# Beamswork 48 inch LED



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

sinibotia said:


> Can anyone tell me what level of light this is? It was suggested as a low/medium light option for a relatively low-tech 55 gallon tank but some people are now telling me this is actually high-light and I need CO2. CO2 is kinda out of the question for me. I use root tabs, excel, liquid ferts, etc.
> 
> Amazon.com : Beamswork 48" ELF 1200 6500K LED Aquarium Light Pent Freshwater Plant Discus 160x 0.50W : Pet Supplies


Interesting a larger Razor than normal..










Don't think anyone has done any PAR measurements on this one.
There is some for its smaller sibling:
30" Beamswork Razor 6500K (EA80): 


> Center-----6" off center
> 1” - 250
> 4” - 84
> 6” - 71
> ...


96/4400 lumen rating for the 48" of the above style..

"best guess" would be around 40 PAR at your tank depth.. 

Fairly good medium, depending on who you talk to..


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## sinibotia (Nov 10, 2015)

Ok, so then I probably won't need CO2 right? Thank you so much! I don't want to go the high-tech route.


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## sinibotia (Nov 10, 2015)

Can someone confirm whether or not I need CO2 for this level of light?


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

I think there's a huge misconception that has been thrown around for years about high light requiring adding CO2. While there is a correlation between high light, no added CO2, and algae, it's not causal. For example, large patches of submerged aquatic plants can be found in rivers and lakes receiving direct sunlight - where is the CO2 being added? And yet they grown perfectly fine without any algae.


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## sinibotia (Nov 10, 2015)

Well, I just don't want to have too much light where I will likely have an algae problem if I don't use CO2


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## DavidZ (Nov 17, 2009)

I think what you are missing is that algae doesn't just depend on light or high light


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Light drives the need for ferts and CO2. That's been accepted as fact for many years. Missing either ferts or CO2 with higher light will create an algae farm, also accepted as fact. Natural rivers and lakes often have surprisingly high CO2 concentrations.

There are many stickies, and countless threads, about anything you'd like to know.

40 PAR gets close, but you can probably get away without injected CO2. But as jeff said, there might not be any PAR measurements available, so it's a gamble.


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## sinibotia (Nov 10, 2015)

kevmo911 said:


> Light drives the need for ferts and CO2. That's been accepted as fact for many years. Missing either ferts or CO2 with higher light will create an algae farm, also accepted as fact. Natural rivers and lakes often have surprisingly high CO2 concentrations.
> 
> There are many stickies, and countless threads, about anything you'd like to know.
> 
> 40 PAR gets close, but you can probably get away without injected CO2. But as jeff said, there might not be any PAR measurements available, so it's a gamble.


If there are PAR measurements for this light, I can't find them for the life of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a crazy algae-phobe. I have plenty of non-planted and low-tech tanks with algae. I just don't want this to be a green soup. I've got plenty of ferts. This is just the closest I've ever got to "high" light; I'm more a fish breeder than an aquatic gardener. This is for a display tank.

I've read a bunch of articles and stickies, but between the lack of data for this light, and the apparent middle-of-the-road nature of the light, I haven't been able to find a straight answer if this tank will be ok without CO2. Thanks for giving me as close as I've gotten to a solid answer!


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

kevmo911 said:


> Light drives the need for ferts and CO2. That's been accepted as fact for many years. *Missing either ferts or CO2 with higher light will create an algae farm, also accepted as fact.* Natural rivers and lakes often have surprisingly high CO2 concentrations.


This is not fact. You can purposefully limit plant growth by limiting certain nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium. This slows growth but does harm the plant even under higher light intensities.


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## sinibotia (Nov 10, 2015)

Do you think this light can grow cabomba?


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## sinibotia (Nov 10, 2015)

Still looking for an answer on this.


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## sinibotia (Nov 10, 2015)

What about a red tiger lotus? Is this light strong enough for that?


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