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Lighting Recommendation

Wblaze

Wblaze

Members
Hello all. I need a 48" light for my new 55g Malawi tank. I want a t5 but do not want to spend a ton. I bought a deep blue double strip t5 from the lagoon in Wheaton today but before I opened it I saw that it has the 24 hour blue LEDs that you cannot turn off. This would drive me nuts, so I am bring it back.

Please help me find a nice light
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
Did you buy the T5HO or T5HE model of the deep blue? The HO is quite bright. You should try the deep blue with just the LEDs before bringing it back. They are not very bright at all. I do recommend changing the bulbs it comes with, as they are not wonderful.

Other than Deep Blue, your next cheapest (cost wise) fixture may be from aquatraders.
 
Prince

Prince

The ONE who is The ONE
You don't notice the blue LED 's when the light is on. The t5 bulbs wash out the blue.

Posted via mobile.capitalcichlids.org
 
Wblaze

Wblaze

Members
do the small blue leds that stay on all night bother the fish. that is why i may return it. do not really like the blues on all night
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
I think the blue LED's are meant to simulate moon light. I don't think they would bother the fish at all.
 
Wblaze

Wblaze

Members
On the aqua traders link, do you recommend the one with the 10000 and actinic bulbs or throne with the two 6750 bulbs? They are both 59 dollars
 
londonloco

londonloco

Members
The blue lights on at night are moonlights, don't bother fish or plants at all. Moonlights let you watch what goes on in your tank during lights out. If they are on a reef tank, it's super kewl, as much goes on after lights are off. I have them on my 125g Tangy tank, on a catalinaaquarium.com T5HO fixture, I had them put the moonlights on a separate switch, they are on for a couple of hours after lights out, and before lights on. I like it, but it's really all up to the viewer.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Let there be dark

Wblaze said:
On the aqua traders link, do you recommend the one with the 10000 and actinic bulbs or throne with the two 6750 bulbs? They are both 59 dollars
Click to expand...

The latter - actinics are of little use for freshwater tanks. Optimal low-end sweetwater set-ups run a 6700K or thereabouts and a 10,000K - right wavelengths to grow most anything conventional, all you have to decide is how much light (normal vs. high-output) you want/require. Others better qualified to answer that than I, but I've found that HO isn't required to maintain lush growth for a wide range of conventionally available plants.

On a side note, while I like having moonlights on at night from time to time, I think the fish generally benefit from zero light while trying to "sleep" as it forces most of the tank inhabitants to settle down and everyone gets a chance to truly rest. Maybe not a big deal for a pair of breeders off by themselves but in a community tank where the behaviors are at variance, everyone still needs their rest and best way to ensure that is to just shut them down. No one in the "Kingdom" save humans really ever sleeps with the lights on, more so as "moonlights" are generally far brighter in a tank than natural moonlight is on most nights in most latitudes in most habitats.

The timer approach noted above that allows for transition periods from full
light to dark and back again is a good one. Better still are those that dim and gain the lights gradually though I don't know how to do it easily/cheaply as yet.
 
Hawkman2000

Hawkman2000

Members
I like having a 6500k/420 actinic combination on my freshwater tanks. The actinics enhance the reflective spots and patterns on fish and (in my experience) stimulate plant growth (in some plants). 10000k not the best for freshwater, unless used in combination. The best freshwater combination I have seen was (from front to back) 1x420 actinic(ZooMed), 1xHagen PowerGlo, 1x6500k (ZooMed), all t5-HO. I plan on doing a custom retrofit to my 46bf to this scheme.

If you have a 420 actinic light on by itself; the whole tank looks blue, but when used with a 6500k, 10000k, PowerGlo...the blue effect is gone and it enhances colors withing certain spectrums.

I would suggest trying the one you got with the LEDS and see how you like it. If you don't like the LEDS, take it back and get a Deep Blue 2xT5-HO with 2 freshwater/ 6500k bulbs, and get one 420 actinic bulb and try that.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Hawkman2000 said:
10000k not the best for freshwater, unless used in combination.
Click to expand...

"Optimal low-end sweetwater set-ups run a 6700K or thereabouts and a 10,000K..."

Funny, that reads/sounds precisely like a "combination" to me.

It's also the standard array on the freshwater fixtures that Coralife and others sell. Am pretty sure if they believed or that research showed that some other 50/50 combination that included actinic produced better results they'd sell that instead.

Most of the "wisdom" on the internet contends that freshwater plants don't benefit much if at all - depending on the precise wavelength - from actinic light because it primarily stimulates plants to grow "up" toward the weak blue light because they sense they are being overshadowed resulting in lots of stem growth and little foliage, as opposed to growing "out" which produces abundant leaf growth from the more useful spectra.

The majority of information also indicates that for the most part actinic's only value in a freshwater tank is to make the colors on the fish "pop" unless it's an actinic that emits blue light of a wavelength that contributes to photosynthesis - apparently the common 460s do not. As such, some actinics may keep plants alive, and even contribute to growth when used with bulbs that emit light with more useable/useful wavelengths (read as "better"), but that doesn't qualify them as "plant lights" per se and people (especially those that are looking for basic set-ups to grow plants) shouldn't be led to believe/expect otherwise.
 
Hawkman2000

Hawkman2000

Members
Avatar said:
"Optimal low-end sweetwater set-ups run a 6700K or thereabouts and a 10,000K..."

Funny, that reads/sounds precisely like a "combination" to me.

It's also the standard array on the freshwater fixtures that Coralife and others sell. Am pretty sure if they believed or that research showed that some other 50/50 combination that included actinic produced better results they'd sell that instead.

Most of the "wisdom" on the internet contends that freshwater plants don't benefit much if at all - depending on the precise wavelength - from actinic light because it primarily stimulates plants to grow "up" toward the weak blue light because they sense they are being overshadowed resulting in lots of stem growth and little foliage, as opposed to growing "out" which produces abundant leaf growth from the more useful spectra.

The majority of information also indicates that for the most part actinic's only value in a freshwater tank is to make the colors on the fish "pop" unless it's an actinic that emits blue light of a wavelength that contributes to photosynthesis - apparently the common 460s do not. As such, some actinics may keep plants alive, and even contribute to growth when used with bulbs that emit light with more useable/useful wavelengths (read as "better"), but that doesn't qualify them as "plant lights" per se and people (especially those that are looking for basic set-ups to grow plants) shouldn't be led to believe/expect otherwise.
Click to expand...

Sorry, meant in combination with a 6500k or other natural daylight bulb. 10ks are a almost pure white bulb, and usually dont hit the yellows and some other colors as much as a 6500k. I actually just returned a 6500k bulb and exchanged it for a 10k on my 20long because the 6500k made it look to yellow. However, my other 2 tanks have 6500ks in them and look great to me. It all depends on the fish, decor, and the viewers personal preferance.
 
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