the best led light

[shnken1]

hello all, iam just getting back into the hobby with my 90 gallon tank. i would like to grow some plants this time. i do not want to use c02. i would like to have my tank full of plants . will this led light work if so do i need 2 of them? thanks for the help.

NICREW ClassicLED Plus Planted Aquarium Light, Full Spectrum LED Fish Tank Light for Freshwater Plants, 48 to 54 Inch, 36 Watts

 

[mbsqw1d]

Ive got the nicrew classic 2nd gen and in hindsight wouldve got the planted as it has the 6500K
My only criticism, is that the angle of light isnt great and so it needs raising higher than it is designed to sit on your tank. I suppose you could combat this by using two, but you'd likely have two dimmed to less than 50%
Whats the height of your tank?

 

[shnken1]

Ive got the nicrew classic 2nd gen and in hindsight wouldve got the planted as it has the 6500K
My only criticism, is that the angle of light isnt great and so it needs raising higher than it is designed to sit on your tank. I suppose you could combat this by using two, but you'd likely have two dimmed to less than 50%
Whats the height of your tank?

the height of my tank is 19 inches.

 

[mbsqw1d]

the height of my tank is 19 inches.

Ok, not too deep then.
Do you know what kind of plants you'd like to grow and an overall design for the 'aquascape' in mind?

 

[shnken1]

Ok, not too deep then.
Do you know what kind of plants you'd like to grow and an overall design for the 'aquascape' in mind?

for substrate i have pea gravel with play sand on top. i would like to have a nice carpet and lots of plants. i would like to have easy to med plants. also plants that float on the top of the water.nothing that will take co2. far as the design no clue really. i have a few pieces of driftwood so far. the type of fish i want is barbs,danios,discus,fancy tale guppies,molly,tetras.

 

[shnken1]

also what type of LED light would you think that will work good with what i have??

 

[mbsqw1d]

so you have a 90 gallon, whats it's length?

If you are in the middle of a shopping list, and if its not already considered, get some plant fertilizer, Seachem flourish Comprehensive supplementfor the planted aquarium is recommended.

As you have mentioned the fish you are considering stocking the tank with, I'd also recommend that you consider starting a separate thread for stocking advice, theres some very clever and experienced members on here that can advise you.. example, some of those fish may require being kept at different temperature etc

If the nicrew fits your tank then I'd say it's a good light for the low tech setup.

 

[shnken1]

so you have a 90 gallon, whats it's length?

If you are in the middle of a shopping list, and if its not already considered, get some plant fertilizer, Seachem flourish Comprehensive supplementfor the planted aquarium is recommended.

As you have mentioned the fish you are considering stocking the tank with, I'd also recommend that you consider starting a separate thread for stocking advice, theres some very clever and experienced members on here that can advise you.. example, some of those fish may require being kept at different temperature etc

If the nicrew fits your tank then I'd say it's a good light for the low tech setup.

iam making a shopping list now... the tank is 48" long. IS THE LIGHT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT..
NICREW ClassicLED Plus Planted Aquarium Light, Full Spectrum LED Fish Tank Light for Freshwater Plants

 

[mbsqw1d]

Yes

 

[shnken1]

Yes

do i need 2 of them?

 

[mbsqw1d]

do i need 2 of them?

Id get one for now and see if you think the angle is good enough to illuminate all parts of the tank. If not raise the fixture higher if possible. If you can't, then buy two if you can afford to. But you'd be dimming both lights to half their output (otherwise you'll have algae issues)

 

[shnken1]

Id get one for now and see if you think the angle is good enough to illuminate all parts of the tank. If not raise the fixture higher if possible. If you can't, then buy two if you can afford to. But you'd be dimming both lights to half their output (otherwise you'll have algae issues)

thank you for all your help.

 

[mbsqw1d]

the type of fish i want is barbs,danios,discus,fancy tale guppies,molly,tetras.

Were you considering getting all of these fish, or is that a list of potential ones you're selecting from?

Because there'd be a number of problems if you did attempt to keep of all of these together, for example Discus require very soft water and a high temperature, whereas most of the other fish listed would struggle at the temp discus require. Livebearers such as guppies and mollys will struggle in soft water.
It would help you to decide if you checked out if you tap water is soft/hard. Your water supplier should post this online and is often referred to as degrees general hardness (dgh) or caco3 ppm
Again, id recommend you start a thread on this forum asking for stocking advice, you'll get some helpful responses

 

[shnken1]

Were you considering getting all of these fish, or is that a list of potential ones you're selecting from?

Because there'd be a number of problems if you did attempt to keep of all of these together, for example Discus require very soft water and a high temperature, whereas most of the other fish listed would struggle at the temp discus require. Livebearers such as guppies and mollys will struggle in soft water.
It would help you to decide if you checked out if you tap water is soft/hard. Your water supplier should post this online and is often referred to as degrees general hardness (dgh) or caco3 ppm
Again, id recommend you start a thread on this forum asking for stocking advice, you'll get some helpful responses

Were you considering getting all of these fish, or is that a list of potential ones you're selecting from?

Because there'd be a number of problems if you did attempt to keep of all of these together, for example Discus require very soft water and a high temperature, whereas most of the other fish listed would struggle at the temp discus require. Livebearers such as guppies and mollys will struggle in soft water.
It would help you to decide if you checked out if you tap water is soft/hard. Your water supplier should post this online and is often referred to as degrees general hardness (dgh) or caco3 ppm
Again, id recommend you start a thread on this forum asking for stocking advice, you'll get some helpful responses

Thank you for the help. I will start a thread on stocking advice.. here is the chart for my tap water.

 

[Essjay]

The figure you need from those images is:
'Total hardness 94 mg/l CaCO3' This is GH and mg/l CaCO3 is the same as ppm, and it converts to 5.3 dH. Fish profiles will give a hardness range in either ppm or dH so you need both.


You have soft water so you need to look at soft water fish with 94 ppm or 5.3 dH around the middle of their hardness range.
Looking at your list in post #5, it is too soft for guppies and mollies but good for the other fish you like.



The other figures to take note of -
Alkalinity 45.5 mg/l. This is KH, and again mg/l is the same as ppm and it converts to 2.5 dH.
Nitrate at 0.07 mg/l. This is not in the same scale as our test kits - it converts to 0.3 in the scale our testers use. You should have no trouble keeping it below 20 ppm in a tank