5500-6500K good?

[GodFan]

The LEDs I am planning to purchase are between 5500 and 6500 K. Is that sufficent for low light plants? The guy at my LFS said I need like 8000 and 12000K but I never heard that.
Thanks and God bless!

 

[outdoors4life40]

Should be but how many lumans do the leds put out? And what size aquarium?

 

[GodFan]

Im not sure about the lumens but it is a 5 gallon tank. I will use several LEDs on it.

 

[FishEggs]

That is the spectrum you want for plants. The higher spectrums are usually used for sw corals.
The high, medium or low refers to how much light the plants need not the spectrum. You need to find out how many watts the LEDs are to determine how many you will need for your tank to grow low light plants. A bit more in depth would be to find out how wide the light will spread over the tank. Is it more like a spot light or a flood? That will tell you how many and what placement to put them in to get good coverage over your tank.

 

[GodFan]

This is them www.LEDwholesalers.com - 16.4 ft / 5M Flexible LED Lighting Strip 300 SMD3528 with 3M Tape they will be on top and on the sides.

 

[FishEggs]

I don't know if that will be sufficient for the plants. It looks like it is 24 watts for 300 leds which makes each led 0.08 watts. you would have to use a strip of at least 13 leds to get just over 1 watt of light over your tank. I would use an arrangement of at least 39 leds not knowing how well they will penetrate the water. might be money better spent just buying a small clamp on premade led fixture for such a small tank. Unless it's the thrill of doing the DIY you are going for then by all means have at it and post pics.

 

[aqua_chem]

There are probably better lighting options available for that size tank and light requirement. T8 and PC should give you the light you need for low light. If you are specifically wanting LEDs, I think that there are better options available still.

 

[GodFan]

This is the cheapest I have found. I need LEDs because I need side and over the top lighting. I would have thought that was great. A watt in an LED light is much much higher output that a t8 or even t5 watt.

 

[blert]

Sorry to say, that stuff won't grow your plants, not enough power. Look here for proper DIY aquarium LEDs... Rapidled.com

LEDs on the sides of the tank is not a good idea if you plan on having fish. You are going to blind them. Have you ever looked straight at a LED at close range while it was on? DON'T!

 

[GodFan]

Sorry to say, that stuff won't grow your plants, not enough power. Look here for proper DIY aquarium LEDs... Rapidled.com

LEDs on the sides of the tank is not a good idea if you plan on having fish. You are going to blind them. Have you ever looked straight at a LED at close range while it was on? DON'T!

Somebody on here suggested it. Then my LFS said they had a tank with that setup. I know the WPG rule does not apply to LEDs so I thought it would be ok. I need some ontop to grow duckweed and some on the side to grow low light plants.

*EDIT* I looked it up and the Lumen output is great on those LEDs. I would use alot of them anyway. I would definetly use more than 13. I plan to buy a glass top. Then I would do the 2 horizontal and 2 vertical strips up top and like one on each side.

 

[blert]

What about two desk lamps on either side shining in at an angle from the top. Get a couple cheap ones with decent reflectors then use some screw in CFLs.

 

[GodFan]

What about two desk lamps on either side shining in at an angle from the top. Get a couple cheap ones with decent reflectors then use some screw in CFLs.

I dont have enough room....