What range is my light considered?

[16gallontanker]

Is this low med or high lighting?

 

[MattW]

Looks bright to me do you know the K level? (Kelvin)

 

[16gallontanker]

No I don't it came from a 20 gallon tetra kit .

 

[16gallontanker]

It came with 5 leds

 

[16gallontanker]

I've started giving my tiger lotus,anubias, and java fern 10 to 12 hrs of this light every day is that too much? because I'm trying to get my tiger lotus to grow

 

[MaloK]

It's not really a plant oriented light, they still have a good brightness.

But sadly I always ended replacing these algae boosters. They are designed for basic aquarium viewing and for low light aquatic life.

They support artificial plants pretty well by giving them life. You might want to look in an inexpensive entry level upgrade to a more powerful and specialized LED light.

 

[MattW]

Ok from what I’ve found, no official websites state the lights (K) level of those in that picture you posted. I did find a Light spares store based in the UK stock something very similar which they stated it was a 4100K light unit. IMO that is daylight levels of light, it should grow lower light plants but ideally an upgrade would be ideal.

 

[16gallontanker]

Most of my plants are low light plants like anubias congensis and java fern I only got 1 tiger lotus and a tiger lotus bulb that the plant broke off . I supply with root tabs liquid fertilizer and liquid co2 .

 

[MattW]

I've started giving my tiger lotus,anubias, and java fern 10 to 12 hrs of this light every day is that too much? because I'm trying to get my tiger lotus to grow

Normally I would say that is too much if the light was 6500K. With it being a lower K level I’m not too sure on what to suggest. @Essjay any ideas? Also remember Tiger lotus are heavy root feeders so they will prioritise root feeding.

 

[jaylach]

I don't really know but tend to not want all white lights. Even though white light can be full spectrum I would rather have a mix. My current light has white, red, blue and green that can, somewhat, be individually controlled.

Ok from what I’ve found, no official websites state the lights (K) level of those in that picture you posted. I did find a Light spares store based in the UK stock something very similar which they stated it was a 4100K light unit. IMO that is daylight levels of light, it should grow lower light plants but ideally an upgrade would be ideal.

To my knowledge 4100K is not like sunlight. From all my research 6500K is the closest to sunlight as to artificial lighting.

 

[MattW]

To my knowledge 4100K is not like sunlight. From all my research 6500K is the closest to sunlight as to artificial lighting.

Apologies just remembered that level is closer sunrise light levels

 

[jaylach]

Apologies just remembered that level is closer sunrise light levels

Absolutely no apology needed.

While there are some "experts" here most of us just try to help from what we've seen from personal experience. The mainstay members of this site try to act as a team trying to help others that have less experience and/or knowledge and you are an important part of that team.

In this specific case you gave a recommended "K" level for sunlight that was too low. I corrected and, as such, we acted as the team we should all be. You gave good advice and I just corrected a number. Together I think that we teamed up to give good information as it should be here.

 

[MaloK]

4100K is great to light up a work area tho.

I bought a Fluval spec 5 last year. Replaced the light provided with a nice multi function LED and turned it into a crazy desktop lamp.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have been doing planted tanks now for about22 years. When I strated the standared lighting were T-12 fluors which soon got replaced with T-8s. I loved the full spectrum High CRI bulbs with the rare earths. They made fish colors pop and your wallet contain a bunch less cash.

By the time I set up my one high tech tank with pressurized CO2 the best lights were called power compacts. Very bright, nice lights and way more expensive than anything to date. Thet tank was so much work I gave it up after a decade.

Since then my lighting needs have been simpler and for a few smaller tanks I set up with low light easy care plants and I bought cheap LEDs. I can control the blue level and the white level even though it had multiple colored lights. And I can control the total output as well. Very cheap and they work fine.

Today LEDs can emulate sunrise and sunser and some or the oricier ones can change the color temp. The K level mentioned above. Basically the higher the K the brighter white the light appears. So I have used 3000k for tanks I want a "darkish" look but I prefer a more daylight look and for this I use something between 5000 and 6500k. Saltwater folks tend to use light in the 10,000K range.

There are several numerical scales used with lighting K is one, But the measure I consider to be the most important for my tanks is Called CRI. This stand for Color Rendering Index.

Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a measurement of how natural colors render under an artificial white light source when compared with sunlight. The index is measured from 0-100, with a perfect 100 indicating that colors of objects under the light source appear the same as they would under natural sunlight.

I still have T-8 fluors on the shelf because they have a CRI of 98. I prefer any light I use to have a CRI over 90. The light needs of any plant depend on the specific plant. Some plants, which are labelled hard to keep in an aquarium usually must have very bright light of a specific spectrum range to thrive. and also added CO2. You are not ready for these unless you have some decent land gardening experience if not experience in planted tanks.

What you really need is to visit the Tropical site. They are the wolrds premier grower, seller and discoverer of new plants I know. I have been using their ferts so after to threw away my SeaChem ferts and 21.5 years ago. Here is a link to their site, I consider it to be close to the bible for plant info for aquariums. Read as much as you can there.
http://tropica.com/en/

Mr. Holger Windeløv, founder of Tropica Aquarium Plants, started as a fish tank hobbyist who became increasingly interested in growing aquatic plants for his own use and for fellow hobbyists.
He then started to develop greenhouse facilities and sell the plants he produced, creating the company named Tropica Aquarium Plants in 1970.
Every year since then, Holger Windeløv has been travelling to explore for new plants - sometimes to exotic locations such as chalky, crystal-clear springs in South America, or murky, muddy ponds in Southeast Asia, and sometimes to extensive collections of aquatic plants, nurseries, and meetings with aquarists throughout the world.
In 2004, the company was sold to JPS Clemens, due to a generational change and the new owners established a new nursery garden in 2007 as the base of a long-term strategy.
Tropica Aquarium Plants aims to increase the joy and experience of having an aquarium as a hobby. The company develops, produces and sells aquarium plants, fertiliser and aquarium equipment.

Microsorum pteropus 'Windeløv' is a patented variety of Microsorum pteropus, named after Tropica's founder Holger Windeløv.

 

[fishorama]

Well, I'm old school lighting, as is my friend 2tank. I have LEDs now on 2 tanks, but I don't know how to compare light outputs. LEDs are different than fluorescents. I went with the cheap but effective LEDs CassCats recommended to me a few years ago; Nicrew Skyled+. I like the way my fish look & my medium/low light plants grow. They have a mix of white, blue & red. They can be adjusted but I like the factory settings.

IME lotus is not a high light plant, more low/medium. But it is mostly a root feeder. It's a bulb so it mostly needs just light at first. But it also needs to replenish with ferts & reform the bulb part. I have killed mine, due, I think to poor ferts rather than lack of light.