Light & Lighting Control

Perfect Parameters

Above: brown algae (Diatoms) and plant melt is common in new tanks. When starting a a new tank, it is common for users to have seemingly ‘perfect’ water parameters and still face significant plant melt and algae. This is because the microbial (“beneficial bacteria”) community isn’t established yet. It is hugely important, but cannot be […]

01. The best LED units for planted tanks in 2023

The best LED units for planted tanks in 2021

Planted Tank Lighting 101: Understanding the basics of planted aquarium lights

The tank below uses a custom build BML LED bar on this tank. You can see the mix of Red, Blue and Warm white LEDs mixed with neutral white LEDs being used. The fixture gives a long height clearance above the tank, which enables pruning work without the need to move the lights – to […]

What factors give rise to stem elongation?

What factors give rise to stem elongation?

Choosing the Best Light Spectrum for Planted Tanks

Lets start by reading spectrum charts An example of a light spectrum chart of a T5 bulb is given on the left below. The amount of light produced for a particular spectrum segment is the area under the curve. This bulb has a balance of red/green/blue which will give the bulb a relatively neutral white […]

Fine Tuning Light Spectrum

Fine Tuning Light Spectrum

Is 6500K ideal for planted tanks?

Is 6500K ideal for planted tanks?

T5 vs LED, which is better?

T5 vs LED, which is better?

Dispersion, Angles & Spread of light units

Dispersion, Angles & Spread of light units

Which part of the light spectrum is used for photosynthesis?

Which part of the light spectrum is used for photosynthesis?

6500K vs 2700K; what does the kelvin number actually mean?

6500K vs 2700K; what does the kelvin number actually mean?

How to read PAR tables

How to read PAR tables

Is Colour Rendering Index (CRI) important for planted tanks?

Is Colour Rendering Index (CRI) important for planted tanks?

Do Green plants reflect green light? Is green light useless for photosynthesis?

Do Green plants reflect green light? Is green light useless for photosynthesis?