Planted Aquarium Lighting Guide - Introduction - Part 1

The Planted Aquarium Lighting Guide is where, we go over some important info and address some misconceptions.
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#Fishfam

[@FrankyChristianJr]

You are such a great teacher man, I’ve watched every video on the individual building blocks of a high tech tank and I was able to make informed decisions on all of my purchases and installations in my 55 gallon tank. So far the tank is thriving and I can’t thank you enough for all the advice!

[@TheWaterBox]

I'm glad it helped!

[@sniperwipers]

Now that's how you explain something. Very informative.

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks!

[@TheTurtleGirl]

Very straightforwardly explained! This is awesome!

[@TheWaterBox]

Thank you TTG! :)

[@noorrahmanamil338]

Dude, how come you're so underrated? Your videos are so informative and very straight forward. You need millions of subscribers.

[@TheWaterBox]

I dunno but share it out and help make me famous! ;) Thanks for watching!

[@raisinggoldfishonabudget7058]

@@TheWaterBox 👍love listening to you talk about plant's & what it takes to grow plant's & get things going. I'm working on setting up my 1st ever 75 just for plant's to start in to get as big as they can in a 2 liter bottle B-4 placing them in a permanent area for good strong roots & regrowth process from the move. I don't want a fast growth but like a medium growth so what lighting would you say I use without breaking the bank so say that would be a TERMENDOUS HELP.

[@Seanmmvi]

One thing I am excited about when I leave the hobby, is what lighting technology will be like when I return haha! Its evolves so quickly and companies release new better products every year! I feel LEDs are really starting to hit their stride!

[@TheWaterBox]

Right? It's moving pretty fast. Especially in horticulture. The thing is trying to catch up in our hobby. We're still going on a lot of old info when horticulture is just catching up now.

[@munkeypuzzle5309]

this guy knows his stuff and presents his knowledge very well i like him, mr you just got yourself a new subscriber

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks1

[@turnipsucks6416]

Just came across your video. Can't understand why it never was recommended with regards to my slowly diving into aquarium hobby. Subbing, and watching the whole lighting series. Thank you!

[@TheWaterBox]

Sounds like an awesome plan. ;) Thanks for watching :)

[@drivn4895]

This is an excellent video!

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks!

[@dairyist]

Man have I been missing out!!! I'm thrilled to have stumbled upon your lighting vid!!! Thank you for the helpful information!!! I subscribed and hit the bell!

[@TheWaterBox]

Glad I could help!

[@MrCoffee303]

Ty for the vid! No one has really gone in depth with lighting

[@TheWaterBox]

Np! There's why more to come.

[@jeffparryncc1701]

Your my favourite fish tank go to guy. Hello from Australia.

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks Jeff!

[@eegernades]

Great video as always. Lets hope no one gets scared off by the science.

[@TheWaterBox]

Meh, it's not a beginners guide really. We're beyond that now.

[@JamesSarkarX]

First time here and you are so pleasant to listen to. Videos are crisp yet informative and good production value. Loved it. Subbed and notifications on. You deserve way way more subs. God Bless.

[@TheWaterBox]

James Sarkar hey James! Thanks for those kind words. It people like you that keeps me making these vids. :)

[@TheWaterBox]

CORRECTION IN VIDEO: I explained Kelvin inaccurately. Kelvin is the measurement of the color temperature. i will explain in video 3. Next video in this series will come out in a day or two. Stay tuned! Aquarium Lighting Guide: bit.ly/2INYuMA

[@coryjackson1006]

Yeah lower the number bluer the colour, higher the more red it is. good to see you update this, keep up the good work

[@TheWaterBox]

❤

[@reldridgejr1969]

Always enjoy your videos. Really good stuff...

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks!

[@KalemsFishtanks]

I recently just learned about the two chlorophylls and carotenoids in biology. Pretty cool stuff great video😁

[@TheWaterBox]

Very cool! It's a fascinating subject for us planted tankers. lol

[@Faded14367]

Another very informative and helpful video for me. I’m a total noob just getting into planted tanks. Bought a “setup” from my lfs. Wish I had watched all your videos first! The recommendations from my lfs were likely based on what they carried and not necessarily totally honest. However, with that said doesn’t mean the equipment I purchased is bad. With regards to lighting, I was sold an Aqueon Optibright Max LED. I cannot find much about it’s color spectrum. There is one diagram showing “par”, but its based on 12 inches water depth and my tank is 21in. No idea how to calc the degradation. Wish they could all just say low, med, or high lol.

[@TheWaterBox]

We all wish it can be that easy lol

[@watartoobig4848]

Thank you senpai chung. Very informative.

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@danimontserrat4079]

Wow , incredibly well explained, thanks for your work and research, you got a new subscriber !

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks for watching Dani!

