Out Damn Algae!

A nice extra bonus of switching to LEDs from fluorescents in an aquarium is that you can “tailor” the spectrum of the light. Specifically, if you leave out the yellow and green components, you can apparently significantly reduce algae growth. At least, that’s what appears to be happening in my tank.

BTW, just so you’re not confused, “white” LEDs often don’t put out the full spectrum of light. In the case of the high output white Cree LEDs I’m using, most of their output is in the blue and red portions of the spectrum. Apparently that’s enough to fool your eye into seeing the combined light as “white”.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories
Archives