Marine Lighting For Planted Freshwater

[kniesh]

I have a feeling this is a no no already, however |i paid a fortune for some LED lights for a marine tank I never really went through with. I have since decided to turn this back into freshwater and I am hoping to plant it a bit, even if it is only easy to keep plants such as, Java fern, Vallisneria, Frogbit, Crypt wendii ( I have lots of this already), Anarcharis, and if anyone has any other suggestions that this particular light may be ok for, suggestions are very welcome.
 
The tank is 2ft deep, I have JBL Substrate with fine gravel on top and I'm running a sump along the back (it's an aqua Medic Percula 1200). The lights in question are these
 
http/www.ukmarinelighting.co.uk/evergrow-it2120-w-proreef-v2--wifi-marine-aquarium-dimmable-led-unit-286-p.asp
 
Evergrow IT2120-W ProReef.
 
I planned on lowering these to no more than 30% at the highest, but obviously i would set them to a sunrise-Sunset so would be lower than that for a lot of the day.
 
Does anyone have any thoughts on this working? My other option is to just sell these an buy Freshwater specific ones but I don't really want the hassle as I only plan on easy to care for plants.
 
Thanks in advance, Vinny
 

 

 

 

[jag51186]

I'm not sure on spectrum, but the PAR ratings are insane on those bad boys. If you keep it at 30% you might be ok, but you could be asking for an algae farm. Would you be doing any CO2 and ferts at all??

Again, I'm not sure on the spectrum differences between lights for reefs and lights for plants.

 

[kniesh]

Thanks for the reply jag, I wasn't planning on Co2, and i will likely just add some plant food tablets every now an then. I do have the option of dosing if I really want to though, as I'm sure having the sump run right along the back makes it easy enough to set up. Tbh though, i wanted this tank to be more about the Red Moore Wood and fish, with the plants, being plentiful, but easy-ish to keep, low maintenance like the ones I've listed.
 
Although the PAR is pretty strong, I was worried about the actual wattage output, which I assume is quite low, then add that there's a lot of blue too, which i was planning on having really low the whole time tbh.

 

[StevenF]

The spectrum and brightness of light outside  2 feet down is the same in saltwater and freshwater.  Yes it is brighter than most aquarium lights but it is dimable.  Also the blue spectrum it has is very similar to normal sunlight. Most LED lamps don't have anything close to this lamps blue coverage.  So I would  give it a try.  The Worst that can happen is that you could have an algae problem.  Many aquariums with inferior lights also have algae issues.  If you cannot dim it enough you could still  move it further away from your aquarium, dimming it further.  

 

[kniesh]

Thanks Steven. I will try it running from about 2% through to 30 then throughout the day. It is slightly higher than the 2ft anyway as its higher on the extensions connecting it to the tank. Much appreciated

 

[Bubbelzzz]

Generally do these lamps lead to an algae explosion. Many others tried this before and (almost) all of them have had issues with algae. 

 

[SO19Firearms]

Generally do these lamps lead to an algae explosion. Many others tried this before and (almost) all of them have had issues with algae.

They're always too bright for the given CO2 and nutrients.
You'll usually see a lot of stuff about spectrums because it sounds more sciency than "They're too bright"

 

[simonas]

alright Vin
I've done the same had my iluminairee 900s on my freshwater tank since September. I initially had loads of algae but reduced the time they are on and the intensity but my swords and giant vallis are literally wasting away.

 

[kniesh]

Cheers for the replies. I have set them up coming on about 2% at 5:30, then gradually going up until 30% at around 2:30, then around 3:30 they start going down again before going off around 7:30. Writing that down it looks like they are definitely on too long, I'll adjust that tomorrow. I will also lower it from 30 to 25 max i think. I took a video of the Apista's before and even though it didn't look too blue to the eye, it looked really blue on cam. Think I need to adjust the amount of blue too..
 
I will be adding 10+ Otto's an a few smaller plecs, along with some of my BN's. And plenty of algae eating snails, hopefully they will at least help with any Algae.
 
 
You got rid of the marine now Si? Back into the good side

 

[Byron]

As you have the lights, you can try them, but I would be prepared for algae to increase and plant growth to weaken, perhaps to killing some of the plants.
 
The spectrum is important, as aquatic plants require light in the red and blue areas to drive photosynthesis, but studies have shown that strong green in this mix does benefit.  The so-called "daylight" lights with a Kelvin between 5000K and 7000K fit this.  Blue without sufficient red is proven to cause increased algae, as algae is nowhere near so particular as higher plants when it comes to light.
 
The algae that you will see is almost certain to be something nothing much will eat.  Otocinclus, along with Bristlenose plecos, Farlowella, Whiptails, etc, will eat common green algae and diatoms, but not touch (to any degree if at all) problem algae like brush which is usually what results from an imbalance of light/nutrients.  Siamese Algae Eaters will eat brush algae, but this is a shoaling fish that gets largish, and could impact other fish.  I am not one who promotes adding certain fish to deal with problems, as it is always better to rectify the source.  As for snails, all snails will browse algae surfaces and eat some algae along with the other food adhering to the biofilm, but usually not sufficient to keep algae in check when the conditions for it are so advantageous.
 
Byron.

 

[kniesh]

I definitely prefer to add fish/Snails/Shrimp etc to deal with stuff such as Algae over adding any other bottled stuff to deal with them. I prefer natural look tanks, and a tank pristine, without Algae doesn't look natural to me, so if I can add something to the tank, without disrupting the balance completely, to just keep something from getting out of hand, I always will. However I would only do that if the fish in question are to be permanent or live a long an happy life in another of my tanks afterwards. If this does start to go too wrong I will sell these lights as I should definitely get enough to cover some decent freshwater LEDs. Anyone got any suggestions on LED lights I should be looking at?

 

[jag51186]

How long is your tank again?? Did I miss it somewhere??

 

[kniesh]

Sorry, it's 4ft long, essentially 4x2x2 but with a bow front an a sump on the back so slightly bigger

 

[Bubbelzzz]

 

Generally do these lamps lead to an algae explosion. Many others tried this before and (almost) all of them have had issues with algae.

They're always too bright for the given CO2 and nutrients.
You'll usually see a lot of stuff about spectrums because it sounds more sciency than "They're too bright"
 

Not entirely true. As Byron mentioned, spectrum is still important as it is proven that certain spectrums enhance algae growth. Still, the point that the lamps emit too much light is more important for these lamps than the spectrum.

 

[SO19Firearms]

Not entirely true. As Byron mentioned, spectrum is still important as it is proven that certain spectrums enhance algae growth. Still, the point that the lamps emit too much light is more important for these lamps than the spectrum.

The secret to that conundrum is don't try to grow algae. Research says that if you feed algae it will enhance growth. So feed the plant instead.