20 gallon high lighting question

[Arklatex]

I want to get my 20h from low light to medium at least. The light I have now is an 18 watt NO fluorescent. My idea is to put a 18" finnex ray 2 to achieve med-high light. I understand the system of wpg for non-led but I am not familiar with PAR. Will this light fixture be enough to get out of the low light situation I am in now?

 

[patrickriley2010]

I want to get my 20h from low light to medium at least. The light I have now is an 18 watt NO fluorescent. My idea is to put a 18" finnex ray 2 to achieve med-high light. I understand the system of wpg for non-led but I am not familiar with PAR. Will this light fixture be enough to get out of the low light situation I am in now?

Ive been looking to get the finnex as well ! Hope someone answers !

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well a 20g high is 16" tall so considering a few inches of substrate, you'll be at about 13" from light to substrate. PAR is greatly affected by distance, so a 18" RAY 2 is rated at 72 PAR at 12" and 37 micomoles of PAR at 18"... So at 13" I'm guessing you'll be around 50-60 PAR. Definitely in the medium to medium-high range of light that co2 injection (or liquid carbon) with a comprehensive dosing regimen like PPS-Pro or EI would be advised.

Source:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189944

 

[Arklatex]

Thanks Brian. Great advice as usual.

 

[patrickriley2010]

Well a 20g high is 16" tall so considering a few inches of substrate, you'll be at about 13" from light to substrate. PAR is greatly affected by distance, so a 18" RAY 2 is rated at 72 PAR at 12" and 37 micomoles of PAR at 18"... So at 13" I'm guessing you'll be around 50-60 PAR. Definitely in the medium to medium-high range of light that co2 injection (or liquid carbon) with a comprehensive dosing regimen like PPS-Pro or EI would be advised.

Source:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189944

Where is my pencil and paper because you just gave me a lesson haha very smart I will message you when I start to plant a tank because you know your stuff !

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

You're welcome

What plants are you guys thinking of growing? Although PAR is high in the RAY 2, it's really heavy in blue spectrum according to the spectral graph published by finnex in the link i provided. Therefore, IME, this light will grow almost any plant, but has trouble with red plants or getting stems to color up in hues of red. Colors tend to fade and grow well, but as green! So if green plants are your goals, this light does exceptionally well. But if you're thinking of red plants, like rotala colorata or rotundifolia for example, they grow well in "coloring up" in shallow tanks, but tend to fade to green on taller tanks... Just my experience (could be attributed to user error).