# Are the lights that came with my tank acceptable?



## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

I'm working with a used 90g tank which was used for saltwater, converting it to a freshwater planted tank.

The tank came with two fixtures and a total of 4 48" bulbs, they say 32W 6500K GE Ecolux-"something-we-can't-read"

Any info on the color spectrum of these bulbs for a planted tank?

Hubby and I crave LEDs and were planning to splurge on the Marineland LED for plants with a timer. But that's a pretty pricey fixture so if these will work, we might tough it out for a while and save some bucks!


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

Apologies. I probably should have posted this in the Newbie forum.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

6500 k are good for growing plants.If the bulbs are old you can replace them with anything from 6500k-10,000k.
I wouldn't waste my money on marineland leds.They are probly best for low light plants and your 90 is tall so they will be even weaker.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

An LED with no advertised color spectrum is LEaD or a good boat anchor. No really they are great for tanks without plants.
If you look at LED's, make SURE they say what spectrum they are. I have the Marineland Double Bright and it's about
equal to one T8 bulb or just a bit more(in a good aquarium bulb). Only good for low light plants and not in a 90.
The 6500/6700K is what T8 and T5 plant bulbs are mostly. A 10,000K bulb has that in it but is more
white in appearance. Even the 12,000K will work for plants but the 65/6700K is right at their "spot".
I suggest you read this Post...the first part by susankat.
I do believe that you have a T8 shop light fixture there X 2...right ? If true then you can get a good/cheap bulb at Loew's.
Try what you have. They may be still good. They are in the right spectrum but bulbs loose their ability to provide the light
that the plants need as the coating inside degrades. If you don't see noticeable indication of the plants starting in 4-6 days
and you want to get new bulbs, Loew's has GE "Daylight" bulbs in 6500K(might say 6700K) but it's written on the side of the
package. Should be less than $10 each. I might buy only 2 to see how you like the color of the light. Hardly noticable but
one person said he thinks the 6700K bulbs make his tank look "too yellow". I doubt you'll find a 10,000K in Loew's
so it might be only in the petshops($) or on-line. The reason I'm saying this is that lots of people(especially those who have
tall tanks) use one each of 6700/10,000. This gives more visible light to the tank. You might get one to see how it looked/w
the 6700K and add another later if you liked it. Those are not going to be cheap...but...Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Coralife 10,000°K
This actually gives charts as to how several brands of LED's work/w plants so you can get a good one.
Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts
Any/all of the above is IMO/suggestion only...tried to cover most of it...


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Threnjen said:


> I'm working with a used 90g tank which was used for saltwater, converting it to a freshwater planted tank.
> 
> The tank came with two fixtures and a total of 4 48" bulbs, they say 32W 6500K GE Ecolux-"something-we-can't-read"
> 
> ...


Hello Thren...

Your lighting is fine for a planted tank. Ideally, you want lamps in the 6500 to 10,000K range. A combination of the two is best. This gives the plants a variety of spectrum light. But, what you have is sufficient.

To me, the addition of LED lighting is over rated. It makes the tank look a little better, but my standard florescent lights do just as good a job as the strips that include LEDs as far as the plants are concerned. I currently use both.

But hey, if you have deeper pockets, then get whatever the experts are currently recommending.

B


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

Thank you for the wonderful responses!

I'm glad I asked this question, it's interesting to hear that so many think that LEDs are overrated.
The specific LED strip we were looking at is this: MArineland Plant LED
So this one would be too weak with our deep tank anyway? If so that is pretty good to know. I would hate to drop the bucks on this light only to have it be insufficient (and require an additional strip - yikes!)

Sounds like we are good with our current fixture anyway, and the 4 bulbs seem to provide a lot of light. It does look to be a shop light setup with 2 bulbs in each fixture. We don't have the tank up and running yet but I will keep close watch on the plants once I get them in to see if they are getting sufficient light. If/when we need to replace the bulbs I will look into getting a combo of different bulbs. Even that Coralife 10000k bulb is certainly cheaper than LEDs!!

