Has anyone purchased the new SMATFARM G3?

[michaelzk]

I want a cheap and good light for my nano aquarium. I saw the SMATFARM G3 on Amazon.It’s new with one reviews, so I’m not sure. It works like the SMATFARM G5, but with 60w power. Has anyone used the G5? The G3 looks cool. For $100, it has sunrise and sunset and customizable lighting. I don’t care about the master-slave system, just need one light. I would like to get input from anyone who has used the G3 or G5.https://a.co/d/fTUM69R

 

[blaxsun]

Lots of people have used the SmatFarm (not me, but I'm sure you'll get some feedback shortly).

 

[turtlewax2020]

I use 3 of the G5 smatfarm lights on my 110 gallon. They work great. What size is your tank? I've had these lights for over a year now.

 

[ScottJ]

I use 2 G5's on my 48" tank. It's less than 6 months in, but so far I'm happy with it. Just a few softies in the tank so far, but they do well. The shimmer is very crazy. I could see where it might be too "shimmery" for some people. I like it, though.

 

[turtlewax2020]

I use 3 of the G5 smatfarm lights on my 110 gallon. They work great. What size is your tank? I've had these lights for over a year now.

I'm growing alot of LPS and SPS with them.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'm growing alot of LPS and SPS with them.

That light looks like it is doing wonders for your coral!

 

[turtlewax2020]

That light looks like it is doing wonders for your coral!

I have 3 of the smatfarm g5 and then 2 orphek or3 blue plus led bars.

 

[michaelzk]

I use 3 of the G5 smatfarm lights on my 110 gallon. They work great. What size is your tank? I've had these lights for over a year now.

I’ve a 29 gallon tank and according to the G3 product specs, I only need one light

 

[turtlewax2020]

I’ve a 29 gallon tank and according to the G3 product specs, I only need one light

Yes, you will be good with only one light, that will be perfect.

 

[Ordovician_Reef]

I am going to order on in the next few days... I have the 95 watt light from them and LOVE it. The shimmer is awesome. I was wondering if this light produced a similar shimmer effect? Anyone with one wanna chime in?

 

[Ordovician_Reef]

I use 2 G5's on my 48" tank. It's less than 6 months in, but so far I'm happy with it. Just a few softies in the tank so far, but they do well. The shimmer is very crazy. I could see where it might be too "shimmery" for some people. I like it, though.

I love it. I am setting up a 200 gallon with three radions and an thinking about adding two of the 60 watt lights just for the shimmer.

 

[Lebowski_]

I’ve read in other threads where people have replaced them after a while because they aren’t happy with coral growth or colouration, but that may only be relevant if you are growing high end stuff and want high performance.

This is what led me not to get one back when I was looking. I also just don’t trust some of these electronics that don’t have a company behind them, but that’s more of a personal fire paranoia thing.

 

[nereefpat]

I’ve a 29 gallon tank and according to the G3 product specs, I only need one light

Is it a standard 30" long 29 gallon?

If so, a single pendant of anything won't cover that spread very well. I would get 2.

 

[michaelzk]

Is it a standard 30" long 29 gallon?

If so, a single pendant of anything won't cover that spread very well. I would get 2.

30 in x 12 in x 18 in

 

[nereefpat]

Yeah, I would get 2

 

[familyreefin]

I use 2 G5's on my 48" tank. It's less than 6 months in, but so far I'm happy with it. Just a few softies in the tank so far, but they do well. The shimmer is very crazy. I could see where it might be too "shimmery" for some people. I like it, though.

We are running 2 on a 75 gallon as well. What settings are you using for sunlight and moonlight?

 

[ScottJ]

We are running 2 on a 75 gallon as well. What settings are you using for sunlight and moonlight?

I think I have all the blue channels up to about 75%, the whites at 10% and the blue and green at 5% each for daylight. Moonlight is 10% blues only.

 

[familyreefin]

I think I have all the blue channels up to about 75%, the whites at 10% and the blue and green at 5% each for daylight. Moonlight is 10% blues only.

Thanks

 

[Reefing102]

I have G5 over a Biocube 32 anemone tank. It keeps them alive. Though I haven’t been able to dial in that perfect spectrum and many of the anemones grown under my halides and transferred over have lost a lot of color in my opinion. The one that’s maintained good color is my Black Widow otherwise my rainbows, while still colorful, just aren’t as bright. I’ve since added some custom AliExpress Bars (still running the G5 with them) and I’m getting much better pop and apparent color

 

[mmletzko]

I just replaced my Nicrew 100w (that I've had for about 1 1/2 years) with a SmatFarm G5 for my 20g long that I turned into a rimless AIO. They both have some pros and cons. The Nicrew gives more of a blue pop than the G5, but the G5 has a beautiful shimmer, which is something I've always wanted, but didn't want to spend the money on Kessils.

I had the had the optional controller for the Nicrew, while it's built-in to the SmatFarm. Both lights programming works well, but you have to get creative with the G5 if you want just blues for a period of time (like in the evening). The G5 has a remote, but I've never needed to use it. Their programming works quite a bit differently, but both are fairly user-intuitive once you play with them a little and understand their nuances. The G5 has a very cool 'test' feature that fast-tracks your settings for a 24 hour period in like a minute.

I like the mounting bracket for the Nicrew better, but the G5 allows you to go a few inches higher. The G5 doesn't allow as much front-to-back positioning as the Nicrew (I would have liked to move it toward the back of the tank another inch or two), but it's not a deal-breaker. It's still in a good position. The Nicrew bracket also 'sits' better on the glass, in a position that appears to put less pressure on the glass. I have extra black acrylic pieces in there to aid in that support.

Right now I have the G5 at its peak height, which on my tank is 13" off the water. The Nicrew didn't go up quite as high and it didn't have as good of coverage. I felt like I couldn't get the Nicrew dialed in just right for the height/coverage and channel intensities, while everything seems to be happier with the G5. I even added a 2-bulb T5 with the Nicrew, which definitely helped, but felt like it was overkill to have a T5 and LED over a 20g.

I currently have it set on 50% for the blues/purples and 5% for the whites/greens. Strange that there's a green channel vs maybe red. You don't need much white on the G5 for it to be white - even 1% is a lot of white. It's an LPS/softies tank with several nems. Not sure if I'm going to add any SPS as I prefer the movement vs branching, but I'm sure this light could easily grow them.

So far I'm very happy with the G5 and am glad I made the switch.