Best LED for growing RED plants in 10 gallon tank

[mgudyka]

Hi guys,

I have a minor case of multiple tank syndrome and I picked up a 10 gallon tank over the weekend. I have already decided I am going to get a green alien betta and a couple of green (kubota?) rasboras. I am a little obsessed with the idea of green fish. Naturally green plants would make them disappear so I want to go with red plants. I have a seller hyperlocally I can get red plants from (which I am pumped about) but I figure they have different needs than a regular old green plant.

Can anyone recommend an LED light that will be good for red plants? I am reading about adding co2 to my tank but it's an awfully small size. I am focusing on the light first.

 

Thank you all

[Mmiller2001]

Any light will grow plants. It's best to pick your plants first, research them, discover their needs and budget a light around those needs. Very expensive and very cheap lights can achieve the same results. To get overly involved, substrate and nutrient regiment are as important as lighting. CO² also changes things a bit. I highly recommend this vlog. It's a great intro to CO² and planted tanks.

https://www.2hraquarist.com/

[gardenman]

I haven't tried it with red plants but my java moss pearls under the Nicrew SkyLED Plus aquarium light. It's a pretty bright light. It's also a pretty cheap light. If one isn't enough adding a second could give you all of the light you need. Bear in mind my java moss is growing without CO2, so for it to be pearling at all is neat. There's a constant stream of small bubbles rising from the java moss and when a fish zips trough it, there's a lot of bubbles shooting up from it. It doesn't pearl in any of my other tanks but it loves that light.

[mgudyka]

1 hour ago, Mmiller2001 said:

Any light will grow plants. It's best to pick your plants first, research them, discover their needs and budget a light around those needs. Very expensive and very cheap lights can achieve the same results. To get overly involved, substrate and nutrient regiment are as important as lighting. CO² also changes things a bit. I highly recommend this vlog. It's a great intro to CO² and planted tanks.

https://www.2hraquarist.com/

Thank you!

[Cory]

One of the tricks used in aquarium lights is to have red leds, these make red plants appear more red. Visually increasing the appeal. However normal light spectrum will grow the plants more efficiently.

[mgudyka]

6 hours ago, Cory said:

One of the tricks used in aquarium lights is to have red leds, these make red plants appear more red. Visually increasing the appeal. However normal light spectrum will grow the plants more efficiently.

Oh straight from the man himself! So I don't need to grab the grow lights that are pink from my indoor garden, a regular old LED grow light with normal lighting will work just fine?

[FishyJames]

I purchased and love the fluval 3.0.  It is app controlled and dimmable to help fend off algae.