Macroalgae LED suggestion

[WLC Student Aquarists]

Hello all!

We are currently in the final stages of cycling a new 10-gallon tank with the goal of creating a mixed macroalgae tank with mostly macro and a few softies. We planned to use an already on-hand Fluval reef 4.0 led with the channels tweaked for less of that deep blue look (blue, cyan, and violet 0%, white and red 50%). However while planning the tank, many seem to recommend using led fixtures intended for planted tanks instead. Would we be fine with the light we have or should we just go ahead and shell out a bit more money for the freshwater light? Attached is the spectrum for our setup, as well as the advertised spectra of the reef and planted lights.

Thank you!

p.s. We do not have any specific macro species in mind at the moment. We have only used Caulerpa in our refugium, but this is our first attempt at a dedicated display tank.

 

[KrisReef]

A “freshwater” light source generally will grow plants more readily than the bluer “reef” light source but since you have the reef light I would add the plants to the tank and see how everything works out for you.

Lots of people detest blue light sources and they are very glad to spend the additional money for the whiter light. The plants will grow either way. HTH.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think your plan of running red and whites is a good one. I have plant lights and they give off a reddish light. You can run the blues too if you want.

I've grown macro algae with both a reef light and a plant light, both for years, they both work equally well IMO. Right now I use a jebao 60w light on my 10 gallon macro algae, I also added a couple of corals so the light is blue.

 

[Subsea]

Corals don’t need blue light. Many use it because it hides nuisance algae.

I run black box reef lights at 10K color spectrum. I prefer 6K-10K. Both coral & seaweed will adjust to your spectrum.