Lighting types question

[greenaqua]

I read many articles on this and found that LEDs have the best spectrum and PUR for plants. However they seem to imply that most LED for normal lighting are unsuitable and I need to look for LED specialized for plants. Is this true? If yes then is there a specification (e.g. like Cree-Z, etc) that I need to look for?

As LEDs are stilll quite expensive, the next best thing is CFL particularly the SHO types. Many horticulture farms in temperate countries with greenhouses uses these. For these do I have to buy CFLs specialized for plant growth or would any CFLs above 6500K do? If there are CFLs specialized for plant growth, could you recommend a brand and place to buy them in Singapore? I searched but little information available.

I have a 3ft planted tank. I just changed the substrate last week using Tropica Plant Growth Substrate buried below the gravel. I dose CO2 at 1 bubble per second and I have 2x36W PL light (normal household PL). However the plants don't seem to be bubbling. My lights are old so am thinking perhaps of changing to a lighting set with the right spectrum.

Any advise?

[BFG]

For plants, you need to use a specific reading range of between 5000kelvin to 8000kelvin. How to know this? It is usually printed on the bulb base for PL light tube and near the endcap for T5 tube. As for the lifespan of a bulb, it is generally known that you'll have about 9 month of usage before the bulb spectrum change. As time passes, the heat will degrade the bulb. From growing plants, the light spectrum will change that it would benefit algaes. Plants growth will slow down and you'll notice algae start to appear, although you did not add anything to the tank to cause this. The shift in spectrum might not be noticable with the naked eye but your tank condition or plant growth would tell you otherwise.

For your case, you either have to get new bulbs or change to a higher wattage PL light tube, 55w ones. You might have to upgrade to a T5HO lightset with parabolic m reflector if you do not fancy using PL light tube technology. For your 3ft tank, you need to get those 39w per tube T5 tube, may need from 4 to 8 or more depending on your requirement and available space. T5 ballast are electronic ballast and it power up to 2 T5 tube at a time. If you decide to use 4 or more, get a few timer to stagger their operating time ie dusk, dawn effect. Cooling the T5 bulbs do help in increase output performance but the 9 month rule still apply.

On another note, led form another platform of lighting to look into. But not all led are created equal. To cut an already long reply short, look at only those 3w led and nothing else. Here's a spoiler, the Maxspect Razor will have a version which is planted tank friendly coming soon. Currently, it is available for the reefing community. I do own a set of the Razor as well as a few module of the Maxspect Mazarra. I can't wait for the planted tank version to arrive. These lightset are programmable but what surprise me is the led performance. You can view the lightset at a certain lfs in the east. For now, just google it.



Hope this helps!

[32103940]

what people tend to miss out is colour rendering index (CRI), which should be considered alongside the color temperature (CCT). so while LED, PL, FL may all be sold as 6500K, they can have different CRI which is basically how close the lighting is to rendering true spectral distribution of a 6500K blackbody. LED are notorious for having low CRI (60% for cool daylight 6500K), while T5 are between 80-90. while the colour might look the same to a human, LED light is not evenly spread across the wavelengths. the good news is that 6500K LED have very strong blue wavelengths. if you are using any kind of fluorescent, it comes with a 3 digit colour code like 865, 840, 965, etc. first digit is the CRI(8=80%, 9=90%, higher the better) while next 2 digits are the colour temp (65=6500K, 40=4000K, etc).

these days it is easy to find LED with low CRI and low efficacy compared to T5+good reflector. in other words if you arent buying CREE LED, chances are FL will be better for your plants and wallet. another thing people overlook is that LED emit light only towards the water side, while fluorescents emit to all sides (50% of the light is useless unless you have reflector). so sometimes even a china LED can be better than a below average T5+reflector.

