Led for growing algea (crazy you think)
 

Hi there Im new
and Im in search of someone who maybe able to help and thought the hydro guys might know.

I need to grow algea under leds for a type of filter on a marine aquarium called an ATS

what im tring to find out is if algea prefer a special type of colour as there are many options.

My thoughts are to go with a vegative quad band led @ 50w as algea dosent flower (I think) so better range of blue nm then red nm would do it, quad also have white and orange, maybe orange is what it really needs but not sure what that range actually does to the plant.

people who have ATS use cfl, t5s etc in the 4000k range as they say it has a higher red spectrum in it and they get better results.they have also used 6000k and still 4000k are better.

any help in the right direction would be great...

this is an email I got from the led supplier about the range they have.

Dear Mr.Shane Grant,
Thank you for your prompt reply!
Here I send the PI of quad band 50w led grow light for you as attached file.
All of our price are in $US.
Blue light is good for vegetatives and the red light is good for flowering and budding, you can choose the ratio of the light, which have wonderful efficacy for the plant.
Vegetative(Dual-band): Red: 620~630nm / Blue: 450~465nm R/B ratio: 8:1 or 7:2
Flowering(Dual-band): Red: 660nm / Blue: 450~465nm R/B ratio: 8:1 or 7:2
Vegetative(Tri-band): Red: 620~630nm / Orange: 610~615nm / Blue: 450~465nm R/O/B ratio: 7:1:1
Flowering (Tri-band) : Red: 660nm / Orange: 610~615nm / Blue: 450~465nm R/O/B ratio: 7:1:1
Vegetative(Dual-band): Red: 620~630nm / Orange: 610~615nm / Blue: 450~465nm/White R/O/B/W ratio: 6:1:1:1
Flowering (Dual-band) : Red: 660nm / Orange: 610~615nm / Blue: 450~465nm/White R/O/B/W ratio: 6:1:1:1
Yours sincerely,
Michael

The ATS is used to exprot nutrients from the water like po4. I can provide more info if needed. the colour of the algea goes in stages but the end species that grows over a few months to get to will be vibrant green.

Well with the possible exception of aquaponics, we try to keep algae from growing in hydroponic systems. But I would probably start with what is working other people first. Not sure why you need to go with LED lighting instead of the cfl's, I would think it would be much more expensive. But if the higher red spectrum is working best for them, that's where I would start. In nature the spectrum of light is changed by the layers of atmosphere. The suns angle in the sky determines this affect on the light rays getting to earth changing it's spectrum of light.

I'm not an expert, but because algae grows underwater I would guess that the water itself is similar to the atmosphere in its ability to change the spectrum of light the algae receives. Especially if it is not perfectly clear water (like the atmosphere), and over the years the algae has just simply adapted to it. Though that's just a possible theory. Again I would start with what works for other people first, then experiment. The water quality and food supply also has a major effect on its growth, as with any plant or organism.

Thanks gps it makes sence. led for me will cost around $100 delivered to the door from china @ 50w this is good as they offer 3 year warrenty and also can run for around 50,000hrs so a long time without changing the bulbs. hoping to hyper drive the algea to grow faster if that can even happen the food source is inorganic compound eg the broken down food and fish poo etc I think.

If your interested in finding out some more here is a link, some guys posted on the forum what I think I am after. But if anyone else out there has some thoughts on the matter that would be great. it should take you to where I last posted.

Algae Scrubbers • View topic - Modern LED scrubber light

another reason for led is I have them on my main tank (display)DT) and have had a great result they have been alot cheaper to buy than MH and cooler to run and cheaper to run and last 4-5 times longer than any bulb out there (apart from maybe plasma bulbs)

Thanks once agian

What is you're building? An algae scrubber? My experience growing aquatic plants has been that light intensity matters more than spectrum. If they have a listing for PAR values, get whichever is higher, otherwise go with whatever has the higher lumen rating. Blue light penetrates water far better, but I assume you're growing your algae in very shallow trays or some similar set-up. Higher light always equals more chance of running into algae issues.

I primarily deal with FW plants, but from my understanding marine algaes are generaly adapted to using primarily blue light. This makes sense as red light is more or less absent below a meter or two in the water column.

For the biofuels experiment we're conducting, we've obtained great results growing algae with a mixture of 510nm and 420nm light. Get the highest penetration that you can possibly obtain.

That doesn't sound like a crazy idea.
I'd say it's a nice idea! Thanks for sharing, whites! ;)