Plants slowly dying with LED hood.

[FreshyFresh]

The cheap fixtures and most of the LED's sold in big box stores are inadequate for most plants, if you look up the specs on the most of the marineland fixtures they use cheap chinese 0.02 watt LED's so the unit would 50 bajillion led's on it to add up to anything, a quality LED fixture will be using LED's are the 2-3 watts each, most of these are special order from small manufacturers or DIY kits. The few larger quality manufacturers are mostly focused on reef lighting.

Is it really the wattage that counts though? I understand the old-school watts/gallon recommendation as it applied to fluorescents, but 5, 10 or 20 watts worth of LEDs would just about explode the eye-balls out of your head.

I'm pretty much convinced plants ignore the spectrum of light emitted by typical LEDs. You have to order LEDs spec'd for plants.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

I think with the low power LED's they just lack PAR penetration, I've seen a couple lower wattage LED's that can grow stuff but they weren't cheap either I'm guessing they use higher end led modules. Not sure what the K rating is on the marineland or top fin hoods might be they use 3000k-5000k LED's which would be to low for plants.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Not sure what the K rating is on the marineland or top fin hoods might be they use 3000k-5000k LED's which would be to low for plants.

Yes, that would be interesting to know. Probably too informative.. exactly what the OEM wants us to keep guessing!

 

[ktrom13]

I have a marineland 24inch LED fixture on one of my 40B's and i cant get any plants to grow. All it accomplishes to grow is a small amount of red algae on the back glass panel. But on my other 40B i have a single tube shop light( also 24inches) and im actually growing water wisteria, anubias nana, and some plant bulbs that i bought at petsmart. The shop light gives out extremely low light so i use tinfoil as a light reflector. Its such an extreme low light that it makes my water look yellow. Ill take a picture of the 2 tanks sometime tomorrow. I agree that you would have to buy LEDs spec'd for plants. But those cost too much for my wimpy delivery boy budget.

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[tanker]

But on my other 40B i have a single tube shop light( also 24inches) and im actually growing water wisteria, anubias nana, and some plant bulbs that i bought at petsmart. The shop light gives out extremely low light so i use tinfoil as a light reflector. Its such an extreme low light that it makes my water look yellow.

It may look low to you, but the "Yellow" you see maybe is because of the "K" rating. 6500K is very "Yellow", but plants love that rating.

 

[SubRosa]

Joel:

Sorry for your experience. I too do not believe that LED lighting is strong enough, but some say that it is OK.

I have always used CF lights for my tanks.

That's a VERY broad statement! My 30" tall reef tank is lit with a single 120W Taotronics LED fixture with optics (less than $200). The LEDs are currently running at about 50% output and the tank is noticeably brighter than when it was lit by a 150W halide. And while brightness to the eye isn't the best indicator of how well a light will grow stuff, generally when LEDs and halides are producing comparable PAR values (Photosynthetically Active Radiation,which is a much better indicator of how well stuff will grow)the halides appear brighter to the eye. And my fixture is pretty low on the food chain of truly reef capable LED lights in terms of output. Some units will blow away a 400W metal halide in terms of useable light and use half the power doing it.

 

[SubRosa]

I have a marineland 24inch LED fixture on one of my 40B's and i cant get any plants to grow. All it accomplishes to grow is a small amount of red algae on the back glass panel. But on my other 40B i have a single tube shop light( also 24inches) and im actually growing water wisteria, anubias nana, and some plant bulbs that i bought at petsmart. The shop light gives out extremely low light so i use tinfoil as a light reflector. Its such an extreme low light that it makes my water look yellow. Ill take a picture of the 2 tanks sometime tomorrow. I agree that you would have to buy LEDs spec'd for plants. But those cost too much for my wimpy delivery boy budget.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

Get yourself another of those shoplights and spring for a blue actinic bulb. That yellow will turn a crisp white possibly even slightly blue. Plus you'll be able to grow a wider variety of plants.

 

[Kanne26]

Thanks for these posts!! - I just purchased a Lumen Blaster LED (http://www.aquariumplants.com/LumenBlaster_LED_worlds_most_accurate_LED_for_fre_p/lb02.htm) - I haven't gotten any plants yet, as I'm trying to learn more before jumping into the hobby. Anyone had experience or know if this LED is sufficient light for plant growth? I only have 1 on a 20gal high tank and it's sitting right on top - can I grow high-light plants with this or do I need to stick to low-medium light plants?

 

[FreshyFresh]

Kanne26, Given the specs (and impressive ones at that!), these LED strips are designed for planted tanks. Good job!

YIKES. $200 for a 30", they better grow plants!

 

[Berylla]

Freshy - check out http://www.buildmyled.com

It's received some pretty good reviews on other forums and it's a custom build. Not $$ considering you get exactly what you want. If you stick with low light, you don't need to fill all the pods with lights, thus reducing the cost of the build.