NICREW ClassicLED Plus LED Aquarium Light, 27W, for 36 to 48 Inch Fish Tank

This light has worked well for my 40 gallon low tech, planted tank. The first one that I purchased has lasted over a year so far and still works like new. I liked it so much I bought a second for my new 40 gallon. They have survived incidental splashing no problem at all. It's not difficult to clean off mineral build up on the bottom, and my plants are doing well. I enjoy having the sunset sunrise options, and being able to turn the light on and off real quick without losing my scheduled settings. If you manually turn it on with the power button, just press the gear button and it will resume the schedule. My only mild complaint is having to reset the clock if the power flickers, but this is not a deal breaker for me.

The timer was confusing at first but after watching a YouTube video it made more sense. Way better of an upgrade compared to the light that the aquarium package I bought came with. Plants looks very healthy. You might want to consider turning the total brightness intensity down because it can be strong for some plants. Sunrise/sunset feature is awesome and makes for a more natural scape for both the fish and me. 10/10 would buy again

UPDATED REVIEW, SEPTEMBER 2025: The LED panel and LTP controller have been running with no issues since I set them up in 2021. My only complaint is that any kind of power blip will cause the LTP to lose the time of day and snap back to midnight. A nice upgrade would be to include a capacitor or tiny Li-ion battery inside to retain the time for a while. ORIGINAL REVIEW, JANUARY 2021: I have a 10gal tank with a black Aqueon hood, which came with a 15W T8 full spectrum fluorescent tube inside. This hood is cheap and basic, but I like it and wanted to change it over to LED. After doing some research, I ordered the NICREW Classic LED Plus 18-24" and NICREW single channel Light Timer Pro (LTP). I was able to fit this LED panel inside the Aqueon hood after removing all the original guts. At the time of this review, it's been running 12 hrs/day for about four months. After powering up the LED panel for the first time and setting it on the tank, I decided to cover the central group of six blue LEDs to warm up the color a bit. I also taped a white plastic bag over the entire panel as a diffuser. With these mods, setting the LTP to around 35% produced tank illumination equivalent to the fluorescent tube. I've included a before/after comparison photo, which captures the slightly murky greenish tint of the old light compared to the LED. Flicker can be an issue with LEDs, depending on how they're powered and dimmed. I did some tests with the panel out in the open and the LTP at different dimming settings. In the panel's blue-only mode, I could see some mild, high-speed flicker at low dimming settings, which might bother sensitive people. However, in the daylight mode, the white LEDs provide the vast majority of the light output and they have no flicker at any dimming level. Audible noise from DC power supplies can also be an issue. I can hear a faint hiss from the power adapter (wall plug) when it's within a couple inches of my ear but this was inaudible from arm's length. The LED panel and LTP are totally silent at all power levels. In terms of heat output, I'd say the this LED panel at 35% runs slightly cooler inside the enclosure than the original fluorescent light. As visible in the photos, there are several live plants in the tank, and I have noticed no loss of vigor after changing to the LED. Overall I'm satisfied with my new setup and recommend this LED panel to anyone wanting to light a similar tank. The LTP has been reliable so far, and works as described once you understand the quirks of its ramp time behavior, as others have noted in the reviews.

I purchased this light in April of 2022. It appears to be a new revision. While the manufacturer's pictures on Amazon seem to match the product I received, the item and pictures do NOT match most of the reviews I see posted about this light, so hopefully this will be educational about what is currently shipping. Also, it has been a while since I've kept an aquarium and only recently am I setting up a new tank. I've never used an LED aquarium light before. This light has an integrated, hardwired timer controller that can control 2 separate channels or modes - one for daytime(?) lighting and one for blue lights. The LED array consists of white, blue, green and red bulbs. In timer mode, you can set one time period to turn on and off the daytime lights and another period to control the blue lights. I'm not entirely sure why I want to control the blue lights separate from the rest. Perhaps as a night light? You can also set 0, 15, or 30 minutes to phase in and out the light intensity - like a sunrise and sunset. You can control the intensity of each mode in timer mode, from 0 to 100 percent. This is all great. You can also turn on the full light or the blue lights manually and then return back to your program. However, there are some quirks - maybe even flaws - with the current controller. First - if you lose power to the light, the time gets reset to 00:00. Your program is retained in memory, but until you reset the time, the light will run on an altered schedule. Second, you cannot dim the light in manual mode. It only works at 100%. If you want to skip using the timer and control the lights externally via a timer or smart plug, you only can run the lights at full blast through manual mode. If the power cuts out while lights are on manually, they do come back on when power is restored. Third, and I'm new to LED aquarium lights so this might not be a flaw, however, when the lights are turned on in manual mode - all four color LEDs are used. But, when the daytime mode is triggered via the timer, only the white, red and green lights are lit. The blue lights are off. Note you can overlap the time period settings for the two modes, so maybe it is by design to have separate blue light control and you just run the two programs concurrently to have full RBGW spectrum lighting. To me, the loss of the correct time due to a loss of power is a problem. One work around would be to run the light through a battery back up, preserving the time and light operation until your battery dies. Second, you CAN use an external timer or smart plug. To do this, program the modes to both run for the full 24hours - 00:00 - 23:59. Set your intensities and don't bother with sunrise/sunset. Run this through your timer. When power gets cut to the led lamp - due to external timer or power outage, the lights go out. When power is restored, the lights will come back on after about 10 seconds - the clock will be at 00:00. They will come on at the programmed intensities. Both options work. Option 1 depends on an external battery backup (separate purchase) but preserves the sunrise/sunset feature. Option two depends on a cheaper outlet timer or smart plug but loses sunrise/sunset and the ability to turn on the lights manually through the LED lamp - you can use your smart plug instead. The light didn't come with a manual. None was posted to the Nicrew website that matched the new revision either. But Nicrew support was responsive to email requests through their website. I received responses overnight. They were able to provide a manual and answer some questions I had. Nothing in the manual details WHY or WHEN I want to use the blue lights though. I do question the spectrum chart they show on the box - is this spectrum only when all 4 light colors are running at 100%? I have not used this light on a planted tank yet, so I can't comment on plant growth. Heck, I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to run it - RGW or RGBW. All that being said, looking at some other lights in the same price range, its pretty great that Nicrew is offering a programmable timer. There is certainly value here. Add in a battery backup for the clock (let the lights turn off in a power outtage) and this would be a certain winner. Letting me dim the lights in manual mode would be an extra nice touch. Maybe in revision 3.

