# LED lighting strong enough for low light planta



## Splak (May 1, 2013)

Hey all, I'm in need of 3 48" led strip lights for my shrimp rack. But I've never used led and I'm completely lost with what to get!!

They need to be strong enough to grow my low light plants like Christmas moss, crypts, Java fern and Anubis.

I see tons of lights on eBay and I need to do this on the cheap! Any suggestions??


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## Professor Monkey (Jan 8, 2015)

I can only comment on the LEDs that I have - Current USA Satellites (four 36" strips on my 220gal).

These lights have white LEDs that are 6500K (good for plants) as well as 1 in 3 RGB LEDs. I can adjust the Red, Green, and Blue independently; the rear strip I have all colours maxed for maximum light and the front strip has the blue turned off to accentuate the driftwood and fish. Being able to adjust the colors has a surprising impact on how the tank looks.

I initially had only 2 strips, which would have only produced about 20 PAR at the substrate (over 24 inches from the lights). This would have been fine for slow growth of low light plants, but I wanted medium light plants and better growth.

These lights aren't cheap so I don't think they meet your needs. I'd recommend looking for lights with 6500K whites (or plant specific LEDs) and advertised PAR readings at different depths. You'll likely want somewhere around 20-30 PAR.


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## mitko1994 (Dec 12, 2012)

If you don't care about the design of your fixture then get flood lights. Those are the cheapest and brightest. Look for the ones with 6500K and a plug unless you want to wire them yourself.

Here's an example:
http://www.amazon.com/30W-LED-white...=1430656137&sr=8-4&keywords=flood+light+6500k


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