I did read the sticky at the top of this forum about color spectrum, I just found it awfully confusing  Actually I did understand that plants want red and blue light, and green light only adds aesthetic appeal, but I didn't know how to determine the color spectrum on what I am using. 

Thanks for the encouragement about my current lights, I will try to work with these rather than spending the big bucks on LEDs


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

Raymond thanks for that link about PAR too


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

The par link from ray (and hoppy ) is "gospel".Not all that often you can get "clinical info" on light performance.There are good LEDS,but not made by marineland!


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

Looking at pictures of fixtures from that PAR link, I notice my shop light doesn't have a reflector. Can I build one myself by lining the inside of the fixture with aluminum foil?

Also as a note the Marineland LED we were looking at is not the double bright version with 24white/12bue LEDs 1800 lumens in a 48 strip, it's the Aquatic Plant LED with 46white/8blue LEDs and 4480 lumens. In case that makes a difference to saying it won't be bright enough - although I think at this point I am definitely holding off on LEDs, I want to be sure that this WOULD work if we go to it in the future.


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

Finnex Ray II

This one is well rated on that PAR chart, and less expensive than the Marineland one.

One thing I really like about the marineland one is the built in timer, that switches to the moon lights, and later turns off the whole fixture. That is probably the most appealing thing about it, because i do not want to have to remember to do these tasks at a certain time every day.

I guess I can replicate that with a white-only strip (like this Finnex Ray II) and a separate blue moonlight strip, and have them on separate timers...


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

I actually don't want to create a high light situation in my tank, I don't want to have to add CO2


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Most the finnex are very good lights!Just was looking at some for my 180 yesterday.Make sure it is for planted tank as some(.20 watt) are not really any better than "low lighting".
New Finnex RAY2 Aquarium Day Actinic LED Bulb Light 48 inch Marine Freshwater | eBay


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I think that light will hold you over just fine. LEDs are the way to go if you can get what you want. Just a year ago you were unsure what you were getting in the way of plant performance, not true anymore. If I ever replace some of my fixture it will be with LEDs. I would stay away from the Marineland one though. It started out right, but there are more companies out there now offering better options. The 4X fixture should keep you from getting into a high light situation. My kid used the same type on a 75g and it worked beautifully and was able to grow many types of plants.

I would go to Build My LED Custom LED Lights for DIY Horticulture Aquarium Hobby Lighting if I was looking for a solid LED plant fixture.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

jrman83 said:


> I think that light will hold you over just fine. LEDs are the way to go if you can get what you want. Just a year ago you were unsure what you were getting in the way of plant performance, not true anymore. If I ever replace some of my fixture it will be with LEDs. I would stay away from the Marineland one though. It started out right, but there are more companies out there now offering better options. The 4X fixture should keep you from getting into a high light situation. My kid used the same type on a 75g and it worked beautifully and was able to grow many types of plants.
> 
> I would go to Build My LED Custom LED Lights for DIY Horticulture Aquarium Hobby Lighting if I was looking for a solid LED plant fixture.


I appreciate your putting that link up there. I've had them bookmarked for some time but on past visits they were saying they'd be back up soon.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Threnjen said:


> Looking at pictures of fixtures from that PAR link, I notice my shop light doesn't have a reflector. Can I build one myself by lining the inside of the fixture with aluminum foil?
> 
> Also as a note the Marineland LED we were looking at is not the double bright version with 24white/12bue LEDs 1800 lumens in a 48 strip, it's the Aquatic Plant LED with 46white/8blue LEDs and 4480 lumens. In case that makes a difference to saying it won't be bright enough - although I think at this point I am definitely holding off on LEDs, I want to be sure that this WOULD work if we go to it in the future.


Sure just be careful which (if any) type glue that you use. I keep a piece of the foil over and in front of the aria of my tank where
the light shows through between the fixture and the tank so it don't glare in my face when I sit in front of the tank.
But you can actually see a small increase in the amount of light that goes into the tank if you are sitting there and then put it onto
the tank. So it would really make a difference in how much light is reflected into your tank.


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