This is a great LED light for a 10-gallon fish tank. It has enough light to grow plants such as Valysneria and Amazon swords, but not so much light that you would need to add CO2 to the tank. Keep the light active for no more than six hours to avoid algae growth. I use this light on a ten-gallon shrimp tank. Frogbit and Salvinia float on the water. Those two floating plants grow very fast. I have to regularly remove about 50% of them every 3 weeks to keep them from layering. The growth is fast enough that these plants cover the top of the water and then they begin to layer. The build quality of this light is surprisingly good for this price point. Only time will tell how long they will last. I have been happy with them so far. They provide enough light to grow medium to low light demand plants. The fixture has been reliable. I have it connected to a mechanical timer. The light stays on for six hours each day. I stopped adding liquid fertilizer because the plants are growing too fast for my liking. This tank has approximately 10 freshwater mussels and an assortment of shrimp. I have Amano, Ghost, and red Cherry shrimp in this tank. Yes, I know the mussels and the Amanos will not complete their lifecycles in this tank. The former will need a host fish while the later will need brackish water. I do not keep fish in this tank. I can recommend this LED lighting system for fish-only tanks. It will also work well for tanks which only have medium-demand to low-light demand plants. It is perfect for floating plants. The angle of the light covers the surface area of a 10-gallon tank. This is a basic but solid light. It does not come with fancy lighting effects. It comes in daylight and that is it. You cannot create lightning effect and thunderstorms. But ask yourself if you really need those. I do not. It does not have a remote control. You will need to provide your own timer. Other than that, it is a great light for a 10-gallon tank. Highly recommended.

I have 3 of these, and one died after it got wet. However, the instructions clearly say not to get it wet, so that's on me. Of course, it would be preferable if it had something like an IP68 rating for water resistance, given that it literally is designed to be placed next to a water source, lol. Otherwise, the timer offers simple lighting control that is probably good enough for the average fish keeper and is a core component in keeping algae under control.

easy set up, nice lighting for my fish and plants

I'm using this unit (30" - 36" NICREW ClassicLED Plus Planted Aquarium Light, Full Spectrum LED Fish Tank Light for Freshwater Plants) with NICREW's Single Channel Timer on a SeaClear 50-Gallon acrylic aquarium in conjunction with the NICREW ClassicLED Gen 2 (36" - 48") Dimmable LED Fish Tank Light with NICREW's 2-Channel Timer. In my opinion, this set-up allows me to program an optimal 9 hours of daily light for the plants with a half hour of "ramp up" time and a half hour of "ramp down" time included. I am also injecting CO2, set via timer, to begin 15 minutes before the lights come on and turn off 15 minutes before the lights go out. To prevent and/or reduce condensation inside these light fixtures, I purchased quarter inch thick clear cast acrylic (which resists "warping" better than thinner acrylic and happens to be the same thickness used for the tank's construction), sized to cover the majority of the top of the tank, then added a 1.5" tall "backsplash" of the same material to the back edge length with super glue. This prevents the power filter from splashing water onto the light fixtures that will be placed over this acrylic "cover". Next I added "feet" (bump-ons) to the acrylic so that it wouldn't sit flush on top of the aquarium. My final step was to "round off" all the sharp edges with sandpaper. The total cost for this was less than $50. After that it was a simple matter of placing both light fixtures on top and moving on to programming their respective timers which, although it seemed to be a daunting task to me at first, became easier for me with more "hands-on" practice. NICREW also includes a video on the product page that shows how to program the timer. Overall, these light fixtures are cost effective and work as they're supposed to... my plants are growing very well! Although I don't know how long they'll last, based on the measures I took (listed above), I expect them to last for a long time. Also... before I do anything that involves moving these fixtures, I make sure to turn them off for at least 15 minutes prior. I would definitely recommend these! As a matter of fact, I am setting up two more aquariums and have already purchased more of these light fixtures in the appropriate sizes I'll need.

Si quieras está lámpara para alto requerimientos de terrarios o acuario no la recomiendo debes de usar dos para ese propósito, aunque por lo demás es liviana, cómoda y funcional

I’m very happy with this light. I bought it for my 10-gallon planted aquarium, and it fits the tank perfectly. The light is bright enough for my plants, and I really like being able to adjust the brightness and colour. The built-in timer is also very convenient and makes it easy to keep a consistent lighting schedule. It was easy to set up and looks great over the tank. Overall, I think it’s a good-quality light for the price, and I’m very pleased with my purchase. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an affordable light for a small planted aquarium.

Not as bright as I thought it would be. A bit dim looking.

Excellent results so far. My plants started pearling more rapidly as soon as it was turned on. Adjustability a great bonus!

Por el precio no está mal pero definitivamente le falta potencia de luz, yo las utilizo para terrarios y no son lo suficientemente potentes para plantas de altos requerimientos, no las recomiendo si necesitas potencia igual son bastante incómodas para configurar