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Light strip for plants

dankdabe

dankdabe

Members
I have a good deal on picking up a 48in Nova Extreme T5 X2 light fixture with bulbs and was wondering if anyone could provide insight on the wattage for plants. I understand this is a relatively small amt of wattage for a planted tank but was wondering if it was sufficient for low light guys like anubias, crypts, swords, and ferns. Let me know. Thanks!
 
verbal

verbal

CCA Members
It depends on your tank depth, but in general it should work for the lower level tank. A 12 or 18 inch deep tank I think would be at least medium light.
 
Hawkman2000

Hawkman2000

Members
I read on anther site that 460 actinic is really good for freshwater plants. The guy said that the wave length that chlorophyll uses to facilitate photosynthesis is 459 nanometers and 460 is perfect. Seems to work great on my Java Fern. You could also get GE or Sylvania 6500k T-5 HO bulbs from an electrical supply store. Much cheaper than the more expensive option.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Forget the watts

Watts are not the same as lumens and are simply a measure of power consumption, not fixture output/brightness except in a relative sense where it involves the same type of fixtures/bulbs. Comparing wattage on compact fluorescents and T5s for instance doesn't work. That fixture I believe has two HO 54W T5 bulbs which should be plenty if they're the right type bulbs. All the serious plant people I know claim that a 6700K and a Colormax or 10K combo is the way to go for dual strips over planted tanks, although I've had fabulous results with just straight 6700K and no additives, CO2 or supplements.

I keep hearing about actinic being good for plants but no one selling freshwater fixtures ever includes them as an option so I'm very skeptical and inclined to think this is creative rationalization for selling bulbs/fixtures that are really better suited to saltwater tanks. None of the GWAPA folks I've spoken with use actinic on their tanks and it seems like they would be the ones to know.

Amazing how very inexpensive it is to buy new T5 fixtures online with exactly the right bulbs. I used to spend a lot of time lurking on CraigsList & Ebay for cheap Coralife CF fixtures but by once you factor in the time, shipping, breakage, wear and tear and having to buy different or replacement bulbs it's just seems more satisfying/economical to buy them new. T5s are also cheaper to operate on account of using less wattage and seem as good or superior to CFs as I'm not noticing any loss in lighting quality.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Living without CO2?

londonloco said:
108w of T5HO lighting over a 55 gallon without co2 will very likely end up an algae farm. I have that amount of light on my 75g with co2 raised 9" above the waters edge, and I still fight some algae. Check out Hoppy's chart, scroll down to second chart:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/105774-par-vs-distance-t5-t12-pc.html

2 bulbs over a 20" tank is high light unless you raise the fixture 12" over the tank.
Click to expand...

Very cool charts though one might assume from them that all wavelengths are created equal. Maybe we should get a plant mogul to come give a presentation on 'Aquatic Plants for Dummies' or some such - I know there's a lot I need/want to learn about the subject that I simply do not know.
 
Hawkman2000

Hawkman2000

Members
Avatar said:
Very cool charts though one might assume from them that all wavelengths are created equal. Maybe we should get a plant mogul to come give a presentation on 'Aquatic Plants for Dummies' or some such - I know there's a lot I need/want to learn about the subject that I simply do not know.
Click to expand...

Completely agree about the wavelengths. The "Aquatic Plants for Dummiers" would be great.

Wouldn't a common pleco resolve the algea prob?
 
londonloco

londonloco

Members
It's not as easy as get a pleco and algae is gone. There are many different types of algae, and a pleco doesn't take care of most of them.

Planted tanks are a balance of light, nutrients and co2. The common theory these days is limiting light is the best algae control. In 5 years, there might be another theory. I do know since I've raised my lights and cut off bulbs, I have way less algae.

I haven't seen anyone, on any forum, state they have the perfect formula, and algae is never a problem for them. There are too many unique factors involved in every tank, water source, fish, husbandry (to name a few) all differ tank to tank.
 
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