A Comprehensive Lighting Article

[aquabillpers]

This long article by Carl Strohmeyer on aquatic plant lighting is the the most comprehensive that I have seen.
It's a keeper, IMO.


http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html


Bill

 

[Forumsnow]

Really interesting article thanks for sharing!

 

[Tom Barr]

Right off the bat I do not agree and have the data to support it on the LED, while this might seem true, the reality is poor spread of the LED lighting itself is the trade off, I use less light using T5's and can dim those as well, for about the same to 1/2 the cost and the colors are far better for planted tanks.

The ATI fixture ends up producing nicer growth, using less energy than any LED custom configuration I could come up with.
There's no way you get 10-15% the energy using the best LED's with a good T5 system.

I have a PAR meter and the plants themselves also do not lie.

PUR/Spectroradiometer meter would require that you know specifics about the individual species since each plant species has optima for different wavelengths. Most adapt quite well however. Aesthetics does not always equate to = more growth, which is the main metric used.
This will remain an unknown, I'm not even if it's all that useful outside a specific study on a specific plant.

No one is really going to fork out 3000-4000$ for such a meter and all the work involved to confirm the PUR, and that's just for one species and hopefully all your controls are decent.
It can be done, but really doubtful any hobbyist is gonna do it.

"I have found the use of a PAR Meter over rated by some."

I don't in light of the trades involved to go BEYOND that and into the PUR area, unless you have a better alternative, then why bother?
You will end up making it even MORE confusing.

PAR is used in most general plant growth studies in Biology for aquatic plants. They do not measur ePUR in virtually any studies I am aware of, arguing for PUR over PAR needs some experience and background to support. And I've not seen any from anyone in the hobby as of yet.

PAR is used, then from there, simple experience with different bulbs, bulb types.
Since aesthetics also plays a LARGE role, often larger than growth rates, this is the practical path most hobbyists will take, none I know of will take PUR.
With coral, studies can help with PUR, I'm afraid that you cannot confer that to plants however. Few study this issue with aquatic plants.

The example used with MH vs the 12 W LED is bias. The spread with the MH covers 2x2 ft, or 4sqft, the coverage for the 12 W LEd is not much more than the pot shown, about 1/10 or 10% of the same area.
If you only need to add light for a small area, LED's are good, if you need nice large even coverage, MH's or T5s are better.
There is no mention made in the article about this fact.

The comparison is not fair, it is bias. Common sense.
The article is good in many other ways however, that should not be overlooked.

 

[aquabillpers]

Tom,

Thanks for adding your thoughts! They are keepers too.

Bill

 

[Tom Barr]

Tom,

Thanks for adding your thoughts! They are keepers too.

Bill

I've seen a few nice LED non CO2 planted tanks, super colely's comes to mind.

As long as you pull those lights up high enough, then the LED's do get a decent spread.
But you sacrifice the PAR in doing so, which is not that huge of an issue for non CO2.
And many do not focus so much on red color intensity etc.

T5's tend to be a bit too intense, and T8's are the bulb of choice for me.

So there's that also.

The LED makers have started doing better with the smaller 1W and less/lower emitters.
I saw a nice small 12" very low profile, like the ADA LED light on a reef refugium that was doing REALLY well.
I also tried some of the Marineland stripes recently, more for a moon light for a large tank, but I placed them 2 Ft up in an enclosed cabinet, but they would work well on a smaller tank in the 10-20 Gal range.

You'd need to have them up about 8-12" at least though.

I think these are better options for non CO2 tanks than PC's generally.

 

[scoupland]

I wonder if Ecotech Radion LEDS with the new TIR lense would provide better spread and intensity than other LEDs on the market. I know they can be programmed to 6500K, or wherever you want them. I saw some today at a LFS and when put about a foot above the tank, they appeared to have good spread. They are pricey but they don't put out heat light other lights.

I don't pretend to know much about lighting. I am just starting a planted tank and would love to use LEDs if possible. The heat issue is big for me because the tank will be in a relatively small, often closed room. I want to minimize the use of a chiller.

Any thoughts?

 

[Tom Barr]

I wonder if Ecotech Radion LEDS with the new TIR lense would provide better spread and intensity than other LEDs on the market. I know they can be programmed to 6500K, or wherever you want them. I saw some today at a LFS and when put about a foot above the tank, they appeared to have good spread. They are pricey but they don't put out heat light other lights.

