# Lights for some Jarrariums



## Bbroush (Dec 17, 2012)

Hey guys! Currently I created some Jarrariums as little experiments and a couple of the larger ones will house some shrimp. I'm curious if anyone has any insights into how best to light them and what wattage/PAR I should be going for. As I don't have a PAR meter I'll just mention what I currently have and what the lighting source is for each:

Here are the pics in IMGUR, if not I have the main pic attached. 


http://imgur.com/0Zly4mx


(The two desk lamps that are big are both adjustable, so I'm not too worried about wattage on those for now.)

going left to right....

1) 2.5 gallon jar. This is one of the many LED sample bulbs I got when I was a product manager for an electronics company straight from china. If I remember correctly this is a 15W PAR 38 Fin type spotlight bulb. Unsure if it's too much but I thought I'd try on that tall, 2.5 gallon jar

2) .66 gallon tall jar. So this bulb I actually changed out for a different one that is a COB style spotlight because I hated the light shining into my face. So now there is currently 1 9W COB spotlight LED that sits flush on the metal lid. (I just cut a hole in the top) but it's actually 2700 K, so I decided I need to get a new bulb for that one. More to come. Currently though the plants seem to be loving that bulb. I just hate the color.

3) My current pride and joy, my 1 gallon flour jar with cherry red shrimp . This has a 9 watt par 38? LED fin type spotlight I believe. I don't LOVE it so I'm likely going to replace it. The LEDs are clustered together in the middle and the light distribution is meh.

4 & 5 These were my original experiments with my 8W desk lamp. They've actually been doing okay, who knows what I'll do long term or if I'll even keep them or move down to 3 jars. The issue is the lamp does NOT work with my timer. I do have another cord like #2 so with a COB bulb I could do the same thing for #4.

So there ya have it. That's my current situation. These are the bulbs I bought of Ali straight form china for cheap. 3 of them will be replacing my bulbs (like that on #2) that are lighting my 20 gallon riparium plants.

I attached the orders. But I'm getting the following:

one 15 W COB LED spotlight

4 (3 for my riparium, 1 for a jar) 9 W COB LED spotlights

One 6 W COB LED spotlight

One 12 W COB LED spotlight

That way I have some options.

Let me know what you guys think or if I'm crazy 

Thanks!


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Without a PAR meter, it is a guess. But my guess is that you have plenty of light, possibly bordering on too much. I base this on what used to be my go-to for lighting jars and nano tanks: a 13w 6500K spiral compact fluorescent (CFL), mounted vertically in a reflector above the jar/tank.

CFLs are being phased out. The 13w ones were advertised as replacements for 60w incandescents. I just purchased some LED "bulbs" also advertised as equivalent to 60w incandescent, and they are 9w. So by my tortured chain of reasoning, your 15w LEDs should be significantly brighter. This is especially true since most of your lights are spotlights, which we assume have good internal reflectors that will perform better than the external reflectors I used.


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## Bbroush (Dec 17, 2012)

Michael said:


> Without a PAR meter, it is a guess. But my guess is that you have plenty of light, possibly bordering on too much. I base this on what used to be my go-to for lighting jars and nano tanks: a 13w 6500K spiral compact fluorescent (CFL), mounted vertically in a reflector above the jar/tank.
> 
> CFLs are being phased out. The 13w ones were advertised as replacements for 60w incandescents. I just purchased some LED "bulbs" also advertised as equivalent to 60w incandescent, and they are 9w. So by my tortured chain of reasoning, your 15w LEDs should be significantly brighter. This is especially true since most of your lights are spotlights, which we assume have good internal reflectors that will perform better than the external reflectors I used.


Thanks Michael that's what I was hoping to hear. I'll put the 9 W on the top of #2 and keep the high wattage ones on the adjustable ones.  thanks!


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