Ok so I'm wondering what would be best for my tank 20Long I'm wanting to do low-med light plants so let's just say med u can't really go for watts per gal with led beings there low wattage so what lumens?do u use lumens or watts still? would I want or what watts in a t5 or t8 one with double bulbs what color temp do I want? Ty for UR help Will I need any co2 for a 20 long doing med light plants?
Led? T8? T5? Lighting help please!!
- Thread starter thras
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jsoong
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What you really want is not lumens, but PAR (Photosynthetic active radiation). PAR is what the plants see, Lumens is what humans see.
LED's at the moment is over priced (and not as long-lived as advertised), and it is difficult to get the right spectrum with lots of PAR. I don't think that is a good choice at the moment. <In a few years, perhaps.>
For bang for the buck T8 is prob. the way to go, esp. if you can fit in a standard sized tube (48" or 24") so you can get the tubes from a hardware store. For a lowish light setup, I would say ~20-30 W of T8 is good start. I use full spectrum daylight bulbs ~6700K. From what I read, the Phillips Advantage line of Daylight bulbs has the best PAR rating of all the T8's, even beating out the "plant" bulbs.
T5-HO is becoming a good choice as the prices come down. You do need to get a fixture with a good reflector or you won't get the light into the tank. Because of higher efficiency, you can get to low/med levels with a 20W setup. (Again ~ 6700K).
Single or double tubes, doesn't matter. It is the total Watts (or PAR) that is important. As long as there is a reflector that gets the light to the water surface, the water in the tank acts like a lens to distribute the light evenly.
If you stay in the low end of the lights, you won't need CO2. <Not to say you can't benefit from CO2.>
LED's at the moment is over priced (and not as long-lived as advertised), and it is difficult to get the right spectrum with lots of PAR. I don't think that is a good choice at the moment. <In a few years, perhaps.>
For bang for the buck T8 is prob. the way to go, esp. if you can fit in a standard sized tube (48" or 24") so you can get the tubes from a hardware store. For a lowish light setup, I would say ~20-30 W of T8 is good start. I use full spectrum daylight bulbs ~6700K. From what I read, the Phillips Advantage line of Daylight bulbs has the best PAR rating of all the T8's, even beating out the "plant" bulbs.
T5-HO is becoming a good choice as the prices come down. You do need to get a fixture with a good reflector or you won't get the light into the tank. Because of higher efficiency, you can get to low/med levels with a 20W setup. (Again ~ 6700K).
Single or double tubes, doesn't matter. It is the total Watts (or PAR) that is important. As long as there is a reflector that gets the light to the water surface, the water in the tank acts like a lens to distribute the light evenly.
If you stay in the low end of the lights, you won't need CO2. <Not to say you can't benefit from CO2.>
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