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what determines kelven ratings?

3K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Mikaila31 
#1 ·
ok so got a question about the different types of lights out there (compact flouro's standard flouro tubes and incandescent lights) what determines the kelven rating of the mentioned bulbs?
 
#3 ·
thats alot of information there lol. maybe someone could brake it down into a little bit more simpler terms if possible? im trying to find out what kelven my 42W cfl bulb burns at. its a bulb that fits into a lamp but i have a fixture that i can put over the tank and wanna know what the kelven of it is. thanks for all the raw info though once i get a basic laymans understanding about this hopefully i go go to the links you provided to learn more, i jus tneed a more i guess basic explination lol.
 
#6 ·
no idea on how you would actually find out what k rating a tube is.
if its redish light the rating is lower if its blueish/white the rating will be higher.

however the actual k rating has little or no impact on the growth of plants, its just down to personal preference of the viewer as to what "colour" light looks the best.

have a read through this post!
K rating on bulbs and Plants. - Aquarium Plants - Barr Report
pay particular attention to ceg4048 and Tom Barr.
 
#9 · (Edited)
wow learned soooooooo much about lighting there, LOVE that thread that was linked kudos!!!

makes me want to let the rest of the forum know about this great info. totally made my decision up between a walmart fixture and a coralife fixture (goin with the walmart fixture).

just want toi get some clarification from you guys about a a few quotes i found


It is the amount of light you use that determines just about everything else for the tank. If you have X watts per gallon for a standard geometry tank, that dictates that you need to use pressurized CO2 and good fertilizing. If you want to do without the CO2 you need to reduce the light to Y watts per gallon maximum. If you decide to use Excel, you can go a bit higher than Y watts per gallon, but not up to X watts per gallon.

This is because it is light that drives the growth rate of the plants, and it is that growth rate that dictates the concentrations of nutrients that you need to keep in the water, including a carbon source. When you have more light intensity than you have nutrients available to support, you don't get the healthy growing plants that are needed to discourage algae from starting to grow.

If 2 watts per gallon dictates using CO2, then if you don't use CO2 you need to reduce the light intensity. Does all of that make any sense?

A contrary viewpoint is that you can acclimate the plants to grow well with lower levels of nutrients for a given amount of light, but you have to be willing to suffer through some algae problems as they acclimate. I haven't tried this, but those who like the leaner fertilizing methods, like PPS or Pfertz, insist it works well.



this means i can get high light plants not based on kelven but wattage, then with a tank that measeures x you cnnont exceed y wattage or you will need co2 to balance everything?


then one more here


As far as what was said about the K rating not mattering, it's more a choice of aesthetic color choice by yourself, not growth of plants.

Then the normal cheap cool FL's work as well as the designer bulb color mixes if growth is the variable measured.

Aesthetics you can measure in other, more social scientific methods.
But as far as growth, they are in fact the same as far as the studies that have been comparing the two.

So pick a bulb that has a nice appealing color to your eyes/your senses.
But do not fall for the claim about better growth, less algae and the rest........

If you want real pretty reds, just buy Tom Barr's "Red Plant Paint" and get a brush. I gar-untee it'll make your plants red


Regards,
Tom Barr


and this means i dont need any fancy setup to grow high light plants and just reinforces the case that you could even use regular house lights then as long as you have enough wattage? (that quote was actually taken from tom barr himself)
 
#10 ·
you can use standard lights, but when you say standard, are you referring to the round circular bulbs? if so a lot of the light is lost because there is not a reflector available which can capture the lost light.

Standard household tubes are fine to use, In the UK we have a website called lamp specs, ive bought a 5 year supply of tubes for my tank for just under £10
 
#11 ·
The Barr report is a very good site. I agree for the most part that K rating is up to personal preference, this goes for basically anything from about 6,000 -10,000K. However really low/high K ratings have always done weird things for my plants. I have some bad (IMO) bulbs on a 15gal, 2wpg and can barely manage to grow anything. A stock 18,000K(maybe 10,00K I can't remember) and a 2,800K bulb. Dunno whats up with that tank, even java moss has a hard time. Also considering I run 2 different hi-tech tanks at 2wpg and 2.75wpg using what I consider good lights and can maintain a dense jungle.

Here is a thread comparing different K ratings. Also showing my favorite bulb, 9,325K ! Plants and fish look great under them. My other tank w/ 6,700K always has this green undertone on everything. Annoys me to no end.

If you want to go really cheap for light, go to home dept/any similar store and hunt for some good spiral compacts, some double socket fixtures, wire, sheet metal(or tinfoil if you are cheap) and some wood. I build or modify most of my light fixtures.
 
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