Aquarium Lighting 101: Choosing the Right Light for Your Planted Tank 

They also allow for better control. However, they are much pricier and not everyone owns or wants to own Siri/Alexa/Google/etc. for various reasons

They might combine multiple colours, but the strength of them may not be as strong as one might want them to be. Which is why I still think it's important to know the spectrum of the light you are getting. For example, the reds omitted from a Chihiros WRGB 2 are way stronger than a standard "full-spectrum" LED such as a Nicrew light. But, it all depends on the types of plants you may want to grow.

Before looking into buying an additional component for the light, I would tinker with the lighting intensity and duration first, unless your goal is to spread the light out a bit more. While I'm not familiar with the Optibright-MAX light, the features that it has and your current settings looks decent. If you're getting algae from just 10% brightness, you can try lowering the duration of the light. If the light is still too intensive at 10%, you could try grabbing some frosted window film and add it to the glass lid to diffuse the light, if you have any. If you're looking to spread the light out a bit more by raising it, I would lift it with my hands to the approximate heights you listed and see how it looks. Let me know if you have any further questions!

Hey Thanks! That’s a good idea. The light and glass top are still in the box, just got it. No plants in the tank yet. I’m still deciding on what plants and layout. I don’t plan on using co2 would you recommend keeping my fluval 50 filter on it? I also just got a Hydor nano 240 power head. Hopefully it’ll help agitate the water. Any suggestions on fertilizer and tab’s ?

@@MrHyde216 I would keep the filter. As for ferts and tabs, Seachem root tabs are pretty good IMO. For ferts, it kind of depends on your aquascape and the plants you'll be using. NilcoG has a low-tech AIO fertilizer that pretty decent. I have a fertilizing video that goes over lean fertilization vs estimative index ferts

Wattage isn't really a thing to be concerned about when it comes to plants. Considering that it's low-tech, you don't actually need much intensity, but that depends on the types of plants you're growing. For example, if the tank just has Anubias in it, you can have very little light, and they would still do well, but will suffer under high lighting due to their growth speed. The same applies the opposite way. If you have some Anubias, but also have some fast-growing stem plants like Hygrophila Polysperma, then intensity needs to be adjusted in a way that doesn't overwhelm the Anubias, but still provides enough light for the fast-growing stem plants. Do remember that higher intensity means that more plants will use up more nutrients and any available CO2 in the tank. If you're lacking in these two departments, then you will have algae and plant deficiencies. All in all, it really comes down to the types of plants you have. I have a video on balancing which goes more in-depth on this topic if you like to learn more: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fi7aCcY0SR0.html

@@TropiscapeAquatics thanks buddy!!

That should be fine! Lots of people do this, and it's called "Siesta Lighting" schedule. However, the average lighting break is usually 2-3 hours. It's a little unheard of to hear that the lighting system can raise water to those temperatures. Does the temp change at all if you were to raise the height of the light, if it's possible? If water temp goes down by like 1 or 2 degrees, then the light isn't the issue, and it could either be a heater (if using one), ambient room temperature, or something else.

Both tanks look great and are excellent choices. However, if you're planning on having the island right in the middle then I might prefer the Dennerle tank over the DOURO. The Scaper's Tank has those curved edges which looks nice and clean but those edges can distort the viewing experience from those edges. It may accentuate the middle area even more thus benefitting the island. The DOURO looks great overral. If you don't like the curved glass edge look then go with this one. I haven't physically seen angled glass corners before so I can't say how much better it looks and how strong it is compared to traditional silicone methods. Hope that helps in making a decision!😊

@@TropiscapeAquatics thanks for your answer!

Take a look at the light spectrum and PAR values rather than the Watts of the light itself. It might be a little difficult finding these values, considering LED companies might not provide that information, especially if they are not an aquarium lighting company. I made an additional video for lighting here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Yxb_49SZ6RM.html Let me know if you have any further questions!

Kelvin does not influence a certain colour in plants as much as spectrum. In order to get the most green out of plants, you will want a light that emits a lot of the green in the spectrum graph. I'm not 100% confident if more blue light will influence the blue in Cardinals, but I believe a mixture of blue light and their overall health. If you are able to control RGB separately, you can try increasing more of the green and blue and lower the reds. Furthermore, make sure you're providing your plants with all the necessary nutrients for their health. Unhealthy plants are not able to reach their full potential! Hopefully that makes sense. Let me know if there's any need for more clarification.

@@TropiscapeAquatics I understood. I didn't know that green led could make plants even greener. I'm going to remove the red leds from my light fixture and put green ones in their place. I like to see the plants with that fluorescent green. I will try to see the wave of green in the white leds, as you said.

Hopefully, it works out for you! It might take some time for plants to adjust to new lights. Make sure to stay observant on your plants' health as they get used to the new setup! ~Cheers!

@@TropiscapeAquatics Thank you!

Glad you enjoyed it!

