# LED for freshwater: EU vs US



## Marta (Oct 7, 2013)

Hi,
I'm new to this forum, having a 200l liter freshwater tank, lots of plants, few fish. I'm considering LED lighting, but offers here in EU are either very low quality or prohibitive price. And then there's a lot of DIY, but I'm not too good at this...
What do you use in the US?
Thanks, Marta


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I do not have much to add but I am interested in other people's responses.

We tend to use T5 HO or power compact in the US.

LEDs made by aquarium companies generally tend to be underpowered and not very well made. There are a few websites that specialize in making custom LED lights that work well, but they are pretty expensive. Many people seem to do DIY, but as of now I have not seen a decent DIY tutorial on how to do it (especially concerning the power supply part of the job).


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

I have no personal experience but judging from PAR data, the best ready-made fixtures available are the Finnex Ray series.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

TMC is quite good. Not the cheapest, but I think one of the best commonly available. They use the Cree LEDs. Or Vertex Illumilux, they use the same leds. Econlux has the solar range which is not that bad. They use lots of low wattage light compared to the high power leds from TMC. Perhaps not that well suited if you've a high tank.


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## Marta (Oct 7, 2013)

Thanks for quick replies! I know Vertex, their pretty cool, but very expensive... Econlux and TMC also have great stuff, but what about photosynthesis with all this predominantly blue/white lights? Do plants really grow in these conditions?


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## Marta (Oct 7, 2013)

While googling around for LED and aquaria, I found something/-body called luzmotion, they have some pretty nice videos on youtube, but their homepage doesn't work.... Anybody know who/what this is, company or DIY; US, EU, or else? Seems like they exhibited at interzoo, but there's almost no infos.
Anyhow, they also use red (and maybe green?) LEDs, so this would favour plant growth?
Thx, Marta


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