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Question for the experts

drodgers

Member
Joined
7 Oct 2014
Messages
242
I have a few aqualife 650nm rosette t5 bulbs there's claim from aqualife that these provide good growth.
I've ran them with a 6500k no pearling as soon as i use a 10k led Cree lighting the pearling is amazing but algae starts.

Are these any good or just a pretty light ? im thinking i would be better with the 10k only (lots of red plants)
Whats your opinion.
 
Hi Drodgers

Please have a look to different threads about light colour, type of bulbs, etc. (including a tutorial in the lighting section about cheap T5 tubes) (use google instead of ukaps searching machine, works better. Just type the key words and then ukaps). You will learn that any light you can see with your eyes will make your plants grow. The things you mention are a purely aesthetic issues and have absolutely nothing to do with growth, healthiness, algae blooms, etc. Another frequent question which is always asked (you will find that once again the answer is just the opposite of what manufacturers and most of the dedicated forum say) you don't need to replace them every year.
So good news, buy the cheapest tube you can find that in your opinion gives the best aspect to your tank, forget about replacements for some years and save your money for plants or fish! :)

Jordi
 
I agree with Jordi. The OP needs to forget abot pearling or red and just concentrate on keeping an algae free tank with colors that are considered pleasing. LED are more powerful than people think and that's why they trigger algal blooms. Spend the money for a controller so that they can be dimmed and that will solve the problem immediately.

Cheers,
 
Thanks for the reply's guys im still wondering about the quality of light the rosette provides, its very dark with just them on ,and i have 6 foot loot tank so there is penetration issues.
 
so if i use my 20,000k hqi metal halide it will grow plants ? Im under the impression that plants use the red spectrum of 650nm and not the blue .
The way you guys put it makes me think i can light my tank with a candle or a landing light for aircraft and get growth.
 
so if i use my 20,000k hqi metal halide it will grow plants ? Im under the impression that plants use the red spectrum of 650nm and not the blue .
The way you guys put it makes me think i can light my tank with a candle or a landing light for aircraft and get growth.

Plants can use a vast range of wave lengths to photosynthesize, you shouldn't be worried about this unless you had lights only emitting in a very narrow wave length range, which is not your case for sure as these lights are not normal in the hobby. I am maybe wrong but it seems you are mixing temperature of light, wavelengths and intensity. Obviously you cannot grow plants with a candle because the intensity is too low. You can try to grow plants with a landing light, but I bet you would be growing algae instead... And all this has nothing to do with the temperature.So, what we mean is:

- lights are done by human beings for human beings (also for other purposes) but most of them emit in the visible spectrum. Another fact is that all the living beings have evolved under the same source of light: the sun. Even if living beings can use different parts of the spectrum, most of them do ok under the visible part of it. This is why any light you can see can somehow be 'seen' by plants

- aquatic plants have evolved under different light conditions: clear water, dark water, sunny position, shade, shallow water, deep water. The light is also different during the day or in different moments of the year. They can use different pigments to get adapted to all this.

- intensity (better measured in PAR, but the classic watts per gallon rule of thumb can also be used sometimes) is far more important than other issues. This is due to the fact that light is not often limited in our tanks (we can buy powerful units) but CO2 efficiency is quite limiting and optimal levels more difficult to achieve (we can buy nice co2 equipment but that doesn't work necessarily ok in our tanks... It is much more complex). This is why Clive mention to better focus on this

- light temperature (measured in K) or light source (led, T5, metal halide, T8, etc.) are different things and not related to plant growth. Light temperature has to do to how your tanks looks like (greenish, bluish, reddish... Chose the one you prefer). The light source is more related with other issues such as consumption, penetration in the water column.

Your pinkish lights will grow plants for sure, they will also make your tank look pinkish. I tried myself different combinations with this tube and other ones (6500 and 10.000 K) just to see if I liked them. I finally didn't use it as the living room looked a bit weird with that pinkish glow. But for sure this pink tube won't make your plants grow better, even if the manufacturer say so...

Hope it helps.

Jordi
 
so if i use my 20,000k hqi metal halide it will grow plants ?
Yes.

Im under the impression that plants use the red spectrum of 650nm and not the blue .
Best to seek more accurate impressions. See info in an old thread http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/actinic-lighting-vs-algae-growth.7801/
Plants use ALL visible frequencies.

The way you guys put it makes me think i can light my tank with a candle or a landing light for aircraft and get growth.
Candle will have the effect of slow growth due to low PAR. Aircraft landing light will trigger algal blooms due to high PAR.

Cheers,
 
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