FW Planted Aquarium Lighting Question

[mircalla]

Hello all!

I'm new to this forum and excited to participate! I've kept basic aquariums for most of my life, but have decided to try my hand at keeping a planted aquarium. I've acquired a standard 55 gal and have purchased 100 lbs of Eco-Complete substrate. I've got it up and running with an external filter, but plan on upgrading to a Marineland C-Series canister as soon as I can afford to. The stock hood came with 2 15-watt light fixtures which I know I'll also need to upgrade. That is where my real questions come in. I want a low-maintenance, low-tech, non-C02 injected planted aquarium and plan on getting plants with low-light needs. I am very interested in upgrading to an LED light fixture, particularly the Aquabeam 500 DayGlo. I have read that one of these can be equivalent to a 100 watt metal halide fixture. I can't seem to find any concrete recommendations for determining how much LED lighting I would need for a LOW-LIGHT planted aquarium. All of the articles I've read give recommendations for high-light planted aquariums. Someone told me I should get 1 - 1.2 watts per gallon if I get a T5 HO light fixture. Is there such a comparison or recommendation for LED fixtures?

Also, my aquarium has an elevated oak hood. The top is maybe 5-6 inches above the water. Can I mount the LED light fixture directly to the wood without having a glass canopy? Will too much water evaporate or the wood rot?

Thanks much! I've got a limited budget, so any recommendations on cost savings are very much appreciated!

[mircalla]

I didn't mention that I have two fancy goldfish I'll be moving into the aquarium. I know that I'll need to choose extra-hardy plants and I plan on putting a few edibles in there on purpose that they can have at and destroy. I know that goldfish aren't fans of really bright lights, so I just wanted to throw that in there for consideration.

[Carl]

Welcome to EA!

First it is mostly an apples to Oranges comparison when you compare an LED to almost any other light since the newer LEDs are so much more efficient on so many levels

Consider all these parameters for lighting:
• Watts per gallon,
• Lumens per watt,
• Lumen focus
• PAR (often easiest determined by Kelvin output),
• Useful Light Energy (not wasted in yellow/green light spectrum that green plants and zooanthellic algae reflect)
• Output in relation to bulb length (this is where LEDs and to a lesser extent T2s and T5s excel).

Comparing apples to apples with the very specific focus of light energy in most important nanometer range of PAR (photosynthetically active radiation), a 6500K Gro Beam (natural daylight) 12 Watt LED can equal that of a 150 Watt daylight MH.

My suggestion for low light plants is a couple of GroBeam 500 LEDs (more could easily be added later for higher light plants). These can be directly mounted in the hood,
See the picture below with a high light planted aquarium with both LEDs and T2 lights mounted in a hood:


As for T5 light fixtures, be careful with the HO models as they tend to have a high rate of ballast failure. Consider the standard T5 or a the slightly higher lumen per watt out put T2 lights

Please read over these articles for much more in depth explanation of what I noted, but please note that there is no exact formula since there is much more to consider than watts, but these article will explain this:
*Aquarium Lighting, Facts & Information
*LED Aquarium Lights, Lighting

Off the lighting subject, I would consider a better canister filter system other than the Marineland C-Series canister, as although I have not personally used these yet, my aquarium maintenance colleagues (in particular Gregg of American Aquarium Design in LA) has used these with very poor results.
Consider the Rena Filstar for a top of the line canister filter or the Via Aqua 750 for a good all around value canister filter

Carl

[mircalla]

Thank you so much for the reply Carl! I will consider your filter recommendations, for sure! I can't tell in that picture whether or not they have a glass canopy. Do you think I'm safe to ditch mine and mount the LED bars directly to the wood?

[Carl]

Glass certainly blocks useful light energy (especially blue light), however it also protects your electrical.

My personal opinion is to leave the glass lids for freshwater since blue light is not as important, however if you would like a more full light spectrum & would prefer to leave off the glass lids, adding vents on the side and an exhaust fan (blowing out) will keep moisture under the hood to a minimum.

Carl