LED light from starter kit sufficient for 29 gal moderately planted

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Work n’ Grind

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Feb 23, 2022
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I have a 29 gal with the stock LED that came with the starter kit. 11.4 wat 12v bright white double row (top fin starter kit aquarium) my question is will I be able to grow well under this just low light plants or can I go all the way to high light requirement plants? Thanks!
 
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NoodleCats

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See how low light plants fare first, I doubt it'll be strong enough for high light plants though
 

jake72

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Depends on the light intensity and spectrum as well as the plants you pick. If you are saying it is 11 watts then it is very very weak. A good light for a 29 would be between 35 and 65 watt.
 

Work n’ Grind

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Depends on the light intensity and spectrum as well as the plants you pick. If you are saying it is 11 watts then it is very very weak. A good light for a 29 would be between 35 and 65 watt.
35-65 watt LED for a 29 gallon? Would they need to be dimmable above a certain watt?
 

jake72

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35-65 watt LED for a 29 gallon? Would they need to be dimmable above a certain watt?
Most dedicated aquairum lights you buy are configurable. I use fluval plant 3.0 but they are a bit pricey. I also have a few wrgb 2. I don't run any on full intensity. Here are two of my low tech 29s - one with plant 3.0 one with wrgb 2:
tb.jpgb3.jpg
 

dougall

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when it comes to lights, especially LED, the wattage refers to the amount of power it will use, not the amount of light, nor how much of it will be usable.

Best option would be to look at reviews for the specific light, over a comparable distance to the plants so you can get a better idea... you can maybe work out from the number of lumens it says it is (if it does) and hope they all go into your aquarium, I doubt there's a PAR map for a kit light, and I'm not going to suggest you try to use a PAR meter to see how it does.

If you just want to grow plants but aren't too picky about how they look, standard inexpensive white lights will be fine, if you care more about the color of the leaves (and fish) then 'full' spectrum or fully configurable WRGB lights work well but are more expensive.. the Fluval light is somewhere inbetween white and WRGB (I do quite like them though, they are really well made)
 

jake72

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You can of course use 50 watt 65K flood lights - they are cheap like $25 and ip68. You could use two for coverage on a 29 - the negative is they don't ramp up - the spectrum is not adjustable; and they aren't that pretty - .... there is a model that can be dimmed and some that spectrum can be adjusted - i've not tried them on plants. I use a flood light on a 5 gallon pail and the plants grow fine but i've not tried anything delicate.
 

Work n’ Grind

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Most dedicated aquairum lights you buy are configurable. I use fluval plant 3.0 but they are a bit pricey. I also have a few wrgb 2. I don't run any on full intensity. Here are two of my low tech 29s - one with plant 3.0 one with wrgb 2:
View attachment 231135View attachment 231136
Those are beautiful I may need to upgrade the fixture in mine, but I have not had it up and running but two months maybe three, see how it gose and if I can keep anything alive
 

jake72

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Just remember plants work on order of weeks and months so it takes a while to determine how things are working out; esp with new plants that might still be adapting to your aquarium.
 
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