PAR for Eheim ClassicLED plants lighting and general lighting guide?

[TrevC]

About two months into my first serious tank and have been reviewing the various components that came with the 230ltr setup I bought from new (45x90x60). On the lighting side, I have an Eheim ClassicLED plants unit (744mm; 10.6W, 840 lumin, 8350k colour temp). I cannot find the PAR rating anywhere to see where I am against various guidance sources. Also, the Tropica guidance says 10-20 lumins per liter for easy plants etc. By my calcs, my unit is only 3.7 lumin/litre. I am guessing that the relatively high colour temp makes up for things in this relatively deep tank? Would be nice just to understand a bit more. I'm also looking for a good guide on lighting setups but most of what i can find doesn't get passed the different basic lighting types. In particular, the list of Eheim lighting accessories suggests an adaptor can be used to expand to a second light but I cannot find any info about configurations and pros/cons. At present the plants are growing nicely so not about to change anything - which is the bottom line - but would be nice to know more.

 

[oreo57]

That is low light. You must have very low light plants.
I assume your plant stocking is low.
35.4x17.7x23.6
60gal.
Seems the
Eheim classics have adapters to replace t5/8 tubes.
And a y adapter for the power supply.
Bunch of info here:

EHEIM classicLED daylight

EHEIM classicLED ‘daylight’ LED lights are available in six lengths from 550 to 1300 mm and is easy to install using the extendable mounting bracket.…

eheim.com

Some info..

LED Par levels for planted tank

Could someone advise what would constitute low/mid/high par levels for led lights at the substrate? I would also assume that par levels at the substrate is what's important. It does not matter the par level at the top of the water levels where some drift wood branches could be with moss and...

barrreport.com

 

[TrevC]

Thanks for the Eheim link - i have the classic LED 'plants' version rather that the 'daylight' version. It is not in my mind a low stocking level - though not sure how you define 'low'. I have Bolbitis heudelotti, Bucephalandra Theia, Anubias barteri Petite, Anubias Nana, Microsorum pteropus Trident, hygrophila Siamensis 53b, limnophila aromatica, limnophila sessiflora, myriophyllum mattogrossense, alternanthera Reineckii Pink, varous mosses, assorted crypts at the front plus Salvinia and red root floating plants as per pic. Most of these are undemanding I believe.

 

[John q]

Most of these are undemanding I believe.

You'd be surprised how many people struggle with these "easy" plants.

At present the plants are growing nicely so not about to change anything - which is the bottom line - but would be nice to know more.

The tank looks great and not a spot of algae in sight. Ignore the Tropica lumens per litre rule, it's outdated and isn't set in stone. Far to many people think high lights are the key to success, this tank helps affirm that this isn't always the case.
Sorry I can't add any info on par data other than say the plants appear to be happy with whatever levels the lights putting out. 😀

 

[oreo57]

Thanks for the Eheim link - i have the classic LED 'plants' version rather that the 'daylight' version. It is not in my mind a low stocking level - though not sure how you define 'low'. I have Bolbitis heudelotti, Bucephalandra Theia, Anubias barteri Petite, Anubias Nana, Microsorum pteropus Trident, hygrophila Siamensis 53b, limnophila aromatica, limnophila sessiflora, myriophyllum mattogrossense, alternanthera Reineckii Pink, varous mosses, assorted crypts at the front plus Salvinia and red root floating plants as per pic. Most of these are undemanding I believe.

Well what I meant by "lightly stocked" is in comparison to the random tank below
Probably should have used the term "lower density of plants":

The Lumens/gallon thing is a bit outdated and the idea of "let your plants tell you" is a good concept but when you start from zero.... well you need some idea.
Now the guide is mostly based on t5's and an "average" tank i.e not too shallow, not too deep.
Probably can divide by 2 for LED 🙂


In this day an age with leds best to buy more light and a dimmer... 😉
Seems to be some stem plant stretching btw.. Isn't that Ludwigia in there too?

Anyways keeping the tank clean is arguably as effective than keeping light levels low.

Kudos though, nice tank.

I see you dose CO2. That helps a lot even in low light.