2800k Too Low For Plants?
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catfish101
Fish Crazy
you may be ok with some plants but ud be much beter with at least 5000
Renate
Fish Crazy
Tis okay for java fern. Had it growing in 10 gallon tank with 2 screw in florescent bulbs.
aaronnorth
www.ukaps.org
its ok for any plants, just very pink in colour!
aaronnorth
www.ukaps.org
like i said in my other post kelvin doesnt matter, it is just another thing to try and sell you a tube, spectrum is far more important:
Plants will grow under any Kelvin rating, they are not to bothered. The Kelvin values of bulbs as well as the "best" term (5500k - 11 000k) have only to do with what you like to see, not what the plant is capable of assimilating.
colour spectrum and kelvin are different, here is a section of the guide i have written on the UKAPS forum:
Code:(KELVIN) - This is the colour of the tube’s output measured in degrees Kelvin (K). The 'best' colour temperature for plant growth replicates daylight at around noon on the Earth’s equator and is approx. 5500K to 6500K. This is a white light and is normally produced by full-spectrum lamps. There are other tri-phosphor lamps available which give varying colour temps ranging from 3000K to 10000K. The lower the colour temperature the redder the light, the higher the temperature the bluer. I have heard of and experienced success stories with a wide range of colour temperatures. I would recommend having a K between 5500k – 11 000k, but to be honest as long as there is enough light, then don’t worry to much about the Kelvin, The spectrum is far more important (Red, Green and a bit of Blue).
Code:(SPECTRUM) - Widely regarded as the best light for growing aquarium plants is the full-spectrum lamp although no data has been provided to support this. This means that the light output peaks in three (regular T8s peak in two) colours giving a “fuller” light more likely to meet the plant’s photosynthesising requirements. Photosynthesis occurs most efficiently with peaks in the red, green and a bit of the blue parts of the spectrum. Plants are adaptable and will change their pigment distribution and content to adjust to the available spectrum. Most full-spectrum lamps will give a cool white light, ideal for both plants and for viewing and will have a high Colour Rendition Index (CRI) meaning that the illuminated objects will appear in their natural colour, these tubes are not produced for plants, but for the human eye, it is what looks best to you.
also take a look at this thread: [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Plants-a...is-thread-too-/"]http
and at the pinned article at the top of this page.
like i said in my other post kelvin doesnt matter, it is just another thing to try and sell you a tube, spectrum is far more important:
Plants will grow under any Kelvin rating, they are not to bothered. The Kelvin values of bulbs as well as the "best" term (5500k - 11 000k) have only to do with what you like to see, not what the plant is capable of assimilating.
colour spectrum and kelvin are different, here is a section of the guide i have written on the UKAPS forum:
Code:(KELVIN) - This is the colour of the tube's output measured in degrees Kelvin (K). The 'best' colour temperature for plant growth replicates daylight at around noon on the Earth's equator and is approx. 5500K to 6500K. This is a white light and is normally produced by full-spectrum lamps. There are other tri-phosphor lamps available which give varying colour temps ranging from 3000K to 10000K. The lower the colour temperature the redder the light, the higher the temperature the bluer. I have heard of and experienced success stories with a wide range of colour temperatures. I would recommend having a K between 5500k – 11 000k, but to be honest as long as there is enough light, then don't worry to much about the Kelvin, The spectrum is far more important (Red, Green and a bit of Blue).
Code:(SPECTRUM) - Widely regarded as the best light for growing aquarium plants is the full-spectrum lamp although no data has been provided to support this. This means that the light output peaks in three (regular T8s peak in two) colours giving a "fuller" light more likely to meet the plant's photosynthesising requirements. Photosynthesis occurs most efficiently with peaks in the red, green and a bit of the blue parts of the spectrum. Plants are adaptable and will change their pigment distribution and content to adjust to the available spectrum. Most full-spectrum lamps will give a cool white light, ideal for both plants and for viewing and will have a high Colour Rendition Index (CRI) meaning that the illuminated objects will appear in their natural colour, these tubes are not produced for plants, but for the human eye, it is what looks best to you.
also take a look at this thread: [URL="http
and at the pinned article at the top of this page.
as you are going against, current scientific knowledge with the comment that the kelvin rating of a light source has nothing to do with plant growth, do you have any scientific evedence of your comments? i would be interested to see it. as most of the papers that i can understand indicate the plant growth is added by lights in the full spectrum range of around 6000k, which is also interesting as you seen to think kelvin and the spectrum are different things!
aaronnorth
www.ukaps.org
I personally dont have evidence, but i have been able to grow plants with 18 000k. very few if any aquatic plants ever see full spectrum midday sun, since they grow under the canopy shade and under murky waters in the rain forests of the world, rendering the value of Kelvin temperature out. The only reason it is reccomended to have 5500 - 11 000k is that the colour isnt too red or blue, it has a truer CRI which is better for us.
I also found this:
source - http/www.cameraguild.com/technology/kelvin.htm
aqua glo, 18 000k
power glo, 18 000k
As you can see they are both different spectrums, but the same kelvin - also, the aqua glow is pink to the eye, and power glo is white to the eye.
