Planted Tank LED Experiment

[fishfanatic]

I recently ordered
Flexible Light Strip 300 SMD White LED Ribbon 5 Meter or 16 Feet By Ledwholesalers, 2026wh - Amazon.com
And without realizing it they were 5500-6000K! I will have some left over from my other project and will try putting them on my 7.9 gallon planted tank. I have absolutely no idea how bright these lights are (yet). When I get them I will start to try various things to see if they will work with the plants. Right now the tank has Java Moss, Dwarf Hair grass, and HC. The HC is a bit of an unfair comparison because it is such a demanding plant when it comes to light but we will see! I will post findings here, failure or success. (hopefully success)

 

[MMantelli]

I got similar lights for aquarium night lights I got the flexible blue smd3528 and they are very bright my next tank imma order the 5050 crystal white are those the ones you got.

 

[fishfanatic]

There are many different brands and kinds of these lights. I don't think they are the exact same as the 5050 but I couldn't tell you the difference I just so happened to see these and they had good reviews

 

[MMantelli]

There are many different brands and kinds of these lights. I don't think they are the exact same as the 5050 but I couldn't tell you the difference I just so happened to see these and they had good reviews

So how would one figure out the k temp of the lights

 

[fishfanatic]

The only reason I know the kelvin rating is that is what the lights are advertised as in the details. You can get a basic idea of kelvin rating by looking at the color of the light. A "warm" light will be a lower kelvin. A "cool" white is generally between 4000-10000. But that is just an estimate.

 

[MMantelli]

Oh true that well good luck with it all

 

[fishfanatic]

I am fairly disappointed in the output of the LEDs. I have put 3 strips the length of the original fluval light (6 inches long). If I were to try this again I would order the double led strips (they have 2 LEDs side by side). Don't get me wrong the LEDs work great but just not for an aquarium. I assume if you put enough strips the. They would be bright enough but that will not look very "clean". Back in the florescent bulbs go!