A color combination lighting question

[jaylach]

My LED lighting array has white, blue and red with white being dominate with less blue and even less red. I can also control the intensity overall but not for each color.

I have been running all three colors at probably 75% intensity. I know you can't really advise as to intensity As to intensity I just use algae as a measure and it is pretty much where I want it. Sorry but I can't supply the 'warmth' of the lights but my plants and fish are doing quite well.

My question is the colors. Should I be using all three as I have been doing or should I cut out the red or blue or both? LOL! If I were to be answering I'd probably say to not fix what isn't broken. My main concern is that I have read some articles that say that blue lighting is, over time, bad for the eyes of some fish but I THINK that is straight blue.

 

[connorlindeman]

@Byron is really good with lights

 

[Aqua67]

There is a guy named Bentley Pascoe on YouTube who is a Master Aquatic Horticulturist. He reviewed a programmable plant light which has white lights (pure, warm and cool), pink light and blue light. He said for tanks less than 16” deep, blue light can encourage black beard algae and to keep it at less than 5% max power. Each light was adjustable Individually for intensity. Pink light start around 15% and gradually increase up to 25% intensity. The white lights start around 20% intensity and work up to 50%. For depths over 16” start off at 50% power for the white lights and increase 10% a week…..and so on. This is to grow plants, specifically a low tech tank (no CO2). I love plants and wanted to learn more.

The ratio would be 10% Blue (or less), 50% whites, 40% pinks.

 

[jaylach]

There is a guy named Bentley Pascoe on YouTube who is a Master Aquatic Horticulturist. He reviewed a programmable plant light which has white lights (pure, warm and cool), pink light and blue light. He said for tanks less than 16” deep, blue light can encourage black beard algae and to keep it at less than 5% max power. Each light was adjustable Individually for intensity. Pink light start around 15% and gradually increase up to 25% intensity. The white lights start around 20% intensity and work up to 50%. For depths over 16” start off at 50% power for the white lights and increase 10% a week…..and so on. This is to grow plants, specifically a low tech tank (no CO2). I love plants and wanted to learn more.

The ratio would be 10% Blue (or less), 50% whites, 40% pinks.

Thanks.

 

[Byron]

It is a difficult question to answer without knowing all data on the light. White light is the best, if it is high in the red, blue and green wavelengths. The Kelvin or CRI rating is a good guide to this.

 

[DoubleDutch]

It is a difficult question to answer without knowing all data on the light. White light is the best, if it is high in the red, blue and green wavelengths. The Kelvin or CRI rating is a good guide to this.

To add : The colors visible for humans aren't the ones. As Byron mentions white(for us) contains a lot of colors (red / blue).

 

[jaylach]

It is a difficult question to answer without knowing all data on the light. White light is the best, if it is high in the red, blue and green wavelengths. The Kelvin or CRI rating is a good guide to this.

To add : The colors visible for humans aren't the ones. As Byron mentions white(for us) contains a lot of colors (red / blue).

@Byron Looks like I'd have to dismantle the hood to see if the lights have a label with the Kelvin and/or CRI rating. Since the white LEDs outnumber the blue by at least 15-1 and the red like 20-1 I'll leave it as is as everything seems to be fine. In fact some plants are doing too fine, need to do some snipping.

@DoubleDutch Yes, a fish sees different colors due to the types of cones in the retina Humans have 3 types (red, blue, green) while fish have 4 types (Red, blue, green, ultraviolet). Or at least a gold fish has those 4. It varies between species.

Just kidding but true white does not contain a 'lot' of colors, it contains 'all' colors as true black contains no colors.

 

[Byron]

You don't seem to have a problem, so leave it as is. The Kelvin or CRI you might find on the website of the manufacturer, just so you know,

 

[jaylach]

You don't seem to have a problem, so leave it as is. The Kelvin or CRI you might find on the website of the manufacturer, just so you know,

I have not been able to find the light specs for my 20 gallon cube but did for the 3 gallon version. I would think that they would use the same LEDs. Keep in mind that the following quote is for the 3 gallon cube, not my 20 gallon. Also the 3 gallon just has white and blue, no red. There are also a lot more LEDs in my light. Also my light is 20W, not 15W.

