# Any special LED lights needs for plants?



## Matttoadman (Jan 28, 2017)

I am putting some pothos cuttings in my 5.5 gallon OW t tanks. The tanks are on a shelf and don't get much light. Is there any special kind of LED needed to give these some light?


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## viper69 (Jan 28, 2017)

@vespers will definitely know he raises poison dart frogs. It may be important to know the distance from light to sub floor.


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## Matttoadman (Jan 28, 2017)

Light could be 3 inches from sub or 5inches.


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## vespers (Jan 28, 2017)

A light in the daylight spectrum (around 6500K or thereabouts) will be fine. Pothos are very forgiving, one of the most hardy tropical plants you can use in regard to light levels. Use can something very low wattage and still be fine, especially with that tiny distance. I've grown pothos in an 18 inch tall enclosure before using only a 5 watt CFL. Speaking of the distance, 3 to 5 inches is a very small space to grow such a robust plant like pothos, the leaves alone will fill that.

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## Matttoadman (Jan 28, 2017)

Yes pothos grow like weeds. But I cut back often. A lot of negative space in this tank.


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## Matttoadman (Jan 28, 2017)

I am Open to suggestions to shorter stouter plants though.


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## Ranitomeya (Jan 29, 2017)

Plants are much less forgiving if you provide them with the wrong LED lighting.

LED lights, unlike other forms of lighting like fluorescents, emit fairly narrow ranges of wavelengths. If the LED lighting used does not peak in the right wavelengths or excludes the wavelengths of light that chlorophyll can absorb and use, your plants will die. At the same time, LED lighting that is optimized for growing plants are actually very poor sources of lighting for viewing since they're designed to only emit the wavelengths of light that are used by plants in photosynthesis. You'll want to purchase LED lighting fixtures that produce both wavelengths that sustain plant life as well as wavelengths that make it possible to view things without everything looking monochromatic.

There are varieties of Sansevieria that remain pretty short and they are hardy in that they require little moisture and can tolerate varying intensity of lighting. They're also sturdy and can handle being climbed on by even the heaviest of tarantulas without the risk of it toppling over and injuring the tarantula.

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## Matttoadman (Jan 29, 2017)

I'm actually rethinking the pothos. I forgot about the root system. Might be hard to burrow around that mess.


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## vespers (Jan 29, 2017)

Ranitomeya said:


> Plants are much less forgiving if you provide them with the wrong LED lighting.
> 
> LED lights, unlike other forms of lighting like fluorescents, emit fairly narrow ranges of wavelengths. If the LED lighting used does not peak in the right wavelengths or excludes the wavelengths of light that chlorophyll can absorb and use, your plants will die. At the same time, LED lighting that is optimized for growing plants are actually very poor sources of lighting for viewing since they're designed to only emit the wavelengths of light that are used by plants in photosynthesis. You'll want to purchase LED lighting fixtures that produce both wavelengths that sustain plant life as well as wavelengths that make it possible to view things without everything looking monochromatic.


A 6500k LED fixture will grow things fine without looking monochromatic.  There are plenty of LED fixtures these days in that Kelvin range, geared specifically towards the vivarium and aquarium hobbies for plant growth and natural viewing.

This particular viv is 3 feet tall, and is only illuminated by a 22 watt LED light bar:










There are a few blue and red LEDs in that particular bar, but nothing significant. The majority are 6500K white. Some of my other vivs have fixtures with white LEDs only, and also grow very well.



Ranitomeya said:


> There are varieties of Sansevieria that remain pretty short and they are hardy in that they require little moisture and can tolerate varying intensity of lighting. They're also sturdy and can handle being climbed on by even the heaviest of tarantulas without the risk of it toppling over and injuring the tarantula.


Even the short varieties like Sansevieria trifasciata 'Hahnii' (Bird's Nest Sansevieria) will grow rosettes up to 6 inches tall, which could still be an issue if the OP only has 3 to 5 inches of space to use.

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