Lighting and DSM

[Nick potts]

HI all.

Quick question regarding lighting options when doing a DSM.

So the tank when setup will be running 28w of LED over 25ish litres of water, but i am wondering what the max light i could throw at it during a DSM would be?

I have a few lighting options available to me, 48w T5 (2x24W) 156w T5 (4x39w) with a selection of bulbs, i also have a 160W razor LED, fully dimmable etc, all left over from my marine days. Would this be to much light and if not would it causes big problems when changing back to the normal 28w i will be using when flooded?

I have been having some really good success in my plant holding tank which is running a 14w LED and misted a few times a day and would like to maximize growth.

Cheers

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

plant holding tank which is running a 14w LED and misted a few times a day and would like to maximize growth

So the tank when setup will be running 28w of LED over 25ish litres of water

I'd go with the 28W light. You can try a longer photoperiod (12 hours?). My guess is that if they are growing well at 14W doubling that amount isn't going to make a huge amount of difference.

Where the optimum growth is going to occur is going to depend on the plant, we don't know the optimum PAR levels for the plants we grow, but we can make some guesses, <"based on leaf colour"> and habitat photos.

Something like a moss, an Aroid (Anubias, <"Bucephalandra"> spp.) or a Fern (Bolbitis) is going to show light damage at a light level along way below the optimum for a <"turned up to eleven"> plant.

cheers Darrel

 

[Nick potts]

Thank you Darrel.

I the plants are going to be mostly stem plants (vague a i know lol) and Monte carlo.

Think i will start with the 28w as i can always experiment with higher levels if i feel like it. What symptoms should i be looking out for with to much light?