Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus Light for Aquarium, 24 to 36-Inch

Novelty, the quality of being new and unique. Does this apply to this product, or is this product actually useful? Let's find out.I originally evaluated this product last month. At that time, I was comparison-shopping (cross-shopping) this product with the Finnex Ray 2 DS. I liked both products, but eventually chose the Finnex because of its higher light output and the superior design of its fixture. I carefully compared the two fixtures prior to making my decisions. Fortunately, I had access to people who owned both brands. And while their tanks were different from what I have, the dimensions were close enough for me to clearly discern the characters of both lights.What I wrote down on my review of the Finnex Ray 2 DS still holds true today. And for that particular tank, were I choosing today, I would make the same choice. The Finnex simply had what I needed on that tank. Namely, to supply life-giving light energy to some very challenging plants like Dwarf Baby Tears, Needle Leaf Rotala, and Dwarf Hairgrass.However, I was also intrigued by the Current USA Freshwater LED +. So, when the opportunity came to set up another tank, I ordered it. Amazon delivered the package, I received, unpacked and installed. The Current now sits on top of a 30-inch tank, with adjustable legs extended from the 24" body of the fixture. The tank has one dwarf, flame gourami. No gravel. Yes, this tank is a work-in-process. The plan is to eventually populate this tank with Peacock Gudgeons.The fixture of the Current is not quite as nice as that of the Finnex. The black body and those bent-wire legs do not make an aesthetically pleasing appearance. It is clear that Current USA spent their money, or focused their money, on the product's ability to be controlled by a wireless remote (included) and its ability to change light colors. There are also some dynamic light effects, like flickering lightning. With the remote, you can change the color of the LEDS and adjust them to better enhance the colors of your fishes and plants. This fixture provides a lot of entertainment value. The remote is fun to use.This light fixture would be ideal to use in a tank that has only low-light plants like Anubia, Java Fern, and Marimo Balls. The light intensity is fairly low. If you wish to grow plants that require high light levels, this fixture would not be a good choice. That is, unless you want to buy two and run them together. This basically comes down to what you have in the tank. If you have plastic plants, then this fixture will do very nicely. On top of a non-planted tank full of rift lake cichlids, this would do just fine. And you can adjust the light to enhance the bright colors of the fish.I gave this product five stars. It was not designed to function in a system that require high levels of light. For that, you will need something with more intensity. But, for what it was designed to do, which is to provide a remote-controllable LED light fixture that has the ability to change the colors of its light output, it has succeeded.In terms of price, the Finnex was just a little bit more expensive. Both lights are a bargain. Depending on your needs, either one will serve you very well. Just know ahead of time what you need the light to do.I wanted to evaluate a "Build My LED" brand fixture, but could not find one. I have seen them before, and their housing is aesthetically superior to the other two products mentioned in this review. However, they are also quite a bit more expensive.Those novel features, like the lightning effects, do they benefit the fish? Probably not. Strictly for entertainment, I think. However, this middle-aged adult is not above having fun and cycling through the available lighting effects on this fixture. So, is it simply novelty or is it practically useful? You will have to judge that for yourself.One little bit of advice: If you are planning to use this for a 30-inch tank with plants, try to get the next larger size.UPDATE (Feb. 18, 2014): The light intensity is less than I had originally thought. This fixture is being used on a 30-inch, 20-gallon tank. My opinion, after having in the tank for over a week, is that the light output will only be enough for this combination if the plants are truly of the low-light requirement variety. An example of the type of plant that can grow well under this light, on a tank of this size, is the Anubia species. I am considering purchasing a second unit in order to be able to grow a wider variety of plants. This would become an expensive set-up, for a 20-gallon tank.

Initial observations:I just set this up today and I'm impressed enough to share a review already so that must mean I'm quite happy with the unit so far. I will keep this review updated, as longevity is key to LED lights (of any kind) to make the purchase worthwhile.-Only burns 18 watts!-Is significantly brighter than my old, worn out, Coralife 65 watt florescent fixture with what seemed to be a proprietary bulb. I came home to find that unit failed and didn't bother looking for bulb replacements since I wanted to switch to an LED. When that old unit was new it was brighter but still not as bright as this one.-Fully customizable color temperature via the multi-color LEDs. So far I think I prefer the preset baby blue or the yellow buttons on the remote. The pure white is nice but not as bright since it doesn't use the multi-color LEDs.-Briefly played around with the effects but these seem to be more of a gimmick. I suspect I will only use the moonlight presets.-Sleek, low profile construction out of aluminum which makes a good heatsink for the LEDs. Hopefully this translates into extended life.-I purchased the Current USA Single Ramp Timer to go along with this and so far it seems to work quite nicely. The sunrise/sunset will be nice to watch and for the fishes' cardiovascular health :PNow, the hope is that this unit would last 20,000 hours. There is no manufacturers claim, and somewhat disappointingly only a 1 year warranty. Some LEDs claim up to 50K hours, while most are 20-25K so hopefully 20 is a safe bet. That's about 10 years of service with a use of 6 hours/day. Comparing electricity costs at .10/Kwh this unit will save me $10/year over my 65W florescent model.. If it lasts 10 years that's $100 in saved electricity costs assuming the rates don't change.. and mostly likely if anything they'd go up. So there you have it, assuming the unit lasts it will pay for itself over it's life.. and this doesn't take into account the fact that my florescent unit only lasted 6 years, cost $60+ new, and the bulb probably should have been replaced years ago at ~$33 a pop (just looked them up on amazon). Another thing I like is that these take a low voltage input from an external DC power supply.. this means you don't have to be worried about an internal transformer failing and rendering the entire unit worthless, and you won't be bombarding your fish with EM waves ;)

Es un muy buen producto, es algo caro pero me encantó sus funciones, los cambios de color que se pueden programar, su control remoto, es muy delgada la lámpara y discreta. Mis plantas se ven geniales...

I have this 24 inch light on a 24 inch 20 gallon tall panted tank. It is not as bright as my other brand full spectrum led light bars on my 120 and my 90 gallon. I am running all the available spectrum at 100 percent to sustain my plants. Surprisingly I am not having a problem with my plants. It has a lot of lighting features, but lets face it, your not going to use them all if you want your plants to flourish. I may uses some of the night time lighting programs when fish spawn or raise fry so they don't eat their young.Regardless of the features I may or may not use, it has good value for the money and size.For a planted tank there are better. For a not planted tank I can see using more of the lighting programs.

While this light is bright and may be sufficient for a more shallow tank, it did not provide enough light for my deep tank. It also lasted only 2 years before the condensation burnt out part of the LED’s.

Since buying this light, my plants are growing like crazy! First picture is when I bought the light, second is a month later. Love this!

The lights are great and have many settings, easy to use…. But… Its been barely over a year and the white leds stopped working.editUpon fiddling, I was able to get the lights to work. The light unit is fine but either the remote sensor or the power cord itself makes it so they don’t go to full brightness. I got them to go on but they seem touchy. The customer service is pretty good however and they are made in the US. I have another unit on another set up and they have been working great for many years….