If all you want is to maintain what you have with the PCs, some LED strips red, actinic, white would be enough. They are much cheaper, and you can put them on the controller. I think Kessils are amazing, just like a Lamborghini. Very expensive, but if you want it and can afford it it is worth it. If not, there a lot of other options better than PCs that won't cost you that kind of money.
Plant lights for tall tank
- Thread starter HarleyK
- Start date
@J. H.
That E. tenellus in the foreground (or maybe it's S. subulata) is what I'm concerned about. In between my bimonthly weeding, it covers the entire front, in ~25'' water. For that I need more than just a strip, I believe.
=> or do you have a specific recommendation?
The Kessil I could likely dial back. While LEDs are fairly constant in spectrum over time, they do loose intensity eventually. In that case, I could dial them up in 3-4 years or so.
As it is, I spend not quite the value of a single Kessil on new power compact bulbs each year, and I have been, since I got the lights about 12 years ago.
While the initial cost is deterring, LEDs would pay off for me after a while.
That E. tenellus in the foreground (or maybe it's S. subulata) is what I'm concerned about. In between my bimonthly weeding, it covers the entire front, in ~25'' water. For that I need more than just a strip, I believe.
=> or do you have a specific recommendation?
The Kessil I could likely dial back. While LEDs are fairly constant in spectrum over time, they do loose intensity eventually. In that case, I could dial them up in 3-4 years or so.
As it is, I spend not quite the value of a single Kessil on new power compact bulbs each year, and I have been, since I got the lights about 12 years ago.
While the initial cost is deterring, LEDs would pay off for me after a while.
I did not mean you should use one strip of each. 2ft+ of water will take more than that. I do not have any specific recommendations, other than watch Amazon and Ebay. These stuff come up pretty regularly and cheap, and I'd say I've had 85% good experience. Most of them are rated at least a little higher than their actual output, but you usually get something comparable to what you want. Sometimes you even get things that are better than what you wanted. It is just that like this you can spend ~$50, while a Kessil will cost ~$1000+.
I appreciate the input, and I had similar thoughts initially. But talking to manufacturers of strips, e.g. Coralife tech support, they say none of their strips lives up to that depth of water.
Keep in mind that Lambert Beer's Law dictates that light intensity decreases _exponentially_ with increasing depth. Doubling the depth compared to my 33 gal doesn't mean I can just use 2 light strips. Absorption occurs on a log scale.
While I'd love to spend $50 on lights, I know that I'd be paying for it a couple of months down the road, in more ways than $.
Again, if anyone has solutions that work on their planted 29'' tank - I am SO interested!
Keep in mind that Lambert Beer's Law dictates that light intensity decreases _exponentially_ with increasing depth. Doubling the depth compared to my 33 gal doesn't mean I can just use 2 light strips. Absorption occurs on a log scale.
While I'd love to spend $50 on lights, I know that I'd be paying for it a couple of months down the road, in more ways than $.
Again, if anyone has solutions that work on their planted 29'' tank - I am SO interested!
Yup, I got the 360 freshwaters from Kessil, with controller. It's quite different from my old canopy, still getting used to it. I DO NOT like the shimmering-to the point where I had to turn off my airstones! Now I have a film on the surface and need to reposition my surface extractor. Change is tough for me,obviously. Lol.
Where are the pics at? We need to see the lights and the tank.
How are the plants responding to the lights? Are they growing faster or brighter?
If I mount them any higher above the canopy the blind me when I sit down ...