[BlanketHogg]

Hi, at the moment, my 28 gallon has an aerogarden on it to light it, using LED lights, the aerogarden is just a hydroponic system with nice lights. It has the most plants in it right now, I'm growing them in there and then will propagate them in other tanks. Will this light be sufficient for the plants? or should I look into an actual LED light set up for fishtanks.
My 70 gallon has a 48 inch fluorescent light, with 1 white light bulb. Will this be sufficient to grow plants eventually?
As well as a 10 gallon with a fluorescent light the length of the tank, 1 bulb. Same situation as 70 gallon.
Thanks

P.S. Ya'll are awesome, have a good day

 

[jeffkrol]

Hi, at the moment, my 28 gallon has an aerogarden on it to light it, using LED lights, the aerogarden is just a hydroponic system with nice lights. It has the most plants in it right now, I'm growing them in there and then will propagate them in other tanks. Will this light be sufficient for the plants? or should I look into an actual LED light set up for fishtanks.
My 70 gallon has a 48 inch fluorescent light, with 1 white light bulb. Will this be sufficient to grow plants eventually?
As well as a 10 gallon with a fluorescent light the length of the tank, 1 bulb. Same situation as 70 gallon.
Thanks

P.S. Ya'll are awesome, have a good day

Well you didn't mention what model of tube you have t12, 8, 5 ....
Aerogardens look to have LED's from 20-40Watts so I'm guessing it should be sufficient for your 28gal.

What is the 29's width? If 30" Finnex has th most choices for that size.

70's minimum for good light is 2 t5's at least.
In old school terms going below 1Watt /gallon is less than low light.

 

[jadavis99]

I would add it may depend on the plants you choose. Plants like Anubias, Crypts, Java fern/moss, Buces can do well with less light than most stem typye plants like Rotala, Ludwigia, etc. Some swords will be okay with a bit less than high light as well.

 

[BlanketHogg]

Well you didn't mention what model of tube you have t12, 8, 5 ....
Aerogardens look to have LED's from 20-40Watts so I'm guessing it should be sufficient for your 28gal.

What is the 29's width? If 30" Finnex has th most choices for that size.

70's minimum for good light is 2 t5's at least.
In old school terms going below 1Watt /gallon is less than low light.

I haven’t got a clue about what those terms t12, 8, 5 mean, whould you mind elaborating?
sorry If my original post was confusing 😑
70 gallon-1 white flourescent 48 inch bulb
28 gallon- aerogarden with LED lights, mostly white with some red and blue
10 gallon-1 white fluorescent bulb (Will measure when I get home)
do you mean the 10 gallon or 28 gallon width.

I would add it may depend on the plants you choose. Plants like Anubias, Crypts, Java fern/moss, Buces can do well with less light than most stem typye plants like Rotala, Ludwigia, etc. Some swords will be okay with a bit less than high light as well.

Also the light in my 70 gallon looks quite bright and penetrates all the way down.
thankyou both for your feedback!

 

[jeffkrol]

I haven’t got a clue about what those terms t12, 8, 5 mean, whould you mind elaborating?
sorry If my original post was confusing 😑
70 gallon-1 white flourescent 48 inch bulb
28 gallon- aerogarden with LED lights, mostly white with some red and blue
10 gallon-1 white fluorescent bulb (Will measure when I get home)
do you mean the 10 gallon or 28 gallon width.


Also the light in my 70 gallon looks quite bright and penetrates all the way down.
thank you both for your feedback!

Fluorescent lights come in different tube powers for the same length of tube
You can have a 48" tube in different sizes (actually refers to the tube diameter in 8ths. 12/8 = 1 1/4" diameter. t8 = 1")
which have different output.
t12 is usually 40 watts, t 5ho (another complication there is a no, ho, and vho just meaning a difference in output w THAT size tube, Normal
Output ect/) in 48" is usually around 54 watts.
t5ho is 1.35 x "brighter" than a t12
Of course along with this is different ballasts, different sockets.

So knowing the tube type gives an idea of their light output.

70 gallon-1 white fluorescent 48 inch bulb

So not enough information so to speak.
Technically it doesn't matter much since one of any size is normally not considered sufficient for a 70 gallon planted tank except w/ the lowest light demanding plants.

Bright to you isn't always bright to plants
Conversely dull to you isn't always dull to plants. Another story though.

 

[ZChalk]

Likely no as it sounds like a NO (normal output) bulb that comes standard with most aquariums. If you look on the bulb, it should be printed what type of bulb it is. You can also look at the socket size, you can tell the type of lighting. I don't recall anyone running a successful plant tank with one albeit VHO/NO for such a large tank unless it was extremely low light plants. LEDs have become quite affordable and I would suggest an overhaul for the 70 gallon. With your traditional fluorescent light bulbs, the colour spectrum changes with the degradation of the bulb. Meaning even though the light is working it become less beneficial to the plants. With LEDs from what I've read the spectrum doesn't change and there isn't the same degradation so over the long-run you'll save money with less bulb changes.

The other positive side, is that a lot of the newer LED lights can be controlled by apps. This allows the functionality to change the power output, colour temperature, etc. giving more realistic morning, afternoon light (pleasing to the owner versus the plant). Basically it gives you flexibility where fluorescent light bulbs don't, it's either on or off. I guess first, you need to figure out what type of plants you want to keep and then go from there.

