Lighting suggestions

[Stacey1990]

I'm wondering if someone could help me out with regards to lighting for my tank.

Basically I'm looking for just cheap lighting suggestions for a 52 litre planted tank. All the plants will be classed as easy, eg amazon sword etc, so shouldn't need anything too fancy.

I've been looking on amazon at either the hygger or nicrew. The thing I cant wrap my head around is the colour spectrum, if thats even what its classed as. For example, I think plants need white, red, blue and green light but not sure which colours should be on for how long and intensity. If you get what I'm saying lol. It doesn't matter how many threads I look at or how much reading I do I just can't grasp it.

If anyone could give me examples of which lights they use and there schedule I would appreciate it. It may need to be dimmed down a bit for me lol.

 

[AJ356]

I'm wondering if someone could help me out with regards to lighting for my tank.

Basically I'm looking for just cheap lighting suggestions for a 52 litre planted tank. All the plants will be classed as easy, eg amazon sword etc, so shouldn't need anything too fancy.

I've been looking on amazon at either the hygger or nicrew. The thing I cant wrap my head around is the colour spectrum, if thats even what its classed as. For example, I think plants need white, red, blue and green light but not sure which colours should be on for how long and intensity. If you get what I'm saying lol. It doesn't matter how many threads I look at or how much reading I do I just can't grasp it.

If anyone could give me examples of which lights they use and there schedule I would appreciate it. It may need to be dimmed down a bit for me lol.

Try to get a colour spectrum as close to 6500k as possible. This is the best for plants, even though some lights will still be pitched as "great for plants" with much different K ratings, this is just a marketing ploy to get your £££ aim for 6500k

 

[Stacey1990]

Try to get a colour spectrum as close to 6500k as possible. This is the best for plants, even though some lights will still be pitched as "great for plants" with much different K ratings, this is just a marketing ploy to get your £££ aim for 6500k

Thanks for the reply.

So as long as its as close to 6500k then it shoyld be OK?

Do I need to worry about the different colours?

Sorry I just really don't understand lol.

 

[Stacey1990]

Thanks for the reply.

So as long as its as close to 6500k then it shoyld be OK?

Do I need to worry about the different colours?

Sorry I just really don't understand lol.

Try to get a colour spectrum as close to 6500k as possible. This is the best for plants, even though some lights will still be pitched as "great for plants" with much different K ratings, this is just a marketing ploy to get your £££ aim for 6500k

Like I see people taling about having reds on 20%, white on 80% for so many hours etc. It's quite confusing.

 

[AJ356]

Like I see people taling about having reds on 20%, white on 80% for so many hours etc. It's quite confusing.

Good point. I have never had one of these flash lights that mixes the ratio of colours. The 6500k still applies, we can see who else knows about these new lights on the market now. I am a bit old fashioned. There is an easy way, I'm sure I've seen it come up on the forum recently (what you are asking)

 

[TNG]

If you get a Nicrew or a Hygger and set it to daylight colour you don't need to worry about the spectrum.
You can vary the light intensity from around 10% to 100%, think of it as sunlight in the early morning, midday or late afternoon. Mine are set to around 70% and 80% maximum. For low light plants, you can set it as low as 50% of maximum intensity.
The hours of light should be set to around 7 or 8 hours. Set it too long and you’ll have excessive algae growth.
The problem you may have is understanding the instructions, but if you manage to get it right once you’ll right .

 

[Stacey1990]

Ahh fab, thanks so much

 

[Mikeyboy123]

I'm not that knowledgeable about the spectrum side of things either. All I know is that I use this on my two 40cm nanos and the plants grow really well.

Amazon.co.uk

There is supposedly a way to fiddle with the settings to manually adjust the output spectrum, but I just use it on the default settings.

All my plants are classed as easy and they grow really well.

 

[Stacey1990]

So just for clarification some like the nicrew slim LED would be suitable?

 

[Stacey1990]

I'm not that knowledgeable about the spectrum side of things either. All I know is that I use this on my two 40cm nanos and the plants grow really well.

Amazon.co.uk

There is supposedly a way to fiddle with the settings to manually adjust the output spectrum, but I just use it on the default settings.

All my plants are classed as easy and they grow really well.

I'm not that knowledgeable about the spectrum side of things either. All I know is that I use this on my two 40cm nanos and the plants grow really well.

Amazon.co.uk

There is supposedly a way to fiddle with the settings to manually adjust the output spectrum, but I just use it on the default settings.

All my plants are classed as easy and they grow really well.

Thank you, I'll have a better look when I get home from work

 

[TNG]

So just for clarification some like the nicrew slim LED would be suitable?

Something like this should do. Hope the link works.

NICREW SlimLED Aquarium Plants Light - Nicrew Aquarium

Pairs super-bright white LEDs with blue, and red LEDs, promoting healthy, vibrant growth of fish and aquatic plants Sunrise and sunset mode settings make fish and plants wake up and fall asleep gently Intensity adjustable lighting channel for customized aquarium requirement Adjustable fixture...

www.nicrew.com

 

[Stacey1990]

Something like this should do. Hope the link works.

NICREW SlimLED Aquarium Plants Light - Nicrew Aquarium

Pairs super-bright white LEDs with blue, and red LEDs, promoting healthy, vibrant growth of fish and aquatic plants Sunrise and sunset mode settings make fish and plants wake up and fall asleep gently Intensity adjustable lighting channel for customized aquarium requirement Adjustable fixture...

www.nicrew.com

Fab thank you, that's actually one I've been looking at today.

 

[podsville]

I bought one of these:

Amazon.com

from Amazon to replace my previous 4 tube X 20-watt fluorescent mirrored canopy which hung right above my 20 gallon tank. It puts out an equal intensity of light while hanging 15 inches above the tank - at 30% intensity! And it supposedly uses less wattage than the tubes did, even at full intensity.

I certainly don't claim to be a plant expert, despite decades of trying, but you might want to consider whether the color quality of the light you choose is pleasing to your eyes as well as making your plants happy.

 

[TNG]

Fab thank you, that's actually one I've been looking at today.

Just thought I should mention this. For the majority of these lights which have a timer, a problem is that when you have a power outage you’ll lose the time. It doesn’t reset at 0:00 when the power is restored.

So if the outage is during the day when the light is normally on, and the power is later restored, the light will come back on and will remain on. It will not turn off until you reset the clock. If you’re away on holiday and can’t reset the clock, your fish may not sleep until you’re back home!

If the outage is at night, it will remain off until you reset the clock.

I believe there are lights that you can set the time using an apps.