2Hearts
Well-Known Member
When I first started growing weed the first lights I used were simple, cheap reliable fish tank flourescents from my local Pets at Home. They used to stock some of the best flouros and matching ballasts in the Arcadia brand but more recently seemed to have switched to the Interpet branded gear which seems tacky in comparison. I approached this with a simplified principle of light, the Arcadia Classica/Freshwater was blue or for veg, the Arcadia Tropical/Original Tropical was red or for flowering and the Arcadia Plant Pro was a mix of the red and blue Arcadia Classica/Freshwater and Tropical/Original Tropical so hence full spectrum and a pinkish colour. I always used the blue Classica/Freshwater as a base and add Tropical and Plantpros to boost the spectrum fully.
I have recently returned to the dark arts of growing weed and a trip to the local Pets at Home left me a touch confused as the Interpet Community fluorescent lighting options have not made it easy with their descriptions(Please bring back Arcadia!). A lot of googling and buying the occasional tube have left me pretty sure that similar assumptions as Arcadia can be made although they only seem to have two plant specific tubes and they are the ,Tropical & Coldwater' and 'Tropical & Plants'. Ill get to the reason why it seems they only do two tubes but pretty much the Tropical and Coldwater is the same as the Arcadia Classica/Freshwater and blue for veg and the Tropical and Plants is pretty much the Arcadia Plant Pro and full spectrum.
There is a lot more to it but if you take these basics and combine tubes you will not fail!
Over time fish flourescents have changed slightly where they seem to incorporate more white/green light hence why Interpet have one less plant grow tube than Arcadia and combined the red and blue light more effectively with the green and white. To an aquarium/reef enthusiast the green or white light dosent grow plants but it does make their fish look nicer and more pleasant to the human eye. This is one small drawback to using fish tank light in that they probably emit a few less lumen due to the additional colour spectrums in the green/white but more than efficient to get you through the veg stage. An unplanted tank of fish does better with more white light and less red/blue as this stops algae growing and your tank getting gungy.
There are many other tubes available but I just wanted to profile whats easily available around me in the UK. Hit me up if any questions, when to replace those fluorescent, spectral intensity etc etc its all good
I have recently returned to the dark arts of growing weed and a trip to the local Pets at Home left me a touch confused as the Interpet Community fluorescent lighting options have not made it easy with their descriptions(Please bring back Arcadia!). A lot of googling and buying the occasional tube have left me pretty sure that similar assumptions as Arcadia can be made although they only seem to have two plant specific tubes and they are the ,Tropical & Coldwater' and 'Tropical & Plants'. Ill get to the reason why it seems they only do two tubes but pretty much the Tropical and Coldwater is the same as the Arcadia Classica/Freshwater and blue for veg and the Tropical and Plants is pretty much the Arcadia Plant Pro and full spectrum.
There is a lot more to it but if you take these basics and combine tubes you will not fail!
Over time fish flourescents have changed slightly where they seem to incorporate more white/green light hence why Interpet have one less plant grow tube than Arcadia and combined the red and blue light more effectively with the green and white. To an aquarium/reef enthusiast the green or white light dosent grow plants but it does make their fish look nicer and more pleasant to the human eye. This is one small drawback to using fish tank light in that they probably emit a few less lumen due to the additional colour spectrums in the green/white but more than efficient to get you through the veg stage. An unplanted tank of fish does better with more white light and less red/blue as this stops algae growing and your tank getting gungy.
There are many other tubes available but I just wanted to profile whats easily available around me in the UK. Hit me up if any questions, when to replace those fluorescent, spectral intensity etc etc its all good
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