LED good for plants?
- Thread starter Fishie
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fishfanatic
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Fishie said:
What light exactly? Is it the single bright, double bright, or the reef capable? I had the reef capable one of a 40 gallon high tank for a while and i wasn't extremely impressed. IMO it will grow plants but a T5-HO fixture will be much cheaper and much more effective. Now I am not speaking for LEDs as a whole just the marineland fixtures.
CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Marineland is just about to come out with an LED light fixture made specifically for planted aquariums (in about a week or 2). Should be great but it'll be pricy (for me at least). I use T5 lights and they work great but don't have that cool shimmer that the LEDs have.
fishfanatic
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Fishie said:
I can't imagine the single brights growing anything but very low light plants. Maybe Java ferns and Java moss. And even then I think they will grow very slowly.
I am crazy exited for the marineland plant LED! This is the first I have heard of it.
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would be surprised of single brights could support life on anything beyond a 10g, and even then strictly the lowest light plants.
I'm not holding my breath for the new LED. It will probably be expensive and still less light than a T5HO fixture of significantly lesser price.
I'm not holding my breath for the new LED. It will probably be expensive and still less light than a T5HO fixture of significantly lesser price.
CorallineAlgae said:
They are still only packing them with one watt LEDs. Not near powerful enough to grow plants on anything but the shallowest of tanks. Save yourself some money and build your own LED fixture with proper three watt LEDs.
fishfanatic
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Fishie said:Thanks everyone wonder why my plants don't always do so good!going to look for a T5 light with a hood that fits!!! Would a T5-HO bulb be good? I really want to get into plants!
Depending on how extreme you want to get (co2? Ferts?) Then a 2-4 bulb T5-HO fixture would be good.
CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
fishfanatic said:
Agreed. But if you want to give the new LED fixture a shot and aren't into DIY projects it'll have 1740 lumens at 18" & 2240 lumens at 24" including a few 3w RGB LEDs. That will grow plants. Still, I use T5s. They're proven and have cheap options, plain and simple. I went ultra cheap and got an Odyssea fixture. It's NOT a high end light solution but it grows all my plants, runs super cool, and if I decided to upgrade I'm essentially only out the cost of some light bulbs. Hagen has great T5 fixtures for good prices with fine reflectors and ballasts. You can even get em on Amazon. Just remember to get the bulb/s. Good luck!
CorallineAlgae said:
If you don't mind me asking how much did the odyssea fixture cost?? What should I expect on the Hagen T5 fixtures? Going to be looking for lighting online since my LFS don't have any strong bulbs only the T8 which I have in almost all my tanks.
CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
If you're looking for a 24"-30" fixture from Odyssea it's about $40 for a 2 light fixture and $70 for a 4 light (with LED moonlights). Hagen would run you about $40 for a single and $90 for a double light.
Keep in mind that the Hagen has better ballasts and reflectors so the higher price pays for something (more light per bulb and probably longer bulb life) BUT they don't come with bulbs. Should also note that while Odyssea does come with bulbs they're not all that good but will certainly grow plants. There's a ton of other places to look for fixtures. These are just a low cost and a medium cost example (most pricey T5 lights are marketed for saltwater).
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
These are odyssea lights. They're cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for (2x bulb fixture will throw less light than any oth.er 2x fixture available)
Depending on size, the Hagen Glo lights will usually cost $50-80 for a single and $90-$140 for a double. I own two, a double and a single. The ballast on my double died after two months, but Hagen guarantees their fixture, so I just swapped it for a new one and haven't had a single issue since. They're good fixtures all and all, and single bulb fixtures are uncommon to say the least. I'm probably going to be selling mine soon (selling the dual and single and buying a 4x fixture), but I've had nothing but good luck with them.
Depending on size, the Hagen Glo lights will usually cost $50-80 for a single and $90-$140 for a double. I own two, a double and a single. The ballast on my double died after two months, but Hagen guarantees their fixture, so I just swapped it for a new one and haven't had a single issue since. They're good fixtures all and all, and single bulb fixtures are uncommon to say the least. I'm probably going to be selling mine soon (selling the dual and single and buying a 4x fixture), but I've had nothing but good luck with them.
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