The problem of lamps and lanterns makes you stop worrying about it.

The lamp is one of the necessary equipment to play with the grass tank, but it has a wide variety, and it needs to be configured according to the size of the water plant and the cylinder block. For beginners, the head is too big. The following will popularize these knowledge about the grass tank lamp. I hope everyone can use it.

Q: do I have to use a lamp in a straw jar? Is the sun all right?

Answer: light is the most basic condition for all green plants, including aquatic plants, to survive, so the water tank must be illuminated by light. Sunlight is not suitable for the cultivation of aquatic plants, easy to grow algae and uncontrollable, will make grass cultivation is very limited, and the ornamental effect is poor.

Q: what lamp should I buy? Is the light in the finished product tank all right?

Answer: at present, the popular calculation method is Whammer L, that is, the power consumption of lamps and lanterns is calculated according to the size of the cylinder. For negative grass, general 0.3~0.7W/L, positive grass is more than 0.7W/L (see the difference between negative grass and positive grass).

This calculation method is not perfect, but it can be used as a reference for the size of the "regular" cylinder. Generally speaking, the rule is that the height and width are between 0.4 and 0.6 meters, and the length is between 0.6 and 1.5 meters.

Too large and too small cylinders are not suitable for this method of calculation. Most of the lights in the finished cylinder are not good. In addition to the general lack of lighting power, the light emitted by the lamp tube is not suitable for the growth of aquatic plants.

Q: what is a spectrum? What spectrum does aquatic plant need to grow? What kind of lamp can meet this requirement?

A: spectrum refers to the composition of the light of various colors in the light. for example, the red, green and blue primary colors of the TV can synthesize white light, and the amount of red, green and blue light contained in this white light is the spectrum.

Most green plants prefer red and blue light, while green light basically does not work, so the more red and blue light, the more suitable the spectrum for the growth of aquatic plants.

However, as the cultivation of aquatic plants is used for ornamental, so there must be a certain green light, otherwise it will cause color deviation, the ornamental is very poor. Lights that meet the above conditions can be used to raise grass.

Q: what is the color temperature? How much color temperature is suitable for grass cultivation? What are 865 and 840?

Answer: color temperature refers to the color of light. The higher the color temperature is, the bluer the light is, and vice versa, it is red and yellow. It is the spectrum, not the color temperature, that determines whether grass can be raised. Although the color temperature is determined by the spectrum, it can not represent the spectrum, and the same color temperature may have different spectra. The guiding significance of color temperature is mainly for ornamental.

For the Asian race, the more suitable color temperature is 5500K~8000K, while the European color temperature is between 4000K~6500K. 865 and 840 refer to a type of fluorescent tubes (some metal halide lamps also use this model), specifically referring to lamps with a color temperature of 6500K and 4000K respectively.

Because of the high color rendering, it can make the color of aquatic plants more real and rich, and has a good visual effect.

Q: is 865 and 840 the best for raising grass?

A: no, 865 and 840 are general models of civil lamps. Because they are widely used, the price is relatively low. Compared with other civil lamps, the spectra of 865 and 840 are better for aquatic plants.

Therefore, it is the best in terms of performance-to-price ratio. However, there are still a lot of yellow and green light in the spectrum of this kind of special lamp, so the efficiency of grass cultivation is still not high. There are many lamps specially used for growing aquatic plants or green plants, which have higher cultivation efficiency, but the price is more expensive, so only a few enthusiasts are using it.

For most people, 865 and 840 can basically meet the requirements of grass cultivation.

Q: what does T8/T5/T5HE/T5HO/PL/ metal halide lamp / LED mean? Which one is better?

Answer: a straight tube fluorescent lamp with T prefix, the suffix number indicates the tube diameter of this kind of lamp, multiplied by 1 big 8 inch, the tube diameter ~ T8 is the lamp tube with 1 inch (2.54 cm) diameter, and T5 is 1.6 cm diameter. In addition, there are relatively rare T6, T12, T15~HE, HO refers to the performance of the lamp. HE is high efficiency and HO is high output.

Under the same power consumption, the brightness of HE lamp is about 12% higher than that of ordinary lamp, while HO lamp obtains higher brightness by consuming more electric energy. PL tube is commonly known as chopstick tube, that is, folding fluorescent lamp, which is equivalent to folding a straight tube fluorescent lamp in half and has a shorter size.