I want someone else to comment as at least 1 of us has to be wrong
I also found this:
source - http
/www.cameraguild.com/technology/kelvin.htmaqua glo, 18 000k
power glo, 18 000k
As you can see they are both different spectrums, but the same kelvin - also, the aqua glow is pink to the eye, and power glo is white to the eye.
I want someone else to comment as at least 1 of us has to be wrong
Dave Spencer
Gort! Klaatu barada nikto.
Nobody I know of in the planted tank hobby that knows how to grow plants reports any difference in growth in plants in different renges of the spectrum. Plants may look different colours under different lights in the same aquarium. Prune them, take them out, and both plant cuttings look the same in terms of health, internodal distance etc.
The emitted spectrum of the sun varies throughout the day, as do periods when plants become shaded. It doesn`t make sense for plants to adapt to a specific part of the spectrum when it is constantly changing. A lot of people in to planted tanks realise that plants adapt to the light available to them...our very own Sun has dictated this.
Buy lamps that have a good CRI (basically, what looks good to your eye). I go for CRI and intensity (I use my own experience to judge growth rates via this) to grow plants, nothing else. Fortunately, this means I know I can go to lampspecs and buy a variety of daylight tubes to experiment with for the best look, all for the price of one so called plant tube from the likes of hagen etc.
No scientific papers. Thay are not needed when all we have to do is observe our tank life.
Dave.
hmm well im glad i could spark a debate! I went ahead and swapped one light out so now i have one 2800k and one 6700 so i figure i shoud have my bases covered either way but i will say that i was told on another online forum that the kelvin did not matter as well....
aaronnorth
www.ukaps.org
me and boboboy had the exact same conflicting reviews on an earlier post, he didnt relpy back to that one though.
humm, interesting. the statement was
now this "get a light you like the look of" thing. granted you may well be able to alter the hue and colour saturation of some of the colours in the tank, with different colour lights. however the overall view, for the human eye, will convert the colours until the look like they were viewed in day light 5500K. this is an automatic reaction we have no control over. so within seconds of switching on your new lights they will look, to you, just the same as they did with your old lights. this is a fact not my thoughts, and is well beyond any argument. its like your eyes, well your brain, have an automatic white balance system just the same, though more advanced, as your digital camera but we cant switch it off.
so plants need a broad range of light wavelengths for healthy growth. now unless you install single wavelength lights to satisfy the plants requirements, you need to provide a light that hold all the required wavelengths. the best way to do that is to offer full spectrum light. how do we do that? by using bulbs with a kelvin rating of 6000k, or there about. now the rating may not be accurate, that is another story, but to dismiss the kelvin scale as, simply, a sales tool, is at best strange, and at worst shows a lack of understanding about what it actually is.
looking at your graphs, aaronnorth, i see your point, though there is a simple explanation. though stated as 18,000k, in all probability the figure is rounded up and down. so the first chart could have a true Kelvin rating of 18,004k and the second 17,998k, though be lumped under the banner of 18,000k. a simple explanation for the difference between the two spectrum charts.
put at its most simplistic, the kelvin rating is simply an indication of the number of light wavelengths, from the visible spectrum, that can be seen. the higher the kelvin number, the more there are. up to a reading of around 5500-6000k. this is considered and "full spectrum" lighting, and as such is what it says on the label, all the wavelengths in the visible spectrum are there. we are all aware that plants require differing light types to grow effectively, some need, for the most part, light from the lower end of the scale, even so many also need light from the upper reaches too. often plants need light of 900nm but the same plant also needs 320nm, the only way to provide both is to have a full spectrum light. now the argument that the kelvin rating if the bulbs may well be faulty, if not down right incorrect, is well founded, i found one tube rated at 55,000k, I'm not even sure that is possible!
now this "get a light you like the look of" thing. granted you may well be able to alter the hue and colour saturation of some of the colours in the tank, with different colour lights. however the overall view, for the human eye, will convert the colours until the look like they were viewed in day light 5500K. this is an automatic reaction we have no control over. so within seconds of switching on your new lights they will look, to you, just the same as they did with your old lights. this is a fact not my thoughts, and is well beyond any argument. its like your eyes, well your brain, have an automatic white balance system just the same, though more advanced, as your digital camera but we cant switch it off.
so plants need a broad range of light wavelengths for healthy growth. now unless you install single wavelength lights to satisfy the plants requirements, you need to provide a light that hold all the required wavelengths. the best way to do that is to offer full spectrum light. how do we do that? by using bulbs with a kelvin rating of 6000k, or there about. now the rating may not be accurate, that is another story, but to dismiss the kelvin scale as, simply, a sales tool, is at best strange, and at worst shows a lack of understanding about what it actually is.
looking at your graphs, aaronnorth, i see your point, though there is a simple explanation. though stated as 18,000k, in all probability the figure is rounded up and down. so the first chart could have a true Kelvin rating of 18,004k and the second 17,998k, though be lumped under the banner of 18,000k. a simple explanation for the difference between the two spectrum charts.
aaronnorth
www.ukaps.org
I will start a new thread about this so we dont take over the OP!
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