# LED 5000k light results



## esr209 (Apr 17, 2015)

Okay, so at me recent trip to the local hardware store i picked up a basic screw in led bulb producing 800 lumens of light in a 5000k spectrum. This bulb + fixture costed me 20 dollars and I figured why not see how it does. i have recently set up a 7.5 cube(built by yours truly) and it will be a planted shrimp tank with a few fish later down the road. 
The tank specs:
Organic miracle grow mixed with mr aqua shrimp substrate topped with silicate sand.
Lighting: 10 watt led bulb
Dosing: small dosing of seachems line; 
-activate
-carbonate
-synthesis
-propel
Filtration: aquatech 5-15


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## Okedokey (Sep 2, 2014)

Nice. Photos?


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Any link to the light ?
I have no idea how the 5000K translates into LED. In fluorescent bulbs, the Zoo Med
"Flora sun" is 5000K and so far it's the best plant bulb I've found.
Since I now use 20" fixtures and those horticulture bulbs only come in 24" or 48" I
haven't tried any of those yet.
What type of fixture do you have this bulb in and how far over the tank is it ?


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## mrbigshot (Sep 14, 2014)

5000 kelvin is a daylight. perfect color for growin plants. its a blueish white like most led freshwater fixtures


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

I'm always puzzled why folks think blueish light is the best color light? Anyone that has taken a moment to observe sunlight will observe sunlight is only blueish at certain times of the day namely dawn and dusk. At all other times under a clear sky sunlight is white with a Kelvin temperature about 5500-5900.


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

Steve001 said:


> I'm always puzzled why folks think blueish light is the best color light? Anyone that has taken a moment to observe sunlight will observe sunlight is only blueish at certain times of the day namely dawn and dusk. At all other times under a clear sky sunlight is white with a Kelvin temperature about 5500-5900.


Sunrise and sunset are distinctly not bluish, but very red IME...

There's a lot of variability on what the color temperature of "sunlight" is, depending on the conditions...

I'll refer to autodesk which has a nice picture on this one:

http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/colors-light


That said, I do agree that somewhere between 5000k and 7000k seems ideal, with exact color temperature varying on taste... 

it seems the iwagumi type folks prefer higher color temps near 7000k, as it highlights their green-centric scape... Someone doing more red plants etc should prefer something lower.

I suspect a lot of the "6500k is the only way" mindset comes from the T12 tube days, where you could get 2700k, 4000k, or 6500k. However generally the 2700k and 4000k had low-color rendering index (CRI) down in the upper50's to low 60's. 6500k was a relatively new thing and was being made with better phosphors and had higher CRI.


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## Aplomado (Feb 20, 2013)

Steve001 said:


> I'm always puzzled why folks think blueish light is the best color light? Anyone that has taken a moment to observe sunlight will observe sunlight is only blueish at certain times of the day namely dawn and dusk. At all other times under a clear sky sunlight is white with a Kelvin temperature about 5500-5900.


This is why people think bluish light is good for plants:


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## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

Sunlight in the morning can be 3200K early on, then near 4000K later on in the morning, then 5000K later and 6500k later on, etc.

I have been a cameraman in the past working for a local TV station. I was working with white balances and a particular camera I often used was measuring the Kelvins.

Michel.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

micheljq said:


> Sunlight in the morning can be 3200K early on, then near 4000K later on in the morning, then 5000K later and 6500k later on, etc.
> 
> I have been a cameraman in the past working for a local TV station. I was working with white balances and a particular camera I often used was measuring the Kelvins.
> 
> Michel.


Unfortunately K values do not always correspond w/ "look" w/ punctated spectrum lighting (flourescent, LED) 

As to color "overall" red is more "efficient than blue:









BUT since this curve can shift back and fourth.. technically either or both red and blue.. 
NICE paper w/ pros and cons..
http://www.photobiology.info/Gorton.html









A well rounded spectrum tailored to your personal "look" is the simplest KISS application..
And the simplist way to do at least the majority of "equalization" is a combination of WW CW LED's in a proportion suitable to ones own taste...
Oh and add cyan, and deep red, and violet (maybe) ...


