prettyfishy76 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Lighting Question. I have a 100 gallon Oceanic aquarium (60" long x 18" deep x 22" high) that houses seahorses. I do not keep any corals - just the seahorses and some macroalgae. I want to make sure that I have enough lighting on my tank to keep the macroalgae healthy and growing. I have two large clumps of red grape, some caulerpa prolifera, and caulerpa serrulata (this species is not doing well - could be due to the tank temperature of 72.5F). I plan on adding more macroalgae in the future. I am currently using 3 strips of the 36"-48" Marineland Reef Capable LEDs with built-in timer. I won these as a part of a raffle at DFW MACNA in 2012. Do you think these lights will be sufficient enough for my macroalgae? I keep both the white and blue lights on at the same time. I know a lot of people don't like these strips and few people do, but I'm using them because they were free and I wanted to make the best out of them (if possible). I thought they might work out alright since I do not have any coral. However, I would like to know if I need to look into another type of light or supplement what I have. Here is some info on these 3 lights (from Marineland website): Model: 36"-48" Lamp Only Length: 34.75" # of 1 Watt 10,000K (white) LEDs: 36 per strip # of 1 Watt 460nm (blue) LEDs: 6 per strip Wattage: 57 per strip PAR/LUX at 12": 130/12700 PAR/LUX at 24": 64/5870 Lumens: 2,610 Thank you for the help and forgive me for my lack of lighting knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 They're pushing it on the spectrum. I have a hard time getting macros to grow in 10,000K or higher LED lighting. The best spectrum would be 5000K - 7000K. Since they were free, and assuming you like the color, I would just stick with them and see what sort of growth, or lack thereof, you get. It should be apparent in a month or two if they're suitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 +1 to what jestep said. Also, if you don't mind how it looks, you can always get the clip on lights and 6500k daylight bulbs from home depot for cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 On my sump I use A 5500k light which works great, as the previous two post said your color might be a little off, depending on the macros you have, the more yellow colored lighting might provide more growth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prettyfishy76 Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 Thank you so much for your thoughts and suggestions. I'm glad I came here and asked this question. I have one of the clip-on lights from Home Depot on my sump, so that seems to be working out well. I'll start figuring out how to change the lighting on the DT. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 A lot of macro growers enjoy T5 lights for the output and growth they get. They are also a cheap light compared to LED and MH. I'll send you a PM with a website that is experienced with macro. You can use their contact us form to get in touch and learn everything you need about light and macro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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