Metal halide lamp is the abbreviation of metal halide lamp, which uses high temperature halogen gas to emit light, and has very high brightness. LED is a light-emitting diode and belongs to semiconductor light-emitting elements.

For the cultivation of aquatic plants, fluorescent lamps and metal halide lamps are more mature at present, while LED is still in development and needs to be observed.

Q: what kind of lamp is better for beginners?

Answer: generally speaking, fluorescent tubes are relatively easy to master. Metal halide lamps require users to have certain cultivation experience because of their spectral characteristics, especially in the cultivation of red grass and algae control. Metal halide lamps are generally considered difficult to master. T5HO lamps and lanterns have higher performance, T8 lamps and lanterns have a higher performance-to-price ratio, each person can choose according to his own economic situation.

It should be noted that due to the different sizes of lamp tubes, different length cylinders should also choose different matching lamps and lanterns. For example, 1 meter cylinder can choose T5HO and T8 lamps, while 90 cylinders had better choose T5HO lamps and lanterns. When purchasing, you should ask the seller what specification lamp is used in the lamp. The length of the lamp is closer to the length of the cylinder, the better.

Q: what else should we pay attention to when choosing lamps and lanterns?

A: word-of-mouth is very important. Don't be greedy for bargains. The reflector of lamps and lanterns has a great impact on its performance. After selecting the length and wattage of lamps and lanterns, we should focus on the reflector. The investigation includes whether it is an independent reflector, the shape of the reflector, what kind of material the reflector is, and so on. Independent reflector means that each lamp uses a separate reflector, which is not shared by other lamps. This structure has a good reflective effect. The shape of the reflector includes the opening width of the reflector and the profile shape.

Generally speaking, the opening width of the reflector should be 3 to 5 times the diameter of the lamp, the best profile shape is parabola, followed by semicircle, and then trapezoid, if it is more than 4 tubes of lamps and lanterns, trapezoid can ~ some lamps and lanterns use "seagull-shaped" (also known as "McDonald's") reflector, this kind of reflector will be more efficient, but it depends on whether the price is too expensive.

At present, the commonly used materials of reflector are mirror aluminum, mirror stainless steel, nano-reflective film, galvanized iron plate (steel plate), reflective paper and so on, of which the quality of the latter two is very poor, so if they are fluorescent lamps, we also need to examine the quality of the ballast. Generally speaking, the quality of lamps and lanterns using electronic ballasts is generally better than that of inductive ballasts. For T5HO lamps and lanterns, we should pay attention to whether a special T5HO electronic ballast is used.

In addition, we should also pay attention to the installation of lamps and lanterns, especially cylinder lamps and lanterns, and pay attention to whether the installation bracket matches the thickness of the glass, which is very important in the transformation of the finished cylinder.

For some finished lamps and lanterns of DIY nature, you should fully communicate with the manufacturer before purchasing, and make an agreement on the materials and technology, so as to avoid unhappiness.

Q: how to consider the selection of lamps and lanterns in the small cylinder?

Answer: the small cylinder refers to the water grass tank with a length of less than 60 centimeters. The selection of lamps and lanterns cannot be considered by Whammer L, and the actual need is often much higher than the calculation results. For the small cylinder, the contradiction between the size and power of the lamp is often more prominent.

The light sources suitable for use in small cylinders are PL tube, energy-saving lamp and metal halide lamp. Try to avoid using straight tube fluorescent lamps. Fluorescent lamps of this length are often inefficient and cannot provide sufficient light intensity.

Q: do red aquatic plants need strong light?

A: it depends on the varieties of aquatic plants, such as red leaves and orchids, which are naturally red, and the requirements for lighting conditions are not very high. If the aquatic plants such as Newton, red court, purple louver and so on are to show bright red, they need strong light.

When we say that red aquatic plants need strong light, we mean that the light intensity needed to show bright red is generally very high, and the light intensity needed to maintain their survival is not much different from that of other green aquatic plants. Generally speaking, the stronger the light is, the deeper the redness is, and it can even change from red to dark red.

Not only the light intensity, the spectrum also has a certain impact on the hair color of aquatic plants, using some professional aquatic grass tubes, even if the light is not very strong, aquatic plants will show the color of strong light. The color of red grass is not only related to light conditions, but also related to CO2, trace elements, nutrients, PH value, water hardness and many other factors. How to cultivate satisfactory red aquatic plants, we need to constantly explore and experiment to achieve the goal.

Finish

I hope every waterscape lover can have a jar of scenery that makes your heart feel.