Lightning for 30 Gallon Low/Med Light Tank

HI Everyone!

Long time no see, not sure if anyone remembers me but I used to be a pretty active poster but because of life and college getting in the way, I had to take a break from the hobby for a while, sadly. I will make a re-introductory post later, however to the point:

I just recently got a 30" 30G fish tank and now that it's fully cycled, I want to heavily (or at least decently) plant it using low-medium light plants, basically anything that does not require CO2/ferts (I am however planning to use root tabs).

My tank came for free from a friend so it unfortunately has no hood/top whatsoever, so I have been looking online to buy a cheap light since I am a college student.


Since I am a college student and cost is my main restriction, I have been looking at eBay and Amazon for cheap lights, and Beamswork LEDs seem to be what I am aiming for. Now the two main results I have been getting that satisfy my budget are these, the first one is 6500K and the second is 10000K:

30" ET 80 36x - 1500 lumen 30x 6500K, 6x Actinic

• 42x 10000K cool white
• Lumen :2880

• Super energy efficient 0.50 watt LEDs

Now I have browsed the internet and read for hours, and I cannot seem to make up my mind on which one to get. Some sources are pointing out that the 6500K would be better for freshwater lights and 10,000K for saltwater, some others said plants won't care for the temperature and it is up to my preference, etc.

Would someone experienced and more tech savvy in this department guide me on which light would grow my plants better, if at all? I have done extensive research on lightning but I seem to get lost on the humongous amount of information there is out there for lights, so I'm focusing mostly on LED's. Are both of these suitable for low-medium light plants to begin with?
Also how important are the lumens in each? I can't seem to understand that concept.

TL; DR: Which LED light would grow my low/med light plants better, 6500K or 10,000K?

Thank you!

 

SIDE NOTE: I have read in several places online that keeping these lights on 24/7 would not hurt/result in bacteria growth, is that true? I plan on leaving for a week for a holiday and although I will have a friend feed my fish, I cannot guarantee if they will turn the lights on and off at all times or not.

 

Welcome back! I might recognize your avatar... did you post around 2013-2014? that was when I was more active.

From my research into the low-tech land of planted aquaria, I get the feeling from many experienced individuals that 6700K is the best color for plant growth, and I agree. 10,000K is too high. I use 6700K at home, and it's going well.

Lumens is the raw measure of the amount of light that is emitted from the light. It's not super useful, since you need a PAR reader to determine how effective your light is. It might be different for LED's, I don't use any LED's, so not sure.

I live on campus right now, so I can't have any pets. I'm thinking about bringing my little 1.5 gallon and setting up a plant tank, half land half water kinda deal. Still ganna hide it when they come by, haha!

Ehh, I would just get an outlet timer. They aren't too expensive, and save lots of time and inconsistent light patterns. The bacteria won't have a problem with the light, but the plants will. The CO2 will drop, with no night period to cycle it back up, algae will become your new worst best friend.

I would leave it off if you have to choose between the two to be honest. Or have the friend try to remember! Promise them food or something lol.

 

atc84 Hey yeah that's me!

My friend used to keep reptiles in this tank so there weren't ever any lights as far as I know !

____________

Any more input on LEDs would really be appreciated, especially since I'm inexperienced with those. The manufacturer mentions that you can grow plants with them and so have some people on places like planted tank, I just can't seem to find anything on how the 10000K would affect the plants differently than the 6500K one

 

I mean you "can" grow plants in 10,000K, they say you can to market their product better. 10,000K will give you a different color to the tank, which is what I think is the main reason people buy them. 6700K is more red, so you will have a more "warm" look to it. It will look like real daylight is shining into your tank. 10,000K is more of an aquarium look, more blue. I did some reading again also, and that's all I can see as the main difference. Oh and if you get red plants, lower Kelvin brings them out more.

 

Thanks, I see. I really liked the "whiter" look too but I'll most likely go with the 6700k one then.

Also, how can I tell what range this would put my tank on? Low, medium or high?

 

Bump

 

Haha sorry, had my physics test, just got back.

how much light? Uhhhh I would say low-medium.

 

Haha sorry, had my physics test, just got back.

how much light? Uhhhh I would say low-medium.

Hey no worries I bumped it for everyone in general haha cause I felt bad making you continuously post here.

I just want to make sure I won't need a CO2 set up. Any general guide you would use on determining if it's low/medium lightning when it comes to LEDs?

 

I actually don't use LED's, so I've never really needed to delve into that topic. Whenever it comes around on the forums, I just leave someone else to deal with it. From what I can tell, though, it seems like LED fixtures are typically built for low-medium lighting. People who do high lighting usually double up on the fixture, or buy more expensive fixtures. You could search your light fixture online, seeing what other people on forums are doing with the same one. Find pictures, stuff like that.

I think the way you figure it out is the lumens are given on the light, and there's some equation you can run to determine the exact level. If you have too much light, most LED fixtures can be turned down to a certain percent, so I wouldn't worry about it.

If you're interested, using dirt as a substrate is a natural CO2 producer as the organics are broken down.