how much difference?

[Chris Tinker]

hello, i think i am on my last stop for tech for my tank now... lights..

so my tank came with 2 4ft LED Tubes 24W

last night i realised one stopped working....

it was late, very late, so i have not had a play with it but it looks like my old t5's were the ends should pull off and i replace the tube. simple. go online find a tube.

so i have two plugs and 2 lights (once i replace the tube)

my hood has 4 clips, how much difference would it be from 2 tubes to 3 to 4?

more light equals better plant growth and algae (potentially) and i could build up the lightness with timers...

but is 4 normal? over kill? are all LED of the same if you match lumens and K output? just a different label?

some tubes are £6-33 for not obvious reason....

thanks in advance and i will have a play tonight to make sure its the tube and not the plug / connections.

 

[Zeus.]

I fitted Philips TL5 HO 90 De Luxe 24W 965 into my T5 setup into my ]iQuatics Aqualumi T5 Controller - 6 x 24w , been happy with the spectrum but I do have reflectors as well which boost the PAR also ( Plus four kessil 160 tuna suns).

Need to be careful that you dont use too much light esp with your plant biomass being low ATM

are all LED of the same if you match lumens and K output? just a different label?

The simple answer is probably not, the same LED chips will be the same but the chips change so fast its hard to keep up TBH. The info we need is the lights Par (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) output which the manufacturers dont normally supply, PAR meters and helpful but expensive for a decent one which measure the PAR underwater.

more light equals better plant growth and algae (potentially)

Too intense light also leads to pinholes in leaves and plants melting. Long photoperiods can be the cause of lots of issues as after 4-5hours of optimal light and appropriate CO2 levels the plants may have there fill of light for the day.

If you are running very strong lighting then you are really pushing the plants and it's necessary to have the CO2 going. After 4 hours, if you turn the gas off, the water stays saturated for a couple of hours after the valve closes and the concentration trails off. So if you have an 8 hour photoperiod and you turn the gas on 2 hours before lights on, you can turn the gas off after 6 hours. So the gas is still running for 8 hours but it's on-off cycle is offset by the amount of time you turn it on prior to lights on.

There is no need to run the gas for 10 hours therefore.

Plants don't really run their photosynthetic machinery for the full day anyway. Under normal conditions, after 4 hours or so they start to shut down, so that's why CO2 isn't really needed for the full photoperiod.

Long photoperiods benefit algae more than they do plants, especially if it is high intensity.

There isnt a simple one off anwser that fits all tanks as theres lots to consider, I would of thought four tubes should be fine all the same! but you make sure you have a 1.0pH drop (DC light green) stable and some more plants maybe floaters till plants fill in