"Either way you get 54 low temperature LEDs configured with 42 cool white (10,000K) and 14 full spectrum blue LEDs (20,000) to give you a crisp white overall look pushing out a bit more than 15 W of output"

 

[Byron]

I have not been able to find the light specs for my 20 gallon cube but did for the 3 gallon version. I would think that they would use the same LEDs. Keep in mind that the following quote is for the 3 gallon cube, not my 20 gallon. Also the 3 gallon just has white and blue, no red. There are also a lot more LEDs in my light. Also my light is 20W, not 15W.

"Either way you get 54 low temperature LEDs configured with 42 cool white (10,000K) and 14 full spectrum blue LEDs (20,000) to give you a crisp white overall look pushing out a bit more than 15 W of output"

Those numbers assuming they are Kelvin are way too high. Sunlight is in the mid-range of 5000K to 6500K. Anything abve 6500K is high in the blue and very low in the red. Plants need red (primary) and blue to photosynthesis, but adding the green improves plant growth. The hiest K I ever had was a 11,000K combined with a 65ooK, over a 90g tank, and the plants did not do as well over the year I had this, and improved when I got a 6500K and a 5000K. And I certainly found algae more of an issue under the 11000K combo.

 

[jaylach]

Those numbers assuming they are Kelvin are way too high. Sunlight is in the mid-range of 5000K to 6500K. Anything abve 6500K is high in the blue and very low in the red. Plants need red (primary) and blue to photosynthesis, but adding the green improves plant growth. The hiest K I ever had was a 11,000K combined with a 65ooK, over a 90g tank, and the plants did not do as well over the year I had this, and improved when I got a 6500K and a 5000K. And I certainly found algae more of an issue under the 11000K combo.

I doubt that I'm actually running those numbers as I do not use full intensity. I'd have to cycle through the intensity settings to be sure but think I'm probably at ~60-70%.

 

[Byron]

I doubt that I'm actually running those numbers as I do not use full intensity. I'd have to cycle through the intensity settings to be sure but think I'm probably at ~60-70%.

The Kelvin has nothing to do with intensity. Kelvin is the colour temperature of light, so a 6500K at any intensity is still 6500K. There are three factors concerning light here, the intensity (brightness), the spectrum, and then duration. Each plant species has a minimum requirement for intensity, from low for slow-growers to high for fast growers. But to drive photosynthesis, the light has to be the right colour. Once the intensity and spectrum are present, we can fiddle with the duration depending upon the plant species and number, and algae response.

 

[jaylach]

The Kelvin has nothing to do with intensity. Kelvin is the colour temperature of light, so a 6500K at any intensity is still 6500K. There are three factors concerning light here, the intensity (brightness), the spectrum, and then duration. Each plant species has a minimum requirement for intensity, from low for slow-growers to high for fast growers. But to drive photosynthesis, the light has to be the right colour. Once the intensity and spectrum are present, we can fiddle with the duration depending upon the plant species and number, and algae response.

OK, thanks for all the info.

Considering that I'm not having any apparent issues would you recommend that I leave things as they are or research to see if I can replace the LED panel?

 

[Byron]

OK, thanks for all the info.

Considering that I'm not having any apparent issues would you recommend that I leave things as they are or research to see if I can replace the LED panel?

If the tanks and plants are fine, plants growing, fish seem happy, no algae issues...don't mess with it! If you getting a new tanks/light, and a larger volume, I would pay close attention to the light specs as this could be a very different ballgame from the smaller tanks.

 

[jaylach]

OK, thanks again.

It would probably be a pain to change lights as the current ones are integrated in the hood. Also, being a cube, it is fairly deep so the higher numbers MAY even be good for the lower plants.

I DO have algae and bio film but want both as my panda garras eat both voraciously. I think I have that balanced pretty well as I always have some algae but not a lot. The tank is a nano with three glass sides. The least visible side I don't ever even scrape or scrub due to wanting the algae and bio film on that side for my panda garras and they spend a decent amount of time on that side. My plants seem to have no algae; it is just on that one side and lightly on my wood and fake tree trunk. It was actually pretty easy to find a balance once I went pretty heavily live plants.

I do get cyanobacteria but only on the cover for the lights. I just wipe it off every week or two with a paper towel when I do a water change. The cyanobacteria doesn't really surprise me as the tank is so compact that the light cover is almost touching water and always wet. It is like the perfect environment for the slime. As long as keeps agreeing to stay on just the light cover I don't worry about it.

Thanks again to you and DoubleDutch for all the info.