Which Lighting Is Better?

[RossC]

Found an LED system on ebay that would fit my 10gal tank which will soon be planted and attempt at carpeting Eleocharis acicularis.
So which is better stock 18W compact T5 10,000K or 51 LED's 6500K?
Please take into mind that the LED's are at an added cost of £33.99
Please answer in the poll and leave comments below, thanks

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

Aren't blue tubes only for marine? I've heard you shouldn't use them in freshwater.

On a side note, I carpeted a 8Litre with hairgrass and the one tip I can give is to keep it free form Algae otherwise the plant suffocates.

 

[daz4321]

Depends on what wattage the leds are if they are only 0.2w each its not that much!!!

 

[ShinySideUp]

Not too sure of myself here but isn't the 10000K and 6500K bit only the colour temperature not the actual light output and almost regardless of how many LED's you have, they won't be bright enough for plants?

 

[daz4321]

you are right the K number refers to the 'colour'.
Led's can be bright enough for plants, infact they can be too bright if you happen to buy the ones used for marine reef tanks, the brightness depends on wattage but as led's are a lot more efficient than other forms of lighting commonly used on aquariums just because you need 50w of t5 lighting does not mean you need 50w of led's similar to your energy saving houshold bulbs their wattage is totally different for a similar light output. The big question is how much led wattage is right and that at the moment I cannot answer.