[@randallsundberg5197]

Awesome info bring out the next video asap very excited to learn this knowledge!

[@TheWaterBox]

Thank you Randall! Next video coming out Sunday and hopefully the follow whole week after. I took a break this week from filming

[@HeatherNielsenScarletAquatics]

Great - I'm excited about this series!

[@TheWaterBox]

I'm glad you are! :)

[@DamianBloodstone]

Perfect vid for this subject. Just enough science to get some scared.

[@TheWaterBox]

It's suppose to be just enough science NOT to scare people away! Bad Damian!

[@DamianBloodstone]

The relativity math page shocked me. Sorry.

[@TheWaterBox]

LOL!

[@DamianBloodstone]

Gave me flashbacks of college electronics math for transistors, capacitors, and inductance. Truthfully though, these vids are excellent.

[@TheWaterBox]

Oh no! Mathematics PTSD! lol Thanks!

[@cmaylene6787]

So excited to learn lighting and hopefully save my plant! 7:38... RIP my little green friend. 🤣

[@TheWaterBox]

Haha!

[@renekegel6103]

i Love your Videos Great and Funny and good Information

[@TheWaterBox]

Rene Kegel thanks! Glad you enjoy!

[@Fishtory]

nice and very well done. I envy your graphic and editing skills and hard work (I'm a bit lazy with editing ...er learning to do overlay graphics and so forth, but you really inspire me man!)

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks bro! Keep pushing! That's how we become great! :)

[@jeffschuler7859]

Thanks for your help very informative!!!

[@TheWaterBox]

Glad to be of service!

[@cmpi82]

Another great video, LOL at 7:34

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks Caleb! :)

[@QueAquatics]

Awesome video, thank you

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks SuzyQ! ❤

[@justinread4381]

Good information thanks.

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks for watching!

[@globalist1990]

I spent £6 for 2x 1500 lumens, 13W lamps. 75 litres tank. Sorted. Plants are growing. Fast growers are growing fast. Nitrates are diminishing.

[@Deepriver309]

Another informative video , keep it up Bro 👍

[@TheWaterBox]

Tahir thanks

[@manojpatil3477]

Nice sar👍👍🙏🙏 Manoj Patil Mumbai India

[@TheWaterBox]

👍

[@ThePlantedTankTV]

Heeey I was the 100th like haha . Good video for those beginners mate!!!

[@TheWaterBox]

J'sAquaStuff congrats on the 100th like! And I'm glad the vid helped. :) thanks for watching brah!

[@georgeballentine1045]

Wow this is going to be good

[@TheWaterBox]

Hope so

[@mikec7618]

great vid......very informative

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@PastTheDirtRoad]

This video is lit bruh

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks Bruh!

[@PastTheDirtRoad]

I nerd out on the science of stuff. I love it

[@TheWaterBox]

Me too. Most people aren't though

[@fishrrelaxing9361]

Lepower 50watt flood light for the win on cheap grow lights. Skip Home Depot and daylight bulbs. $23 on Amazon 44 par at my substrate in a 28” deep tank 6500k. Not the best coloring so you’ll need another cheap led for some reds and blues to get a better looking tank but they will grow your plants fast and they will even grow carpeting plants in a deep tank. 2x2x2 coverage still get 23par on the outreach where the throw stops. Super focused throw allows for some pretty cool shading overlaps in the tank.

[@TheWaterBox]

Good deal! I have a couple sitting on the shelf. I need to put a spectrometer to it and see what the spectrum looks like.

[@fishrrelaxing9361]

The Water Box I would be very interested to see those results.. I don’t think there is much. I’m sure it’s very focused narrow spectrum in the yellow-orange range. Full spectrum it’s not lol.. but a lot of usable light still for most plants and tanks. They really are not a pleasing light as it’s very bright white will just a bit of yellowing tint, but the only true planted tank I have is in my daughters room and I don’t see it unless checking on things lol. For the same reason though I’m not spending $2-300 on a full spectrum light either. I got it after seeing videos of people comparing it to the fluval 2.0 and it was putting out more light at deeper depths and the red and blue par is so low at depth I figured it really wouldn’t make much difference. Depth Is really needed as her tank is an odd corner hexagon that’s 24x24x28. Trying to get enough light to grow carpeting plants would cost a small fortune otherwise.

[@TheWaterBox]

I have a feeling it'll be flat or spikey in areas you don't need. Who knows. But you're right. It does grow plants, the easy stuff especially (and algae for sure lol) and it's cheap I hear it burns out a lot. Quality not so great

[@robertanthony7133]

Love your vids!! What is comparable to Twinstar S? Or what is a reasonable priced light that can grow hard to grow stem plants?

[@TheWaterBox]

Here's a secret... look up Chihiros aquarium lights... even cheaper on aliexpress.