 

[BlanketHogg]

Likely no as it sounds like a NO (normal output) bulb that comes standard with most aquariums. If you look on the bulb, it should be printed what type of bulb it is. You can also look at the socket size, you can tell the type of lighting. I don't recall anyone running a successful plant tank with one albeit VHO/NO for such a large tank unless it was extremely low light plants. LEDs have become quite affordable and I would suggest an overhaul for the 70 gallon. With your traditional fluorescent light bulbs, the colour spectrum changes with the degradation of the bulb. Meaning even though the light is working it become less beneficial to the plants. With LEDs from what I've read the spectrum doesn't change and there isn't the same degradation so over the long-run you'll save money with less bulb changes.

The other positive side, is that a lot of the newer LED lights can be controlled by apps. This allows the functionality to change the power output, colour temperature, etc. giving more realistic morning, afternoon light (pleasing to the owner versus the plant). Basically it gives you flexibility where fluorescent light bulbs don't, it's either on or off. I guess first, you need to figure out what type of plants you want to keep and then go from there.

I want to keep just really easy plants, like dwarf hair grass, hornwort, moneywort, guppy Grass, and if I can find some, fresh water macro algae.
Do any of you have LED light suggestions? I’ve looked on amazon but they seem a bit iffy..

Fluorescent lights come in different tube powers for the same length of tube
You can have a 48" tube in different sizes (actually refers to the tube diameter in 8ths. 12/8 = 1 1/4" diameter. t8 = 1")
which have different output.
t12 is usually 40 watts, t 5ho (another complication there is a no, ho, and vho just meaning a difference in output w THAT size tube, Normal
Output ect/) in 48" is usually around 54 watts.
t5ho is 1.35 x "brighter" than a t12
Of course along with this is different ballasts, different sockets.

So knowing the tube type gives an idea of their light output.

So not enough information so to speak.
Technically it doesn't matter much since one of any size is normally not considered sufficient for a 70 gallon planted tank except w/ the lowest light demanding plants.

Bright to you isn't always bright to plants
Conversely dull to you isn't always dull to plants. Another story though.

Thanks! that makes more sense.
Appreciate It!!

 

[jeffkrol]

https://www.amazon.com/Beamswork-FSPEC-Aquarium-Light-Freshwater/dp/B01LFF07I8

 

[ZChalk]

I want to keep just really easy plants, like dwarf hair grass, hornwort, moneywort, guppy Grass, and if I can find some, fresh water macro algae.
Do any of you have LED light suggestions? I’ve looked on amazon but they seem a bit iffy..

It depends on your price range but Chihiros lights personally interests me (mid-range). It would allow you to grow anything and gives you flexibility in the future if you opt for more light hungry plants. The beauty of LEDs is that they can be dialed up or down. Downside, if there are issues it might be harder to get it warrantied as they are based out of China.

 

[BlanketHogg]

https://www.amazon.com/Beamswork-FSPEC-Aquarium-Light-Freshwater/dp/B01LFF07I8

It depends on your price range but Chihiros lights personally interests me (mid-range). It would allow you to grow anything and gives you flexibility in the future if you opt for more light hungry plants. The beauty of LEDs is that they can be dialed up or down. Downside, if there are issues it might be harder to get it warrantied as they are based out of China.

Thanks!!! These both look good! I'll look into them.
Do you think it's worth looking into a new light for my 28 gallon?
Thanks!

 

[ZChalk]

Without knowing the type of aerogarden lights or the model you have, I say generally yes, it will grow terrestrial or aquatic plants (optimally - someone else could probably comment). The only thing is that it might not be as appealing visually as aquarium specific lights are intended to highlight not only the plants but the fish as well.

 

[jeffkrol]

Without knowing the type of aerogarden lights or the model you have, I say generally yes, it will grow terrestrial or aquatic plants (optimally - someone else could probably comment). The only thing is that it might not be as appealing visually as aquarium specific lights are intended to highlight not only the plants but the fish as well.

Looking at their line, and err philosophy, diode choices look fine.
Not trending to "warm white" as is common w/ many plant lights.

 

[BlanketHogg]

Looking at their line, and err philosophy, diode choices look fine.
Not trending to "warm white" as is common w/ many plant lights.

I've got the Harvest Elite, I think it's lightings all right, the plants (at least the ones I can see clearly) are growing. Thanks so much for helping me with this!

 

[jeffkrol]

I've got the Harvest Elite, I think it's lightings all right, the plants (at least the ones I can see clearly) are growing. Thanks so much for helping me with this!

I wasn't worried about the power output. More the "look".
A personal opinion of course.warmer lights are too "yellow" for some.. cooler colored (bluish) lights have low red so appear "dull" ect.

 

[BlanketHogg]

Likely no as it sounds like a NO (normal output) bulb that comes standard with most aquariums. If you look on the bulb, it should be printed what type of bulb it is. You can also look at the socket size, you can tell the type of lighting. I don't recall anyone running a successful plant tank with one albeit VHO/NO for such a large tank unless it was extremely low light plants. LEDs have become quite affordable and I would suggest an overhaul for the 70 gallon. With your traditional fluorescent light bulbs, the colour spectrum changes with the degradation of the bulb. Meaning even though the light is working it become less beneficial to the plants. With LEDs from what I've read the spectrum doesn't change and there isn't the same degradation so over the long-run you'll save money with less bulb changes.

The other positive side, is that a lot of the newer LED lights can be controlled by apps. This allows the functionality to change the power output, colour temperature, etc. giving more realistic morning, afternoon light (pleasing to the owner versus the plant). Basically it gives you flexibility where fluorescent light bulbs don't, it's either on or off. I guess first, you need to figure out what type of plants you want to keep and then go from there.

I bought this tank used, and I think I need to reseal it anyway, so an overhaul I can just work in there.