Hi everyone. I’m in the process of setting up a low tech 2foot cube. It’s going to have a capped soil substrate and I’ve just brought 2 hygger 999 22w lights.
https://amzn.eu/3ZYFmZw
I was just wondering if that was enough light being that it’s 2 foot deep? The plants I’m planning to put in there are…
Rotala 'H’ra'
Helanthium tenellum Green
Cryptocoryne wendtii Green
Cryptocoryne beckettii 'Petchii'
Pogostemon deccanensis
ludwigia palustris mini super red
Limnophila heterophylla
Any other suggestions on plants?
Looks like you have a mix of "high tech" and "low tech" plants..
I've seen some par numbers for the Hygger and some for equiv lights and could "guesstimate" you have fairly decent par at the subtrate.
You don't quite make my "1 w per gallon" rule I impose on myself.
😉 since you have about a 60 gal tank.
It's not a hard and fast rule.. sort of based on 2 factors.
1)High tech t5 tanks would use about 4 to 6 tubes. 24w each.
96 to 144 watts
2) leds if equal to or exceed t5' efficacy will beat them in targeted delivery.
So historically the conversion was 1w of led = 2w of t5.
I like to consider the factor more in the line of 1: 1.5 so 64 to 96w
As you can see this bring me to 60w.
This is also based on a 120 degree beam angle. As you focus the leds more you "push" higher par down to the substrate.
An AI Prime is capable of pushing 100 Par-ish to a 24" depth using their 90-ish degree lenses and 55 watts of leds.
Many seem to think 50 Par at the substrate is a good average light intensity number.
so you don't mis-understand me I'm not saying 2 Hyggars is "low light" just don't expect it to be "high light".
As a low tech tank you may need to compromise on light output by lowering the intensity at the expense of high demand plants.
Your tank will let you know.
What you can or can't grow successfully isn't always the fault of lighting btw. So sort of accept what grows and understand you may fail with some species.