[@sidewinders3252]

Hi, I have a new tank with a couple current plus lights. I also have some micro swords that I’m hoping to carpet and was wondering if I needed to use the dry start method or if I should just submerge them and run my co2 system. Thanks for all the advice.

[@TheWaterBox]

No. You don't need to use the Dry Start Method period. This is a technique to grow a carpet much easier and faster than doing it submerged. You can still just do it all the normal way and go submerged. DSM however is a lot more work in the short term and take a lot more patience.

[@laurenvoight9204]

please do a review of the fluval 45g co2 tank

[@TheWaterBox]

If I ever get my hands on one, I will. Unfortunately, I don't use them and for me just to go out and buy one to make a video out of it just isn't feasible.

[@laurenvoight9204]

thank you

[@TheWaterBox]

Lauren Voight np!

[@alipetuniashow]

Can a aqueon optibright grow plants

[@TheWaterBox]

It'll do well with low light plants.

[@Boomslang2810]

I have been struggling for a while now trying to understand lighting and plants. I have a Aqueon 40 gallon breeder, my question is. Is a Finnex fugeray planted + for high light plants or low to medium light plants, and would I need 1 or 2 light fixtures to grow more difficult plants?

[@TheWaterBox]

IF you're trying to set up a high tech tank to grow harder stuff, then on a 40g, I always suggest getting two strips of the planted+. I suggest going with the Planted+ CC as you can control the intensity easily without needing to raise the lights. Two strips to get the best coverage. One strip will do ok but a 40g breeder front to back is a decent distance so using two will not only give you full coverage but great PAR rating to handle anything in that tank, especially if you want to grow hard carpets. If you don't mind slower growth and specific locations on where you have to plant certain plants, you can just stick with one strip. The other lighting fixture you can go with are fluval 3.0. Those are pretty nice as well and can control intensity.

[@LifeInABoxorigin]

Hello :) I have a 46 gallon bow front, with anubias, bucephelandra, ludwigia, mosses, alternantheras, rotala (i think) and monte carlo. Im trying to find an led that works for it. :( Ive watched your videos, done so much research in google, and I still havent figured out which one to get. I have a flourescent set up right now, but its not nearly enough. Please help me. Xp

[@TheWaterBox]

You can never go wrong with a Fluval 3.0 or a finnex Planted+

[@DC-wq4do]

Can I use an outdoor grow LED, for aquarium plants?

[@TheWaterBox]

Yes. I do it with one of my tanks right now. It works. You just want to compliment it with something that will also illuminate in a cooler light. Most of those grow lights will illuminate red.

[@mdm9096]

Simple straightforward question as this information is too much and overwhelming..... I got 28W Sunsun’s ADE 900c LED 7500k light for my 3 feet planted aquarium which is 45 gallons. Is this light good enough to grow most of the plants including carpet plants ? The light looks bright as day light.

[@TheWaterBox]

Depends on the carpet plant. I don't know anything about the light you mentioned so I can't say.

[@ErwinWabe]

What happened to your scale modelling vlog?

[@TheWaterBox]

It's still there on that channel. I haven't done much with that hobby lately so it's been slow. Just very busy

[@foracal5608]

Kelvin is a measurement of temperature

[@TheWaterBox]

Thank you! You're right.

[@foracal5608]

The Water Box I believe it stems for the light emitting something past the draper point where more temp means it gets brighter? I don't know lol!

[@TheWaterBox]

Thanks. Will look it up

[@rahulkori1667]

This light use Marine aquarium

[@TheWaterBox]

ok! Thanks!

[@AlienWithInternetConnection]

That calculations just gave me PTSD.

[@TheWaterBox]

You'll live! LOL

[@40sandshorties5]

Nice! First!

[@TheWaterBox]

Yay!

[@RLMUD]

LOL SO WHAT KIND OF LIGHT

[@TheWaterBox]

Wut?

[@otterspooptoo]

Yo, did H2O and his tatted buddy kick you out of their live chats?! zero chill, zero

[@TheWaterBox]

Not that I know of?

[@otterspooptoo]

Ah darn. I was hoping for some aquadrama. 😶 Haven't seen you in their live chats lately. I suppose you do have your own videos to shoot.

[@TheWaterBox]

LOL! Nope. No Aquadrama from the Aquabitches today. I just took a little off this week cause I went to see The Silent Place with a friend and a couple of weeks ago, Infinity War so I have to push a bunch of stuff around.

[@luisfontinelles5834]

30 liters tank, can i use led lamp 50w 4600 lm and 90lm/w?

[@luisfontinelles5834]

or 50w fluorescent lamp ?

[@TheWaterBox]

Maybe

[@medusasworldofstone]

Halfway thru the video I saw where this was going so I stopped the video and got myself a notebook and pen.. and then i restarted the video..

[@TheWaterBox]

Yay! Someone actually taking notes! :) Thanks for watching