Live, Laugh, Lamp is a premium LED lamp for the Fluval Liv aquarium. It's inspired by Fluval's own Plant line of LED lights: a lamp with high CRI LEDs, colors tuned for plant growth, and programmable through a smartphone.
- Powered by USB like the original
- High CRI, above 90, provided by quality Cree LEDs
- Higher power output, e.g. for folks dosing Flourish Excel
- Programmable through HomeAssistant
- Colors are adjustable and dimmable
- Extremely high dynamic range —super fine adjustments in low light settings
- Hacker friendly, design files available
- Customize with any color Cree XP-G3 or compatible LEDs
- Every LED gets its own PWM channel
- Easy firmware setup thanks to ESPHome
I bought the first batch of Fluval Liv as soon as it hit the shelves. I loved its aesthetic and its clever filtration system. One thing I wished was for it to have a little timer built into its light. So one thing led to another and I designed this lamp.
But why such a sophisticated lamp for this nano tank? Well, I have Thai Micro Crabs. They are nocturnal and I hardly get to see them. So I was always wishing for a dimmable lamp (with a red light) to watch them on those 3AM water breaks. Many animals don't react much to red light at night, and it doesn't wake you up either. So I wanted this on my bedroom aquarium.
Another reason is I have a Fluval Plant 4.0 on a bigger tank. I love running it at 2% brightness in the evenings. I only run its red and warm white LEDs in the evening and it creates a very nice warm white light with pink accents. It's very easy on my eyes. I can tell the fish enjoy it too: the nocturnal ones start to wake up and everybody else starts to wind down.
Finally, I just think nano tanks should get the same kind of high quality, advanced equipment that larger tanks get. For example, it's hard to find good nano syphons, nano wave makers, CO₂ systems, etc. This light is my small contribution.