middle of the day... that was over a salt water reef tank... I actually had a few salt water plants in that tank...

the high pressure sodium was a 150 watt, the metal halide was 400 watts, so the combo used a lot of electricity

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I love fluors. I have 3 LEDs on smaller tanks. On nost of the rest I have T-8s and one tank a couple of power compacts. My bulbs last for years , I do high CRI bulbs only and the fish colors pop and the plants thrive.

I am a real KISS threory person. My heater controllers are as basic as can be but they are in C not F. to se the temp you push the button until the digital display heats the number you want, and that is it.

I absolutely do not want a light fixture that simulate sunrise and sunset. I want cheap, but with the right temp. and CRI and I am also a fan of a plant gal. from my early years who said: Intensity matter most but that was 22+ years ago when fouors and power compacts were it- I do not count incand. or some of the high power bulbs that got super hot.

This is the model I use- very basic and used to be cheaper as well. https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-Freshwater-Aquarium-Light-Spectrum/dp/B08SBY771C?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1 They do not show the size for the one I have on my 5.5 gal. I guess they don't make it any more? I have one on my 15 gal. and one on my 29. My plants are thriving as are the fish and shrimp and snails in those tanks. All of the lights are on timers.

It has been years since I last had to replace a bulb.

 

[Innesfan]

I love fluors. I have 3 LEDs on smaller tanks. On nost of the rest I have T-8s and one tank a couple of power compacts. My bulbs last for years , I do high CRI bulbs only and the fish colors pop and the plants thrive.

I too am a fluorescent fan and for the same reasons. I've been stockpiling reflectors since they are harder and harder to find. 36-inchers, for 30 longs and 40 breeders are entirely extinct. And 48-inchers I fear are about to join them.

 

[fishorama]

As my old fluorescent & PC ballasts & bulbs die, I've replaced them with LEDs. I still have 1 T-8 or T-5 4ft on a 5ft tank. Not super good coverage but my plants, mostly crypts, are happy. When it dies I'll go LEDs. Nicrews are almost cheaper than new bulbs.. But mine are on glass tank lids, maybe that matters. I think the info on them said not for open top tanks, but I took that to mean just above the water surface.

30 inch fluoro both T-8 & T-5 bulbs are hard to find & expensive. Luckily I'm not running a tank that needs those right now.