To Blue or Not To Blue, that is the question.

King of Hyrule

Discussion Starter · #1 · Mar 10, 2015

1168 4

Here the run down. 29G tank, light by a 24" Finnex Planted+, hidden within the Aqueon deluxe hood. Ehiem spray bar(2x) and intake tube, connected to a Fluvial 206. As for plants and fish what you see is what I've got. Chili Rasboras up top, Green Fire Tetras below, Cory cats on the bottom and some Otos and a Dwarf Puffer, on snail patrol.

Here's the question, to quote my old friend Bill Shake-Sphere: Too Blue or not too blue?

With all LEDs (including blues) on.

LEDs (no blues)

I've been looking at my tank, with and without the blue lights on. (I cropped the images, but did not adjust the color.) The color is what my iPhone captures. I see the color the difference more on my iPhone then my iMac. Maybe your screens show it better. When I look at the tank in person the color difference is stark to me. The colors might also be lost in the JPEG compression. I'm hoping you can see it better on your computers and I do mine. The tank without the blue LEDs looks more yellow and has a deeper contrast.

I've come to like the tank without the blue lights on. It seems more green to me. What do you think? Is running without the blues on reducing the growth rate of my plants?

Only blue LEDs on

(I put this here for contrast) I never run only blue lights as I think it looks silly.

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jeffkrol

· Registered

Joined Jun 5, 2013

13,334 Posts

#4 · Mar 10, 2015

The blues roughly account for 5.6% of your light output..
Any decrease in light is a decrease in PAR.

6% though is a minimal loss. 40 to 37.6PAR as an "example"..

This is only a down and dirty guessitimate. Much depends on exactly how the diodes are powered but should be close..

As to look, what you saw is not an unreasonable observation.