# LED or fluorescent plant lighting



## NoG0ingBack (Feb 26, 2010)

Just bought a fish tank about 1 week ago, I wanna start off with plants. I have a 20 gallon tank and 7 plants. I wanna know what way should i go with lighting? Right now i got a fluorescent lighting. I wanna go to leds but i have no clue if this would be better for the plants or even where i can get a led lighting for it. 

Can anyone help me please.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Led lighting for planted tanks is already for sale on the net. The make less heat and more light for the same electricity. But they are still a bit pricey compared to fluorescents. Look here http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/index.php?cPath=71 and try one of plant forums like plantedtank.net


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## NoG0ingBack (Feb 26, 2010)

Alright thank you, Right now my tank has a 15 Wat 18inch Fluorescent tube its only a 15watt, How much stronger of a light should i get? And any links would be helpful. 

Thank you.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

plants are sorted by the light they need. Right now, you can keep "low-light" plants. Adding a few low-light plants is pretty simple, but once you get into to stronger light you start talking about fertilizers and Co2. Its time for you go get a book.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

You can find LED lighting at any hydroponic equipment shop worth it's salt. Just realize LED is expensive as heck in that department right now. But it is definetly a superior product. Might be worth waiting a couple of years for price to drop signifigantly


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

It actually really depends on the type of LEDs the vast majority of fixtures are using the small like 1 watt or less LEDs. These are pretty useless for aquarium lighting or plant lighting in general. Any aquatic plant forum will tell you that 3 watt led's are what you need to use. Good luck finding fixtures using these that don't cost an arm or a leg. I keep seeing more and more DIY threads and there are many step by step threads online. You are still looking at $150 or more to light that tank with good LEDs for medium and high light plants. 

These high powered 3 watt LEDs do create a lot of heat I've yet to see a DIY fixture that does not use fans and lots of heat sinks. LEDs will not save you much as far as electricity, they do have a nice PAR output, but you are still looking at about the same wattage. They are suppose to last a long time, at least the LED's themselves, the drivers though I would be suspicious about.

You can accoplish a lot though with a $20 DIY using spiral compacts from the home store. This is also extremely versatile lighting. You are not limited to a specific wattage bulb, have no ballasts or starts to worry about.


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## NoG0ingBack (Feb 26, 2010)

Can anyone give me a link to a good 18inch fluorescent tube for my plants and fish. If someone can help me chose one it would be really helpful.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

This is my preferred bulb, it is great for plants, but still have a nice bright color that shows off both the fish and the plants. Doesn't give that washed out green look. Any bulb with a kelvin(K) rating of 6,000-10,000 is good for aquarium plants.

here is a link, this site does not currently have this item in stock though. http://www.elightbulbs.com/catalog_product.cfm?source=GoogleBaseCSE&prod=GL22920


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## NoG0ingBack (Feb 26, 2010)

Just got back from Petco and they had bulbs on sale one was 15Watt T8 8000k for about 4$. Would this be a good way to go?


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## NoG0ingBack (Feb 26, 2010)

http://www.aqueonproducts.com/products/fluorescent-lamps-and-starters.htm

Here is the link mine was the 18 inch. Is this good for plants and fishes?


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

should be fine I guess. They say most lights between 6,000k and 10,000 K will be fine. There is much more to it than that though, but light is a really complicated topic. Most will work just fine, especially with low light plants. However there can be big differences between bulbs. I can't really say how good the light you bought its, because no where online does anyone list any good technical info on it. Its one of those mystery bulbs. On the other hand I can pull up tons of info on the bulb I linked, including 2 different PUR(Photosynthetically usable radiation) calculations. I'm not saying its the best bulb ever, you can get this info on quite a few bulbs... 

I would just stick with that bulb since you got it. Figuring out lighting is (and always will be) a total PITA.


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