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

Aplomado said:


> This is why people think bluish light is good for plants:


That would suggest purple light would be best, made with a mix of blue and red....


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## Okedokey (Sep 2, 2014)

mattinmd said:


> That would suggest purple light would be best, made with a mix of blue and red....


Agricultural grow lights are often purple (red and blue).


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

Okedokey said:


> Agricultural grow lights are often purple (red and blue).


Agreed....

Which makes me wonder even more why anyone would look at the response curve for chlorophyll-a and think they need a blue-centric light.


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

mattinmd said:


> Sunrise and sunset are distinctly not bluish, but very red IME...
> 
> There's a lot of variability on what the color temperature of "sunlight" is, depending on the conditions...
> 
> ...


 Dawn and dusk occur before sunrise and after sunset and are distinctly blue.
I don't know why T12's would lead to that. 6500k seems meme like.
I knew 30 years ago sunlight was 5500k. Back then there was the florescent Vitalight.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

Okedokey said:


> Agricultural grow lights are often purple (red and blue).


Agricultural grow lights are not purple; it only looks that way to our human eyes. They are objectively red and blue but our brains mix the colors.


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

mattinmd said:


> That would suggest purple light would be best, made with a mix of blue and red....


True. There are florescent lights that output blue and red light for the specific purpose of growing plants.


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## Okedokey (Sep 2, 2014)

Solcielo lawrencia said:


> Agricultural grow lights are not purple; it only looks that way to our human eyes. They are objectively red and blue but our brains mix the colors.


Violet wave lengths are around 400nm which is covered by agricultural lights.

http://www.kessil.com/horticulture/downloadfiles/H380vsH350.pdf


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

Solcielo lawrencia said:


> Agricultural grow lights are not purple; it only looks that way to our human eyes. They are objectively red and blue but our brains mix the colors.


I'm pretty sure Okey and I both realize it is a trick of the eye. Notice we both specified purple from a mix of red and blue, as opposed to actual single-wavelength purple light.

If anyone thought I meant that red and blue made actual single wavelength purple light, my apologies. It never occurred to me anyone would think I meant that.


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## Algae. (Apr 12, 2014)

Forget about the light color, OP where are the pics??


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Okedokey said:


> Violet wave lengths are around 400nm which is covered by agricultural lights.
> 
> http://www.kessil.com/horticulture/downloadfiles/H380vsH350.pdf



Yes and no.. not normally in lesser ag LED's which are pretty specifically royal blue and 660nm red..
There is no 400nm unless specifically added:


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## Okedokey (Sep 2, 2014)

The H380 has it added.


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

Violet is chloro a. Blue is chloro b. Violet is more efficient than red for chloro a as it has better penetration thus higher PAR. You also get the added benefit that below 420nm the light is pretty much invisible to the naked eye so blends easier. 660nm in LEDs have terrible color banding. If you want your 660 fix just use high cri white LEDs in the 3000-4000k range.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## esr209 (Apr 17, 2015)

http://s1345.photobucket.com/user/e...5-4856-95fb-ada1f3c39205_zpsrb0grssu.jpg.html

Bump: http://s1345.photobucket.com/user/esr209/media/Mobile%20Uploads/1844b024-0615-4856-95fb-ada1f3c39205_zpsrb0grssu.jpg.html

Bump: I am however contemplating on switching over to a readily available par 30 bulb with I believe has 15 watts at the same kelvin temp. I'm just messing around here and seeing what works. Within the next couple of days I am going to add the rest of the plants to the tank and maybe some shrimp, I might wait a week on the shrimp however. Once I get the plants in I want to do half doses NPK and set up a diy CO2 system like on my 10 gallon custom. I have two 2 liter or so bottles set up with the normal 2 cups of sugar mixed with water at 118 degrees then I add 1/3 tsp yeast. After mixing well i throw everything in a 5 gallon bucket of water set to 85 degrees on a timer. That works out pretty well and even pearling on the plants so I'm alright with it, no need to go with a tank and regulator unless you go above 40 gallons imo. Will keep you guys updated.


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