Cold white/blue lighting for planted tank

[Sneakerpimp]

I'm thinking about a 36x12x18 33g planted and am looking at what lights I want to use.

I want a clear blue/white look to the lighting. Would this be best achieved with LED or T-5 HO?

Input would be much appreciated.

 

[calivivarium1]

There are lots of good lighting options with either one. I don't have experience with tons of different T5, T5HO, and LED fixtures but so far my favorite are full spectrum LED fixtures. I have Current Satellite + Freshwater fixtures and I love being able to add dynamic modes and custom settings. The low power usage and long bulb life is awesome as well.

 

[Duckie]

If you go LED you need exactly that: cold white full spectrum leds mixed with blue leds to end up with a very cold looking light. As long as the white leds are bright enough they will give enough light for photosynthesis. The blue is mostly to give you that nice cool mix. I suggest you look at TrueLumen strips - they are super thin and you can easily fit 4 or 5 over the foot wide tank (depending on how much light you need). A 12,000 K diamond white combined with a actinic strip will give you what you want. Add a 2nd set if you need more light.

 

[FreshyFresh]

To me, anything in the 6500K color/temp range is blue/white. Live got both T5HO and LED in 6500K.

 

[Slappy*McFish]

10,000K might be worth looking in to, as well

 

[Sneakerpimp]

Thanks for the help guys.

Going with the fluval ultra bright led. I'm in Canada so my options are limited.

 

[Duckie]

Thanks for the help guys.

Going with the fluval ultra bright led. I'm in Canada so my options are limited.

I have one of those on my 55 (the 4 foot version of the light). The light is not specifically optimized for growing plants, but it will do for low light plants. You won't get the look of the picture in your first post, but it will be much cooler and brighter compared to the standard stock one bulb fluorescent. On the plus side you can easily add a 2nd strip to it - the light is not very wide - under 5 inches.

 

[Duckie]

Here is a pic of my 55 with the fluval light.



If you want a timer you won't be able to automatically switch from daylight to moonlight.

 

[Sneakerpimp]

Here is a pic of my 55 with the fluval light.

View attachment 216289


If you want a timer you won't be able to automatically switch from daylight to moonlight.

It looks pretty good. I might ask the LFS what they have for 10000k or 12000k LED. I'm sure they must have led strips like truelumen available on order at least.

What exactly did you mean about the moon lights not working on a timer?

 

[Duckie]

It looks pretty good. I might ask the LFS what they have for 10000k or 12000k LED. I'm sure they must have led strips like truelumen available on order at least.

What exactly did you mean about the moon lights not working on a timer?

As with most cheap lights that don't come with a builtin or optional timer you don't have a choice to switch modes. The Fluval light has a 3-way switch - only blue/off/white and blue. So if you put the light on a outlet timer you can only switch on/off whichever mode the switch on the light was in.

If you go with TrueLumen (made by Current) you need a separate power supply and you could turn white and blue channels independent on and off. Or they optionally can use a (dual) ramp timer.

IMO, if you go LED, even the 12k alone won't give that bluish look from first picture. If you want lighting similar in look to reef lighting, then actinic leds need to be added.

Are you able to get Finnex fixtures in Canada? If so, the Ray2 white/actinic would look great and is very bright. But not sure if it grows freshwater plants well. If you want I could put one on my 55 for comparison to the Fluval. The Ray2 is on my 90 gal FOWLR.