Aquarium Dude Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 What is the best Kelvin rating for a heavily planted tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milet Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 i use 6500k in all my tanks, and in one of my tanks with lots of plants(http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/too-many-plants-vt20167.html), the plants are growing and growing and growing continuously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 What is the best Kelvin rating for a heavily planted tank? who's kelvin? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 I use 6500K. 6500K is also used in the food indsutry etc so you can get replacement tubes from electrical wholesalers for $6-10 a tube. Anywhere between 5500-8000K is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 who's kelvin? :lol: He's the guy who supplies the different coloured lights!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 6500k is best for plants 2700k is warm white and isn't very good 10000k - 20000k is for reefers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 I used to use 6500 fluros. I now use 5100K metal halides. I think next time I replace the halides I'll go for 6500K though. The 5100K is a bit too green/yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 yeah it would be- its getting down that end of the specrum. i just got a 10k for my reef and it is a really nice white, it goes well with my 14k which is quite a bit bluer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 like most plant keepers i mostly use 6500K but i have a couple with 10000K and i much prefer the look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluetom Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 6500k are only $4.50 from mitre 10 mega for 4ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paekakboyz Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 I recently picked up a 90cm double bulb hood (Aqua brand) and it had 1 x 1000 kelvin bulb 1 x 10000 kelvin bulb I asked the shopkeeper about this as I'd read how the 6500k bulbs are considered the best for plant growth etc... he said that the combination of the bulbs provides the best spectrum of light for a variety of plants... not sure if this is sound reasoning and I'm unsure if I should just go out and pick up 2 x 6500k bulbs? advice/ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Did you get your shares in the Auckland harbour bridge while you were there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 I recently picked up a 90cm double bulb hood (Aqua brand) and it had 1 x 1000 kelvin bulb 1 x 10000 kelvin bulb I asked the shopkeeper about this as I'd read how the 6500k bulbs are considered the best for plant growth etc... he said that the combination of the bulbs provides the best spectrum of light for a variety of plants... not sure if this is sound reasoning and I'm unsure if I should just go out and pick up 2 x 6500k bulbs? advice/ideas? So in this train of logic, you'd want 13000K between the two bulbs to get a 6500K balance. 5500K is pretty close - I currently use 5100K MH bulbs as well. Seem to get more algae growth than 6500K. What colour is your 1000K bulb? Red? I think they're probably both 10000K and possibly have a blurple tone to them when you look at the bulb itself, particularly when just turned on. Go down and get Philips 865 bulbs as replacements for them. They make a more expensive 965 range that runs about three times more expensive than the lower range. I see no difference in them, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paekakboyz Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 they have the kelvin's labelled on them - the 1000k is a bluer bulb and produces a softer or bluer light and the 10000k bulb is white and seems to produce 'normal' light... Did you get your shares in the Auckland harbour bridge while you were there? ?? we talking about gullibility here alanmin4304? if so thats really nice and friendly isn't it :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 6500K seems to be the standard, but when I was reading up on it, a lot of shallow water plants actually prefer slightly lower, down to 5000K. I targetted 5500K for my shallow water swords and so forth. The general rule of thumb is the higher the Kelvin rating the bluer the light. Deep water fish and plants prefer blue, because that's what they've adapted to (the red gets filtered out by the depth of water). Shallow water plants prefer a bit more red. I'm not sure what the definition of "shallow" is, but light is noticeably blue after passing through 3m of pure water, so I guess about 1m can be called 'shallow'. Remember that this is dependent on their habitat, not necessarily your tank, but if you did have a very deep tank then it would not be advisable to plant shallow water plants and use a blue light! Also, light passing through different purities and 'types' of water will absorb differently, so the colour the plants see will depend on the type of water you have. ie. sea water is different to fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 6500K seems to be the standard, but when I was reading up on it, a lot of shallow water plants actually prefer slightly lower, down to 5000K. I targetted 5500K for my shallow water swords and so forth. The general rule of thumb is the higher the Kelvin rating the bluer the light. Deep water fish and plants prefer blue, because that's what they've adapted to (the red gets filtered out by the depth of water). Shallow water plants prefer a bit more red. I'm not sure what the definition of "shallow" is, but light is noticeably blue after passing through 3m of pure water, so I guess about 1m can be called 'shallow'. Remember that this is dependent on their habitat, not necessarily your tank, but if you did have a very deep tank then it would not be advisable to plant shallow water plants and use a blue light! Also, light passing through different purities and 'types' of water will absorb differently, so the colour the plants see will depend on the type of water you have. ie. sea water is different to fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Whoops. Some sort of error occurred during the post and so it has double posted. I blame technology, this wouldn't have happened with a pen and paper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Hey it did it again! "Failed sending email :: PHP :: DEBUG MODE Line : 235 File : /home/fnzasor/public_html/fishroom2/includes/emailer.php" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 I have seen plants grown very successfully with different types of light. For many years I have used a combination of growlux and soft white with small incandescents with success. I now use daylight (6500k). Like stated previously it depends on many factors so don't be afraid to experiment and see what works for you. You don't have to have metal halides, CO2 and all the additives sold in the shops to grow plants successfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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