# Light Lumens Kelvin - High medium low light



## RollaPrime (Jul 27, 2018)

Hey guys and gals.

I've just purchased a new aquarium due for delivery next week. However, the lighting unit is LED and I am unsure of where the led unit places me on the light spectrum. Some stats:

Tank









Light Unit









I'm not sure what plants to get for this setup so I'm eager for some advice.


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## blackdrako3000 (Nov 10, 2017)

As there is not much I can find on the spectrum this light produces, I cannot speak to that part. From the little I found, it says that it is for plants. When it comes to plants, you need the correct spectrum to reach the farthest plant with the highest demand adequately. As this is more of a blue light, I would imagine it is heavier on the blue spectrum than the red. Plants need blue and red spectrum light with some green.

if you are unsure if the spectrum will be enough, compare your spectrum information against LED lights specifically made for aquarium plant growth. One this that might help is a reflector, if you don't have one already. It appears this light is meant to mount into a hood/canopy. Reflectors inside will help direct the light into the aquarium allowing for greater penetration to the bottom of the tank.

As for the light itself. Since it is in the 6500-9000K range, it will be more of a blue light than a white light. It will be good enough for viewing and for the fish.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Low.................possib. low/med though at 26" deep..unlikely.
7750 K-ish.. 

Silly picture really shows a low k high k "bulb". Marketing 

Tanks roughly 130 gal and you have 62W of light..


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## Tyrant46290 (Jul 21, 2018)

I agree as to the watt per gallon theory being low. But it's 60w of LED. I have a planted tank with 0.5 watts of LED....There is no true and accurate chart for LED because you can have 2 LED with the same Kelvin scale and same watts put out completely different amount of power.

The only true way to go about it is to find out of measure the lights PAR at the substrate.


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## peterphonic (May 9, 2018)

RollaPrime said:


> I'm not sure what plants to get for this setup so I'm eager for some advice.


As said before in the thread, PAR is the best measurement. But to give a rough idea, go check this tropica guide. They talk about lumens and lumen per litre of water.


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## RollaPrime (Jul 27, 2018)

Tyrant46290 said:


> I agree as to the watt per gallon theory being low. But it's 60w of LED. I have a planted tank with 0.5 watts of LED....There is no true and accurate chart for LED because you can have 2 LED with the same Kelvin scale and same watts put out completely different amount of power.
> 
> The only true way to go about it is to find out of measure the lights PAR at the substrate.


I was confident with T5 but the unit ships with LED so I fell back on the general rule as thats the most I could find on LED. 



jeffkrol said:


> Low.................possib. low/med though at 26" deep..unlikely.
> 7750 K-ish..
> 
> Silly picture really shows a low k high k "bulb". Marketing
> ...


I wish it was a 130 but it's 118G and the wattage is around 0.5 when divided.



peterphonic said:


> As said before in the thread, PAR is the best measurement. But to give a rough idea, go check this tropica guide. They talk about lumens and lumen per litre of water.


The total lumen count is 7000 and works out to 15 Lumens er liter. So I'm on the low scale according to Tropica. 



blackdrako3000 said:


> As there is not much I can find on the spectrum this light produces, I cannot speak to that part. From the little I found, it says that it is for plants. When it comes to plants, you need the correct spectrum to reach the farthest plant with the highest demand adequately. As this is more of a blue light, I would imagine it is heavier on the blue spectrum than the red. Plants need blue and red spectrum light with some green.
> 
> if you are unsure if the spectrum will be enough, compare your spectrum information against LED lights specifically made for aquarium plant growth. One this that might help is a reflector, if you don't have one already. It appears this light is meant to mount into a hood/canopy. Reflectors inside will help direct the light into the aquarium allowing for greater penetration to the bottom of the tank.
> 
> As for the light itself. Since it is in the 6500-9000K range, it will be more of a blue light than a white light. It will be good enough for viewing and for the fish.


Hi and thanks. Compared to Fluval and other plated led manufactures the spectrum isn't ideal. Another LED unit might be my only option.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Yea, used the outside dimensions not inside..
Using your lumen # and 446.68 liters it's 16 Lumens/Liter..


> If you have chosen nothing but "Easy" plants, 10-20 lumen (0.25 to 0.5 watts) per litre is adequate. For "Medium" plants, we recommend 20-40 lumen (0.5 to 1 watts) per litre, while "Advanced" plants require more than 40 lumens (1 watt) per litre.


current quality LED's are pushing 100 Lumens per Watt so don't pay attention to their watt numbers (tropica guide)
"They" imply 115L/W from the listed data.. which is not impossible..

Problem still is depth but it will grow stuff..


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