I don't pretend to know much about lighting. I am just starting a planted tank and would love to use LEDs if possible. The heat issue is big for me because the tank will be in a relatively small, often closed room. I want to minimize the use of a chiller.

Any thoughts?

Cost trade off.

700-800$ for 2x2 ft.

T5 with programmable computer for a 4x 2-3ft area: 700$:

So 2x as much.

I saw one ADA tank with them in Chico CA, looks nice.
He uses 3 of them.

I use LED on reefs/Refuges etc.

 

[nwozniak]

I wonder if Ecotech Radion LEDS with the new TIR lense would provide better spread and intensity than other LEDs on the market. I know they can be programmed to 6500K, or wherever you want them.

LED's cannot be programmed for the wavelength of light they output. The output wavelength(s) is dependent on the impurities that are doped into the semiconductor (typically silicon) wafer. This is determined only during the creation of the wafer. The output light is created when electrons drop out of an excited state back to their 'natural' valence shell. The creation of specific temperatures of light is created by introducing many different substances to the semiconductor wafer so the distance the electrons fall each yield a different wavelength, creating the color blends we see and the plants can use.

I only say this so you are not duped when someone tries to sell you an LED that can be 'programmed' for temperature. Only changing the LED's themselves can do this.

 

[Crispino Ramos]

Information overload to me.

My priorities are affordability, lighting that's pleasant to my eyes, good plant growth, energy savings.

 

[Tom Barr]

Information overload to me.

My priorities are affordability, lighting that's pleasant to my eyes, good plant growth, energy savings.

I think this is a rational approach.

We can get too involved with the details often times and not focus on the basics.
A PAR meter might cost some $, but it's easy to use and scale things to, so it's not adding too much complexity.
A radiospectrometer is 10X the cost and adds a lot of unknowns and user specifics.

Now if someone correlates a standard bulb brands used and to PAR and PUR/all the wavelength spikes....that might be useful for some folks.

Appearance is king however. The light has to look good.
We also need some standard to compare light intensity between treatments and distances, PAR meters and graphs(if you have the brand and light fixture types, bulbs etc) can achieve that fairly close.

 

[thegasman]

The ATI dimmable fixture, for most aquarium sizes, is still the king of planted aquarium lighting, but LED will dethrone in the next few years. I worked at a sign shop for many years that bent their own neon tubing, which was the best way to illuminate a sign. LED has now taken over due to advancements in technology. It will do the same for aquariums. It used be that we couldn't even get true white LED's at a remotely affordable cost, but now they can be had for far less than going with neon. I went with LED for my first planted tank. I know now, after making the purchase, that I should have went with T5 until the technology for FRESHWATER aquariums gets up to speed with other LED applications such as signage and REEF aquariums.

 

[Crispino Ramos]

I think LED light fixtures would do well for small shallow tanks like a 20 gallon long.

 

[Paul G]

My 210 gallon, two feet average from surface to substrate, started out with CFs. T5HOs increased the output per area and offered better options in color temp. When I switched to all LEDs, I wound up virtually paving the entire overhead with strips to get the intensity and uniformity I got with the T5HOs. The entire hood underside is filled with LEDs, mostly 8000 K with quite a lot of added red.

This was very expensive, so does not answer the up-front affordability criterion. The LEDs are more efficient in terms of watts per lumen, so I was able at first, to cut the total power consumption significantly. True, LEDs work great for accent lighting, but you have to cram them together for general illumination. Since the LED strips are smaller than tube fixtures and can be arranged to cover every square unit of area, I could pile on more light by adding strips, which got me the same PAR numbers with just under the power consumption of the T5HOs, and with better uniformity overall. I discovered that efficiency in terms of watts per umole is a whole different thing. So, I don't think the LEDs answer the operational affordability criterion (electrical savings) either, as I think you really have to go crazy with the LEDs to get the same practical effect as the T5HOs.

I won't be replacing tubes every year, so there is a real cost savings there, and that's also a meaningful convenience that has some worth.

The real improvement was in the heat control. The T5s could warm the entire room, bearing in mind that I had as much T5 coverage as I could possibly fit on a tank with a 6 foot by 2 foot footprint. I seriously considered installing a window AC unit. The 1/4 HP chiller ran a lot. Switching to LEDs stopped that problem.

My CO2 dwells at around 30 ppm 24/7 and I go through a 5 pounder about every two to three weeks.