# Lighting requirements chart?



## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

The Kelvin rating and the CRI of the bulbs has nothing to do with high/low light conditions.

In addition, the wattage can no longer be used as a reliable guideline for high/low light either, especially with the advent of newer, more efficient types of bulbs such as T8, T5NO and even T5HO bulbs.

I believe Hoppy had a good image regarding the different types of lighting and how much you would need of each type of lighting to have high/medium/low light.


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Check the sticky at the top of the lighting forum.


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## Cottagewitch (Oct 22, 2009)

I did check out the stickies as suggested but they don't really help me much in evaluating LED bulbs. I'm sure that's more due to my own lack of understanding of the various parameters and requirements but here are the LED bulbs I was wondering about. Perhaps others could shed some "light" on whether they'd be effective in a 3g nano....

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=Lighting+science+group&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

These have screw in bases so it would open up considerable options for fixtures if they would suffice but I bow to greater wisdom on the matter of lighting.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

Your standard CFL bulbs would be fine for a 3g nano aquarium.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I have no idea how much light you get from those screw-in LED bulbs. Maybe someone will try them out and use a PAR meter to find out how they do.


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

There are some people using DIY LEDs over reef tanks that are around that size. You might want to check out www.reefcentral.com and go into the Nano Reefs section. LEDs are definitely used more in reef applications, so you should get a lot more feedback over there, even just browsing.


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## Cottagewitch (Oct 22, 2009)

darkblade48, thanks for that info! Does it make a difference if they're soft white or the other types?

Hoppy, I hope you're right. I'm going to have to go back and reread all the lighting info to see if I can get a better grip on what really matters for maximum plant health.

Amanda/forddna, I'll give that a try. Thanks!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The problem with the screw-in LED bulbs is that they don't tell you enough about what LEDs are in them, nor how much light they produce, nor even much about the color temperature they produce. Far too much of the description of those bulbs is just marketing hype. That isn't really a criticism of the sellers of the bulbs, since they aren't being marketed as aquarium lights anyway.


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## Cottagewitch (Oct 22, 2009)

Here is the website of the manufacturer. They give additional info. 

http://184.106.225.154/commercial/products/applications/cabinet_shelf_display

I'd asked about K rating because it was said these bulbs are at about 3,000K. I thought the optimal range for plants was higher than that. And I believe I read somewhere that a CRI above 85 is best. These bulbs have that. Oh...if you go to the individual bulbs, you can get more technical info. One thing I really liked was that you can get them in spotlight, narrow flood or flood (40 degree beam) beam distribution. 

Here are some of the specs about the various lights:

• High efficacy – 40-50 lumens per watt
• Various beam spreads – 15-40 degrees
• Dimmable – compatible with most dimmers on the market
• Instant on
• Warm, crisp, pleasing light color – CRI 85-87
• Range of color temperatures – 2700K - 5000K
• High lumen output – up to 75W equivalent
• Low wattage – 6-18W


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

Cottagewitch said:


> darkblade48, thanks for that info! Does it make a difference if they're soft white or the other types?





Cottagewitch said:


> I'd asked about K rating because it was said these bulbs are at about 3,000K. I thought the optimal range for plants was higher than that.


No, you can use soft white, cool white, daylight, etc. It depends on what kind of look you like. Most people like 6700K because of the neutral white/slightly blue tint.


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