LED Lights and aquatic plants

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Hi

I have been thinking of making some sort of DIY lighting addition that would hopefully increase the light in my tank for plants.

I was wondering if anyone knows if LED lights would have the right light wavelengths/light temp etc for growing aquatic plants?

[ARN209]

From everything I've read, they do. Right now I'm working on trying to understand how build some lights myself. However I will be using two white 50w LEDs for my 180g to make into a reef tank. I will also have some blue LEDs but I haven't worked out that configuration yet. It's been quite the job for me to try and understand fw current, fw volt, ma, etc. Not my language! Do you happen to speak it?

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Unfortunately I do not speak electronics. I am probably going to purchase some LED light strips that are meant for automotive decoration and see what I can do with them.

[ARN209]

Or u can join a electronics forum like I did to try and get some feedback on how to build such a thing. I like the simplicity of what you want to do and let me know if it works for you. That's an avenue we haven't tapped yet. If for any reason your not pleased with the results, join one of those forums. Maybe by that time I will hve learned how to speak electronics.

[jason176]

You need to check out some hydroponic forums, you will probably end up in pot growing forums but they take their lighting very seriously. I don't believe there is any difference in light requirements between aquatic plants and non aquatic plants so you should be ok. You can purchase led grow lights currently but get ready to spend some money, try looking on ebay or just searching the web for led growlights. I could be wrong but automotive leds may or may not work, they need to be very specific leds to provide the correct spectrum of light for plant growth.I am an electrician, went to college for it and served in a 5 year apprenticeship, so if you or anybody has any questions feel free to hit me up.

[Bfish23]

I speak electronics so...

The Red leds are best for plants, but if you have 20 leds in an array then put 15 red and 5 blue.

[aldennbell]

Today, the lighting has become an important part of the aquarium. Plant health depends on the lighting in your aquarium. Thus, a wrong choice can lead to improper plant growth, resulting in the formation of algae.Basically, LED lights are used to provide light fish and plant life in the aquarium. They usually long, narrow bar. It can be placed on top of the head or the back of the tank. There are so many advantages, the use of aquarium LED lighting.