Light color temperature for freshwater plants

[Kelpie]

Hello,

I want to retrofit my 7 gallon mini-bow with the CSL 32 W smartlight.

The Smart Lamp is the worlds first, true 10,000K Premium Daylight and Ultra-Actinic lamps side by side. The single daylight tube duplicates the natural full-spectrum lighting requirements of fish and invertebrates. The actinic tube peaks at 460 nanometers, providing optimal energy for activation of photosynthesis in chlorophyll A and C.

I've used 5,500K - 5.700K before with great success. I wonder if the color temp. of the 32 W above would be okay for various species of amazon swords?

Thanks,
Kelpie

 

[d9hp]

i would trade the smartlight for a 6500k bulb, plants get no benefit from the actinic side of the bulb and IMO would not be using the fixture to full potential.

 

[reefrunner69]

IMO, they will not gain anything from the increased color temp, but if the intensity is there, they will still grow at a good pace and be healthy. IMO, the best light for FW aquatic plants is in the 5500K - 6700K range, but I also belive the same with SW corals, intensity is more important than spectrum. Personally for looks I find the higher spectrum bulbs more pleasing to the eye, but if I were you and wanted to go higher spectrum, I would ditch the actinic and go with a straight 10K.

 

[reefrunner69]

Merged the posts and deleting the double post

 

[80gJoe]

I have 6700K's toward the front of my 80 gallon and 8800K's in the back.
I also had the SmartLamps and returned them.. The actinic light gave my aquarium a 'washed out' look. It seemed to wipe out the green of the plants. It looked very strange...

 

[80gJoe]

almost duplicated my post... 8O