There's a lot of stuff when it comes to picking out a light for a tank. I recently made a video on a buying guide for it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Yxb_49SZ6RM.html If you have any further questions, let me know! 😊

Depends on your budget and any future plans for the tank. If you want to "future-proof," then maybe a higher quality model such as Chihiros or Twinstar light might be good. For a low-tech tank, you can more or less choose any light model. Whether it's cheaper brands, such as Nicrew or Hyyger. Another thing to consider is any additional features such as Bluetooth control or a built-in timer. Obviously, these features will cost more, but are worth it, in my opinion. Considering that the tank is 40cm wide, I would get a light that's at least 40 cm or slightly smaller to make sure that the light is uniform throughout the tank. I have a light buying guide in the works, but as you're waiting for that, check out the Kit.co link in the description to see a few light models I recommend.

To get the most red out of your red plants, having a light that uses the most red would be very beneficial. Considering that the red in the Netlea 560 is at 30, it should be a great light to use. Mind you that I have never used that light before, so I'm only going off specifications.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! ☺

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Amazon swords and Tiger Lotus are heavy root feeders, so make sure you're giving them some form of nutrient through their root system. Either through a nutrient rich substrate, or through the use of root tabs. As for the light, given your plants, I wouldn't use the 24/7 mode. I believe that mode is from 6 am to 10:50 pm, given the description of Amazon. That is way too long, but that depends on how intense you set the lights. Considering that it's a large tank, I'm guessing the intensity is set pretty high. Also, since all the plants you listed are low-tech, apart from Tiger Lotus which might fall in the middle, there shouldn't be a need to push a light with high intensity and long photoperiod. Photosynthesis only starts once lights gets added to the equation. Once photosynthesis starts, plants will start to use the nutrients available to them. If there's not enough, then the plant will do anything to get those nutrients, such as, absorbing their own leaves. Before you buy a new light, try playing around with nutrients and the photoperiod first. Be careful to not overdo it with nutrients. When you do buy a new light, find a light that stretches over the entire tank and not partially, but this depends on where you place the plants. If they're in the middle, it should be fine. Personally, I don't like using any photoperiod longer than 8 hours. All of my tanks are sitting around 6 or 7 hours with moderate to high lighting depending on the plant species for the tank and how large it is. Let me know of any further questions or clarifications! 😊

@@TropiscapeAquatics thanks so much…is there a way I can send you a short vid of my tank so you can really get an idea of my tank?

​@@amplifiedlarry5449 There are two ways: 1. Through Email: tropiscapeaquatics@gmail.com 2. Instagram: @tropiscape_aquatics Or you can upload it to RU-vid and share the link to me

@@TropiscapeAquatics just sent it to your email

There are a few things to comment on. - Is there any root tabs or soil underneath the sand? If not, you can purchase some root tabs and follow the manufacturer's direction. You could DIY root tabs, but I wouldn't during this testing phase. I like Seachem Root Tabs, but you can use any other manufacturer. - The state of the plants are obviously not in a good condition. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it does look like nutrient deficiencies. However, I have a question. How new are the plants? If they are newly added, they might just be adjusting to their new environment as older leaves and emersed leaves will melt, and new healthy leaves start to grow. My reasoning is that I see this happening on the left-most Amazon Sword that is growing new leaves at the base. If this was the case, I would still provide nutrients through root tabs or a low-tech liquid fertilizer. - I believe the reason that the anubias that's emersed is doing better is because it's closer to the light, and it has access to virtually limitless CO2 in the atmosphere. Where to go next: This does seem to be a nutrient issue, so I would start exploring there first. First, I would trim any unhealthy leaves. This would help the plant focus on newer growth rather than trying to sustain their old growth. Then try adding root tabs and see if there's a clear difference overtime. If the plants that are planted in the sand are getting better, but the anubias on the driftwood isn't, I would try looking into using any low-tech fertilizer for it or switch places with the other anubias for it to heal. If that doesn't work out, try messing with the lighting. Light intensity looks decent overall. You could try to increase it a little and see if that makes a difference. If you do encounter algae, remove the algae, and decrease the intensity. I would also play around with the light duration. You can try to set it to the 10 hours or 6 hour setting. If that also doesn't work, you can think about CO2, but it would be more appropriate to look into water flow given how large the tank is. Flow might be able to spread more nutrients around, if any. This could be a long process, but make sure to stay diligent and patient, given that some of the plants are slow-growers, and only focus on one variable at a time, so you know the cause if it comes up in the future.

Glad you enjoyed it

Does the light immediately turns on or does it have a gradual climb in intensity in the morning? It might be getting spooked and stressed when the lights come on immediately.

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It's the inconsistency that will throw things off balance. Plants may suffer due to this, which may cause them to die out and thus affect water quality and increase algae growth. If it's just a single day that it's off schedule, sure, it won't do much. But if it's frequent, it will have an impact. I wanted to stress that out as it's a very easy problem to solve that not everyone may notice

Obviously, the sun sets and rises at different times every day. However, the intensity of the sun is quite low during dusk and dawn and can last for a while, depending on your location and season. Moreover, it's all about consistency when it comes down to things. Any extra amount of light could cause algae, as plants will still photosynthesize and utilize nutrients. Depending on the plant species and available nutrients, there could be using too many nutrients, which can cause algae spikes and plant deficiencies. Anecdotally, I've had much better plant health and growth, and generally fewer algae growth when it comes to light duration and intensity consistency. Furthermore, I don't have to worry about if I turned it on or off.

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