For plant LED, most people are heard from somebody said on internet who is heard from another somebody said....
I have 1st hand material...I started my 4ft tank with LED texture.s
They are not big brand like somebody suggested, they made in China.
They are not high wattage which is at least 3W/B, they were actually LCD PCB.
Spec: 0.058W/4V per bulb, white color, 120 bulbs per board, 12V DC drive.
Totally I used 12 pieces of board. I estimated luminous are same as 3x39W T5HO.
It's like this:
It perform awesome than I expected, the glosso spread fast which we know make lives on strong light.
But I changed to T5HO after 3 weeks. I could not find a good way of water-proof, they fell down into the tank!
PS: Actually there's no white LED, all diodes can only emit one of its color. White LED is an UV light indeed. We can see the yellow color of the bulb in my photo above, it's the phosphors which will emit white light when triggered by UV.
The LED lifespan is upon to the phosphors, not the diodes. The advertised lifespan (50000Hrs) is diodes, not the phosphors----it's shorter remarkably.
My Conclusion:
1. So best LED for planted tank, ought to be RGB.......(I would say, OMG).
2. Most white LED will work for planted tank. My experience, 40W for 4ft tank is enough. It's a shame to say only those high-out LED are for plant, especially specified for aquarium----it's kind of a better business only, not the real.
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