Which kind of LED lights should I choose?

[jingwei3344]

Which kind of LED lights should I choose for aquarium?

[BFG]

What is the size of your tank, the depth, the width?

[aza]

Also, what do you plan to keep? Plants? Fish only? Think of a concept first too. Nature aquarium? Biotope? Bare bottom breeder?

[flatearthling]

if interest is in the plant get the RGB...I m using the OPNOVA really superb but of cos it is costly investment

[fcjjchew]

I uses LED light for my planted tank. I DIY them. 2ft -64 W LED.
3ft -96W. 6700k white light. Pm me if you want cheap DIY lights.

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

[Phillipians]

You can consider

East Ocean - Sanrise series
Fishy business - Maxspect
Aquatic Avenue - Zetlight

These are mid to high tiered light sets. Gives you the ability to tune dimming, intensity etc..
Personally i own the Maxspect and I will be trying out the Zetlight soon enough at the year end.
Good investment.

If you are looking at no frills lower end
There are the Odyssea, UP aqua, VG series. Decent performance and decent price.

[grandweapon]

I have a similar question. My tank is 36(L)*18(W)*24(H). Looking to grow a carpet of monte carlo and other medium light plants. No need for all the bells and whistles of dimmers, timers or programmable lights. Just a simple light that is able to grow my plants will be. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Phillipians]

You can try the green element series/odyssea. Very powerful for the price. I personally dont like the UP aqua colouration, but its a preference. Many seem to like it for its sleekness and price point.

[flatearthling]

UP AQUA Pro Series is good enough...

[grandweapon]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to purchase a 2nd hand Green Element from someone on Carousell to try out. Just worried because of the height of the tank. I haven't seen any pearling on my monte carlos using Beamswork.

[Urban Aquaria]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to purchase a 2nd hand Green Element from someone on Carousell to try out. Just worried because of the height of the tank. I haven't seen any pearling on my monte carlos using Beamswork.

Do note that pearling in plants doesn't just depend solely on the lights... even with the best lights, if Co2 or nutrients are limited, the overall plant photosynthesis rate will also be restricted too (hence no pearling) and all that extra light is unused.

You need a balance of light, ample Co2 and nutrients to keep the plants photosynthesizing for extended periods to saturate the water with oxygen, then you will see pearling (even if the light is considered low).

The key is to make sure your Co2 and nutrients are dialed in first, then if you find that under those favorable conditions the plants still don't pearl, then can look at increasing the lights... try not to increase light while Co2 and nutrients are still limited, that'll usually just feed algae growth instead.

[grandweapon]

Thanks for the tips UA! I have started dosing Flourish and Flourish Excel. Will keep a look out.

[Urban Aquaria]

Thanks for the tips UA! I have started dosing Flourish and Flourish Excel. Will keep a look out.

While Excel is an alternative liquid form of carbon that plants can utilise.... for tanks that don't have Co2 injection and just dosing Excel, there still tends to be less of a chance of plants pearling due to the Excel being less efficient in boosting growth than actual Co2 injection. Not that pearling wouldn't happen, just that it's more difficult to achieve maximum photosynthesis with just the dosing of Excel.

So just have to manage your expectations, even with ample Excel and nutrients and light, you still might not see any pearling (or not much pearling). It's usually when you inject real Co2 gas, then that's when the significant boost in plant growth and photosynthesis happens.