corrosionjerry Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 What color of LED would be most bennificial for the plants and effects.... I am considering putting some Led / moon lights on my planted tank... sort of simulating sunrise and sunset........ thinking either red or green.... what do you think ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happeboy Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I think it would be only for you, I mean just aesthetic. I know plants use very little of the spectrum we see as green, I don't think red is all that important either. If its just aesthetics you are going for the sunrise and sets usually have reds, oranges, and pinks. It may look cool. But If you just want your plants to grow better I wouldn't bother I think it will all cost a lot and not help one bit, and I would put the money towards more daylight bulbs or VHO and CO2 if you don't have that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegrandpoohbah Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Actually I think plants absorb blue and red light and reflect green, hence their colour. I think white or blue LEDs would look best. Red might look a little wierd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 If you're going to leave them on all night, I'd go w. blue. But if it just for an hour or two before and after lights-out, I'd probably do a combo of red and white... maybe an LED of both right beside each other to give a bit of a pinkish hue - I like a pinkish hue (Seinfeld reference ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I think it would be only for you, I mean just aesthetic. I know plants use very little of the spectrum we see as green, I don't think red is all that important either.If its just aesthetics you are going for the sunrise and sets usually have reds, oranges, and pinks. It may look cool. But If you just want your plants to grow better I wouldn't bother I think it will all cost a lot and not help one bit, and I would put the money towards more daylight bulbs or VHO and CO2 if you don't have that yet. Absolutly I agree with you.... I know that it is mostly aesthetics... I am on this kick to make my aquariums more eye pleasing... Unfortunetly or fortunetly for me I have an A personality with a perfectionist twist to it..... Yep my wife could choke me at times............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 If you're going to leave them on all night, I'd go w. blue. But if it just for an hour or two before and after lights-out, I'd probably do a combo of red and white... maybe an LED of both right beside each other to give a bit of a pinkish hue - I like a pinkish hue (Seinfeld reference ) Yes that is what I was planning to do Jason.... I have some moonlights that I have ordered for my African Tank that are blue that I plan on having them come on after the main lights go off in the evening.. The planted tank will definetly just be an hour or so before and after the grow lights go off and on... Thanks for the color suggestion....... I have a member that has offered me some white and amber to try out... think I will take him up on his offer and see what it looks like.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 We have a funky night light that cycles through several colors. You could try to find the color changing LEDs (or just modify the light.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 We have a funky night light that cycles through several colors. You could try to find the color changing LEDs (or just modify the light.) I saw that night light at Canadian tire.... I was looking for one that I could turn on blue only... Just about bought it. I finally gave up looking in the different stores for the apropriate type of night light... Maybe someone knows where to buy blue LED night lights for this DIY project... I saw a DIY moonlight project built with something simular... only they were able to turn it to blue only... they took off the cover that was over the led bulb etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinless Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 i had actinic bulbs on a seperate timer come on as dusk/dawn buffers a few years back. one hour before and one hour after the daylight cycle. not nearly as sharp as leds, but it did have its benefits. the basement darkness to fluorescent brightness was not such a huge swing for the fish and i was able to watch some cichlid behaviour that may have escaped under the cloak of darkness. again, these were just the plain old actinic bulbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I saw that night light at Canadian tire.... I was looking for one that I could turn on blue only... Just about bought it. It does have a setting where you can select a single color (red, green or blue). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happeboy Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 (edited) Ikea has a great set of LEDs that lets you control the colour blue purple green red maybe. They say 7 colours. And in store its only $59. Is there anything Ikea cant do. Other then keep helpful employees. oh maybe the coloured ones are $79, white only is $59. Edited March 20, 2008 by happeboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I saw that night light at Canadian tire.... I was looking for one that I could turn on blue only... Just about bought it. It does have a setting where you can select a single color (red, green or blue). I will have to have another look... thanks for the heads up.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbert Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I saw that night light at Canadian tire.... I was looking for one that I could turn on blue only... Just about bought it. It does have a setting where you can select a single color (red, green or blue). I will have to have another look... thanks for the heads up.. I have one of those, got it at Mall Wart. It has a button on the base and you can have any of a number of single colours, flashing multicolour, or fading through multicolour. The one thing I don't like is that it always comes on white, and then you have to press the button until it does what you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 The one thing I don't like is that it always comes on white, and then you have to press the button until it does what you want. The one I have doesn't go white, but if it gets unplugged you have to reset it to whatever you had before. If it's just off because of the light sensor, it stays at the previous setting. I guess that would work if it turned on when the main tank lights went off. Of course, if the room lights were on, it would go off again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbert Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 The one thing I don't like is that it always comes on white, and then you have to press the button until it does what you want. The one I have doesn't go white, but if it gets unplugged you have to reset it to whatever you had before. If it's just off because of the light sensor, it stays at the previous setting. I guess that would work if it turned on when the main tank lights went off. Of course, if the room lights were on, it would go off again. This one isn't a night light though, it's an actual light bulb that screws into a regular socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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