[daveeng38]

Appreciate these good information that greatly benefit newbies like me. A plus that we know what to look out for when deciding between normal and led lights. Just to add on. I ever saw some writeup that certain blue or red led with specify wavelength will benefit plant growth as well. Let me do a search later

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[ralliart12]

...Here's a spoiler, the Maxspect Razor will have a version which is planted tank friendly coming soon. Currently, it is available for the reefing community. I do own a set of the Razor as well as a few module of the Maxspect Mazarra. I can't wait for the planted tank version to arrive. These lightset are programmable but what surprise me is the led performance. You can view the lightset at a certain lfs in the east. For now, just google it...

Just to comment: this release really makes me "envious". Previously I didn't go for the Mazarra because it's too "rich for my taste". I went for a lower-tier brand (by OC Reef; still usin XM-L though) which is around SGD$600. Then recently, very recently I saw the Razor by Maxspect which looks really slim & its 2-foot-tank version should be around SGD$6++ after conversion (based on MarineDepot's site).

Anyway BFG, what's so special abou that particular Razer model that's "suited" for planted tanks?

[BFG]

It's spec'd just for planted tank usage. I have the marine version and might get the plant version.The marine version 2 foot is $5++ if I am not wrong, the 3ft is $6++. Was told the plant version would be cheaper. I guess with the exclusion of some of the actinic led that the marine version used, the price would be lower for the plant version. I have reached the 15th year mark in working for the same company and would be receiving a small sum of money for this occasion. Am planning to use this to buy me this plant version led light as a present for myself. Just my luck on the darn good timing.

[ralliart12]

It's spec'd just for planted tank usage. I have the marine version and might get the plant version.The marine version 2 foot is $5++ if I am not wrong, the 3ft is $6++. Was told the plant version would be cheaper. I guess with the exclusion of some of the actinic led that the marine version used, the price would be lower for the plant version. I have reached the 15th year mark in working for the same company and would be receiving a small sum of money for this occasion. Am planning to use this to buy me this plant version led light as a present for myself. Just my luck on the darn good timing.

Is the 120-watt model on DE Lighting's site the one spec-ed for planted setups? & is the only difference the removal of actinic diodes? While the 2 choices of colour spectrum still remains at 10k & 16k (even for planted tank model)?

[BFG]

No, there are 3 version available, 8000k, 10000k and 16000k. All 3 version comes in 2 model, 2ft and 3ft. 2ft is 120w while 3ft is 160w. It's my guesstimate that the actinic are left out as I believe it is not practical for an actinic to be used in a planted tank unless there is something fluorescing in a planted tank that would take advantage of the actinic lighting.

[BFG]

It's spec'd just for planted tank usage. I have the marine version and might get the plant version.The marine version 2 foot is $5++ if I am not wrong, the 3ft is $6++. Was told the plant version would be cheaper. I guess with the exclusion of some of the actinic led that the marine version used, the price would be lower for the plant version. I have reached the 15th year mark in working for the same company and would be receiving a small sum of money for this occasion. Am planning to use this to buy me this plant version led light as a present for myself. Just my luck on the darn good timing.

Just checked with the local distributor, the price will remain the same as the marine version. My luck frequency just run out, oh well, you win some, you lose some.

[ralliart12]

No, there are 3 version available, 8000k, 10000k and 16000k...

Oh, I see that the 8000k model is the "new" model. Any idea why they are still refusing to use XM-L diodes & instead sticking to XP-E & XT-E?

Is 8000k a tad blue-ish for planted tanks? Based on a baseline reference that 6500K is warm white...

No, there are 3 version available, 8000k, 10000k and 16000k. All 3 version comes in 2 model, 2ft and 3ft. 2ft is 120w while 3ft is 160w...

Actually, their "2-foot" model is only 20.5 inches. I assume the "legs" of the fixture can expand to fit an actual 2-foot tank, right?

UPDATE: Never mind, I saw some other photos of it, i.e. can be extended.

Just checked with the local distributor, the price will remain the same as the marine version. My luck frequency just run out, oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Okay lah, $5xx for something from MaxSpect..."relatively" cheap already