Brand-name grow light as aquarium light?

[Hufsa]

Good morning folks
I am wondering if anyone has experience or relevant information about using brand name full spectrum grow lights as aquarium lighting?
Something like this light for example Spider farmer SF2000.
The spectrum doesnt look that bad to my untrained eyes, and it seems the overall light given is a (warm?) white type of light?
Does anyone know how plant color rendition is under this type of light?
Obviously the light will be extremely suited to growing plants, otherwise they would not be able to sell any of them.
We are definitely in the "laser photon torpedo" territory based on those PAR numbers, so being able to mount the light far away enough from the tank, and preferably being able to dim it down seems important for our usage.
The price is quite good compared to aquarium lights as well.

How realistic (close to sunlight) does the plant look while it is growing under lights like these?

Looking forward to any answers, lights are an area I have yet to go very deeply into, but I am interested to learn more

 

[Hanuman]

I am wondering if anyone has experience or relevant information about using brand name full spectrum grow lights as aquarium lighting?

I don't have any experience using grow lights in aquariums however I don't see why they would be any different than light specifically marketed for aquariums. They use LEDS just like aquarium lights. Quality grow lights are more performant and have a better spectrum than aquarium lights simply because those lights are actually made to produce something at the end, fruits, flowers etc. Not merely grow the plants. I don't think there is much research done in aquarium lights contrary to grow lights. Also grow lights probably use higher end chips than most aquarium lights. Here I am referring about the high-end lights not the crappy grow lights. The only draw back from grow lights I see is that they are not designed to be used with standard aquariums size so their form factor might not be adapted. But there are plenty of brands out there each with different shapes and forms so you might find a good fit.

If you want more information on grow lights in general terms I recommend you look at the channel of Shane from Migro. That guy is a treasure.

https://www.youtube.com/c/MIGROLIGHT

 

[Hanuman]

Took some time to find this. I had seen the video a few years ago and remembered about his light being plunged in the aquarium.

 

[Hufsa]

Took some time to find this. I had seen the video a few years ago and remembered about his light being plunged in the aquarium.

What is this video called?

 

[Hanuman]

 

[oreo57]

Good morning folks
I am wondering if anyone has experience or relevant information about using brand name full spectrum grow lights as aquarium lighting?
Something like this light for example Spider farmer SF2000.
The spectrum doesnt look that bad to my untrained eyes, and it seems the overall light given is a (warm?) white type of light?
Does anyone know how plant color rendition is under this type of light?
Obviously the light will be extremely suited to growing plants, otherwise they would not be able to sell any of them.
We are definitely in the "laser photon torpedo" territory based on those PAR numbers, so being able to mount the light far away enough from the tank, and preferably being able to dim it down seems important for our usage.
The price is quite good compared to aquarium lights as well.

How realistic (close to sunlight) does the plant look while it is growing under lights like these?

Looking forward to any answers, lights are an area I have yet to go very deeply into, but I am interested to learn more

"Looks" play a big part of this.
As to color rendition.. also a bit of a personal preference.
Usually high red , lots of yellow. Low but sufficient blue.

Referring to CRI or the newer system, well

TM-30-15 vs. CRI and the Future of Color Rendering - Premier Lighting

Most in the lighting world are aware of CRI, also known as Color Rendering Index. It can best be described as the quantitative measure of the ability of a given light source to reveal the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source. The higher the CRI...

www.premierltg.com

Most lights w/ CCT's of say 4000K or less are measured to a "tungsten standard" source.
So even if reported to have a high CRI it does not mean it looks like "nature". More like colors in candle light.
The 6500k "range" (5000-ish-9000-ish) isn't considered ideal for most hort lights and even if designed for that k temp. CRI or "naturalness" are rarely considered.

You can get an R(f) or CRI close to 100% in the "daylight" range but still not be considered "the best" by human observation.
A RGB led provides lower " R(f) (fidelity) but higher R(g) ("pop", >100) yet will look err "great".
"Natural" would have a R(g) and (f) at 100.

Just avoid any all white led lights if "looks" are important.
Well with the exception of high CRI (90 or greater)6500-ish K diodes.

Paper on "color theory" and observation: