# LED Lighting in a Planted Tank



## A/A Fuel GTX (Feb 7, 2014)

Has anyone had success with live plants and LED Lighting? I'm setting up a 38" X 14" X 24" tank and have a Current Satellite 4007 in mind. The tank location really prohibits the use of a hanging type fixture. I'm wondering if one of the 4007's is marginal, perhaps two of them would produce adequate light? Does the type of light, such as the presence UV or whatever make a difference?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Four of my tanks and now LED lit - all planted.

This is a thread I started a little while back:
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/starting-move-led-69682-2.html

How many gallon is your tank? Is it 24" high?


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## A/A Fuel GTX (Feb 7, 2014)

jrman83 said:


> Four of my tanks and now LED lit - all planted.
> 
> This is a thread I started a little while back:
> http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/starting-move-led-69682-2.html
> ...


It is 24" high. The capacity is about 55 gallons. I will be utilizing CO2.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

What kind of lighting level were you hoping for? Low, med, high?


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## A/A Fuel GTX (Feb 7, 2014)

jrman83 said:


> What kind of lighting level were you hoping for? Low, med, high?


Not sure. I just want the plants to thrive as I plan on spending major bucks on the aquascape.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I'm LED on almost all my tanks including reefs.They really are the best,but you got to get a good one,which probly isn't available in most stores.All my leds are current "true lumen pros".They are pretty powerful and pricey.Alot of people really seem to like finnex brand leds.If you are going with pressurised co2 then the light will really dictate everything else.With pressurised co2 and ferts you could do almost anything you want if you get the right light.
Do you know what plants you want?


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## A/A Fuel GTX (Feb 7, 2014)

coralbandit said:


> I'm LED on almost all my tanks including reefs.They really are the best,but you got to get a good one,which probly isn't available in most stores.All my leds are current "true lumen pros".They are pretty powerful and pricey.Alot of people really seem to like finnex brand leds.If you are going with pressurised co2 then the light will really dictate everything else.With pressurised co2 and ferts you could do almost anything you want if you get the right light.
> Do you know what plants you want?


At this point, plant options are still unknown. I've seen some amazing aquascapes at the GREEN MACHINE.com and I actually want to duplicate the one called " ALTITUDE " which was done with a tank about my size. The creator of this build uses a 150W HID type light which costs about $700.00. I'm more concerned with the energy consumption than the price of the light. I like the LED's because of their low cost to operate and longevity.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You either need to decide on a particular light level or you can decide on the plants and buy the light based on what they need. If you wanted carpeting plants for instance, that may require much more light to make sure it reaches the substrate at the level needed by the plant.

If you want to go LED, my recommendation is to call buildmyLED and talk to Cara. she can tell you what they can do for you, but you really need to figure out where you want to be and what type of plants you will have. You are better off going more money toward the light or when you spend all that money on the plants you may lose a lot of them.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Do you plan on CO2?


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## A/A Fuel GTX (Feb 7, 2014)

jrman83 said:


> You either need to decide on a particular light level or you can decide on the plants and buy the light based on what they need. If you wanted carpeting plants for instance, that may require much more light to make sure it reaches the substrate at the level needed by the plant.
> 
> If you want to go LED, my recommendation is to call buildmyLED and talk to Cara. she can tell you what they can do for you, but you really need to figure out where you want to be and what type of plants you will have. You are better off going more money toward the light or when you spend all that money on the plants you may lose a lot of them.


Thanks for the advice. Sounds like the Current Satellite + may not be the light I'm looking for. Too bad, it was only a hundred bucks or so. Definitely going with CO2.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Good. Then shop for the light and your CO2 setup and spend a little extra there. The CO2 system can be fairly cheap and it can go the other way but it does need to be dependable. If you wanted something all ready to go I would look to Green Leaf Aquariums or look into the thread on here about building your own. I would recommend at least a 5lb CO2 tank.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Nature Aquarium Superstore for Fish Tank & Tropical Aquatic Plants Supplies | Aquatics, Aquascaping, Nature Aquarium & Hydroponics Specialists
Go here and hit the altitude link and they list all the plants(they list everything).
That is a SWEET looking tank!I wish you luck on this and can't wait to see how you do!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I don't see an attitude link.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Sorry ,you got to go to aquascape journals and scroll down till you get to altitude.


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## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

Not sure if anyone ever found out the range of the current satellite led plus setup, but I just got mine -->*w3 and this is what came with it


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You going with plants now?


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I have 3 tanks with marineland led in two of them.i had plants in mine from day one.i used root tabs until I went with co2 in my 20 gallon a month ago.mine other 2 tanks for some reason the plants does great using nothing but the led light on 10 hours a day.


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## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

No, no plants for now.


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