Best Leds for Chaeto?

[Dj City]

Go for what?

 

[BigJohnny]

Another Growstar may be tooooo much light for the sock section.

I'm looking at these lights...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0747LBWNB/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AF91GHLCK8O4V

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071QYJJNV/ref=crt_ewc_img_dp_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A122F8GW92NYV8

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013DU1EHQ/ref=crt_ewc_img_dp_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1Q9KJLM58L1E7

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B..._title_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2KUZVNQ9LP7N9

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075861YV2/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ALJKWBRSAFZ0A

The Growstar has proven that expensive does NOT mean the best.
I think lights 1 and 2 are pretty much the same light so saving a dollar or two is a good thing if they would work. The other lights are slightly more powerful (So they say)

Your thoughts on the above lights?
Anything else I should be looking at?

The first 2 are way less powerful than the rest. Even though they say x number of watts that's not actually what they are pulling. What size is the area you will be lighting? I'm not sure adding another light/additional chaeto in there would be worth it, you could still remove the socks if you want regardless.

As far as the par38 I have heard good things about the smaller taotronic you linked as well as the larger size taotronic bulb whose housing is green (can access via the drop down menu). A comparable option that I can actually tell you about is the Mars hydro par38, which I used prior to the growstar. It's a good bulb imo.

https://www.amazon.com/MARS-HYDRO-Spectrum-Greenhouse-Hydroponics/dp/B01ARI3HIG

It looks similar to one of the others you posted but imo some brands are much more reputable than others when it comes to these horticulture lights on amazon/ebay.

 

[Dj City]

@BigJohnny

Thank you.

My idea is to expand the algae for the Triton method. They suggest at least 10% volume. The extra space should get me to that 10%. I also intend to use the algae as a replacement for the sock in mechanical filtering.
The light is to get the algae growing because there is a white wall between the fuge area and the sock area. Light gets in there but it is not nearly enough.

 

[Pete1968]

Same system?

Big johnny , I just changed my hours on sump light from 12 hrs a day to 18 hrs a day, omg the growth exploded even more, i think i will start to sell cheato, its crazy how fasr its growing

 

[Pete1968]

Big johnny , I just changed my hours on sump light from 12 hrs a day to 18 hrs a day, omg the growth exploded even more, i think i will start to sell cheato, its crazy how fasr its growing

Big johnny , I just changed my hours on sump light from 12 hrs a day to 18 hrs a day, omg the growth exploded even more, i think i will start to sell cheato, its crazy how fasr its growing

 

[Pete1968]

18 hours a day for only 2 days! Insane growth

 

[Dj City]

Trimmed
Feb 28th...

I will update.

I also tore off a small baseball size piece and put it in the sock area.

I have the Growstar kind of over the lip so light is spilling in.
I will document this as well.

I'm still going to buy one of the smaller lights but I want to see how this goes for about a week or two before I get the smaller light.

 

[Pete1968]

Trimmed
Feb 28th...

I will update.

I also tore off a small baseball size piece and put it in the sock area.

I have the Growstar kind of over the lip so light is spilling in.
I will document this as well.

They have a 300 watt growstart its bigger and it would definitely cover both areas ufo

 

[Dj City]

The 300w would burn algae on both sides. Too powerful.

 

[Pete1968]

The 300w would burn algae on both sides. Too powerful.

Hard to say, could always cut back on running time , i think you will have growth with what your doing anyway

 

[Potatohead]

Does anyone feel the MarsAqua 28w would be ok if only mounted a few inches above the surface? PAR reading earlier in this thread show it has 900 par just below it and I am not sure if that's too much or not. My current bulb is just a 6500 CFL and only has like 100 lol. I don't really want to mount it higher for less light spill. There are some other options with about 1/2 the power, maybe should go for one of those.

Edit - Actually looking at it, the Mars only pulls 13w so power is about the same on them. Hmm

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B06X9733TF/ref=ox_sc_act_image_3?smid=A26DOGCD37TLZK&psc=1

vs

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01L1XA2AC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AKPEMWWZ95494&psc=1

 

[BigJohnny]

The 300w would burn algae on both sides. Too powerful.

No it actually shouldn't work like that. It's just a bigger fixture with more spread by adding leds.

 

[BigJohnny]

Does anyone feel the MarsAqua 28w would be ok if only mounted a few inches above the surface? PAR reading earlier in this thread show it has 900 par just below it and I am not sure if that's too much or not. My current bulb is just a 6500 CFL and only has like 100 lol. I don't really want to mount it higher for less light spill. There are some other options with about 1/2 the power, maybe should go for one of those.

Edit - Actually looking at it, the Mars only pulls 13w so power is about the same on them. Hmm

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B06X9733TF/ref=ox_sc_act_image_3?smid=A26DOGCD37TLZK&psc=1

vs

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01L1XA2AC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AKPEMWWZ95494&psc=1

What are the dimensions of your fuge?

 

[Dj City]

No it actually shouldn't work like that. It's just a bigger fixture with more spread by adding leds.

To me, it would make no sense to get a more powerful Growstar as I already have one.
To add a larger one to the existing one would be too powerful.
That's what I meant in my above post.

 

[Dj City]

When I get the mars hydro, what should I plug it into? I'm thinking the standard clip on light fixture would not work because the aluminum would make the bulb too hot.

 

[BigJohnny]

When I get the mars hydro, what should I plug out into? I'm thinking the standard clip on light fixture would not work because the aluminum would make the bulb too hot.

Ah gotcha

 

[Dj City]

@BigJohnny
Is that the post you wanted to quote?

 

[BigJohnny]

@BigJohnny
Is that the post you wanted to quote?

Haha no, the one before, my bad.

 

[BigJohnny]

When I get the mars hydro, what should I plug it into? I'm thinking the standard clip on light fixture would not work because the aluminum would make the bulb too hot.

I used the standard clip on socket from home depot for my mars hydro par38. You can remove the aluminum reflector if you want but I didnt.

 

[bif24701]

The second one, but get the “300 watt” version. Consumes about 108 watts so seems like a decent light. However I have gone through 3 different Amazon lights before I finally bought the Kessil H380 and glad I did. Not only grows better but it much higher quality. The other three failed at around 6 months eacj