Hello Everyone, I am new to the planted side of aquariums. I am looking to setup a low light planted aquarium for my goldfish. I currently have this LED fixture http://www.amazon.com/Beamswork-0-5..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0S4THS867CJW771VQH3T and I was curious to know if this would be able to handle the low light aquariums. I currently keep the aquarium at 72 degrees, I do not use fertilizers. Just looking for a little natural look. Stocking would be anubias and java fern.
40B Planted Aquarium
- Thread starter Mbartoloni7
- Start date
I believe 0.5 watt is low to middling, so you should be fine for those plants imo. I'm not 100% sure though
I have the satwater 10,000k version of this exact LED fixture... I was able to grow dwarf water lettuce (only nickle size), and duckweed lol. I wouldn't trust it to grow anything below a 4" depth lol, that's how weak the LED's are... I would go with a simple, cheap, but effective T8 light fixture... With a dual bulb T8 fixture I was able to get the dwarf water lettuce to get 6" max size, but they were growing so fast ever other month I was having to get rid of 90% of them and do it again, etc...
But a T8 dual bulb light fixture is perfect for what you want...
But a T8 dual bulb light fixture is perfect for what you want...
I'll definitely look into it. I already have the light was the reason I was asking. I haven't seen a lot of options for 3ft t-8 fixtures. Also I haven't seen to many 6500k bulb options that fit the 3ft fixtures. If you have any suggestions. I'll definitely give it a try. I have seen some people have good luck with outdoor LED flood lights.
Well another thing would be to go with this 36" T5NO (normal output) and swap out the 6700k bulb for a 6500k bulb...
http://www.amazon.com/Coralife-Aqualight-Freshwater-Fixture-36-Inch/dp/B001F99524
I had one years ago, and it worked well for my anubias tank.... Now just so you know this is a normal output fixture which means it's not as intense as a T5HO fixture, and any bulbs you put into it will be "turned" into normal out.
This means that if you put a T5HO bulb in it they will not get the higher electrical output from the ballast needed to supply the high output rating for T5HO bulbs, which is why I say they will be turned into normal output bulbs...
http://www.amazon.com/Coralife-Aqualight-Freshwater-Fixture-36-Inch/dp/B001F99524
I had one years ago, and it worked well for my anubias tank.... Now just so you know this is a normal output fixture which means it's not as intense as a T5HO fixture, and any bulbs you put into it will be "turned" into normal out.
This means that if you put a T5HO bulb in it they will not get the higher electrical output from the ballast needed to supply the high output rating for T5HO bulbs, which is why I say they will be turned into normal output bulbs...
Last edited:
I appreciate the advise. I looked in the corallife T-5, but I wasn't really happy with the other reviews. I ended up in HomeDepot this weekend and picked up a dual T-8 fixture. I grabbed a 2 foot fixture instead of a 4 foot one because i didn't want any overhang. I am running it along with the LED's. I don't feel like anything was dying with just the LEDs, but I figured it couldn't hurt for a little extra light. I will update if anything changes. I have to ask though. Is it bad that I have 2 aqua clear 110s and an air pump on the tank. I tuned them down to reduce the flow, but they are still beasts. As for the air I am just worried I'm not leaving enough CO2 in the water. Trying to keep this a low tech setup though.
Live plants actually use oxygen at night, and use carbon dioxide during the day... If you're concerned about co2 levels in the water then I would go with a liquid carbon supplement like Flourish Excel...
