# LED lighting in Walstead Aquarium



## RobynSones (Jun 28, 2018)

I am from the UK and have been keeping an aquarium for about 6 years, have been diligent in cleaning and doing everything the books, and my local aquarium shop, says and have suffered all of the classic problems described by Diana Walstad.

I have decided to set up a Walstad aquarium. I'm sure I will have a few questions along the way, but the main one at the moment is can I continue to use my LED lighting strip? It is primarily white and yellow LEDs with a few blue and red ones thrown in. I cannot put my aquarium where it will get sunlight but this strip does give more light than fluorescent tubes. I have seen fluorescent tubes strongly recommended but have seen nothing with reference to LED lighting.

The details of my lighting is found here - https://www.swelluk.com/fluval-aqual...-strip-lights/ It appears to predominantly cover the spectrum of sunlight.

Is this going to be too bright for a 10 hours light over a 14 hour Walsted day and if so can I simply reduce the hours of light while keeping the day the same?

I notice that Diana recommends covering the aquarium with glass. Is this just to stop evaporation or is there some other reason? I have plastic covers with a gap in the middle where the light fits. There is an air gap and evaporation but I regularly top up with water which is either conditioned or simply aged for 3-4 days to get rid of chlorine.

Any help welcome


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## plazuk (Nov 24, 2017)

Link does not work for me :/ and I don't have much experience with LEDs
But I can say from my own walstad-ish tank, energy saving daylight bulb is fantastic. Plants grow like nowhere in my other tanks and sun does not even reach that tank at all.
Good luck with Your setup !

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC!

The link doesn't work for me either. I use LEDs over my Walstad tanks, and they work well. If your light was originally intended for planted tanks, it should be OK. LED fixtures for saltwater may be too strong and have a spectrum that is not optimal.

If you have problems associated with too much light, you can reduce the photoperiod, raise the light higher over the tank, and/or use floating plants to give some shade.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Michael said:


> If you have problems associated with too much light, you can reduce the photoperiod, raise the light higher over the tank, and/or use floating plants to give some shade.


Well put!

I converted over from CFLs to LEDs just recently. All 7 tanks are now topped off with LED lighting. The inexpensive LEDs I use still put out an impressive amount of light for my shallow, fish-breeding tanks. To control green water algae, I have had to put all tanks on Siesta regimen, added floating plants, and done more water changes.

I am thrilled with the advent of LEDs. LED strip fixtures are light, convenient, inexpensive, etc, etc.

Thanks for your thread and question.


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## FromReefs2Plants (Aug 14, 2017)

I have the 48" fixture from ebay for my 55g. Plants grow great, there is plenty of floating plant cover and light still penetrates well. I use it on the siesta regimen, I don't know if this is necessary but I have always done it this way. Never had any algae or green water issues.

This guy - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Beamswork-...m=111863989561&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851


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## zolteeC (Dec 26, 2017)

I have good old school T5 tubes... but I would like to replace those with T5 LED tubes. The T5 LED tube I found can be put into the T5 socket and only the "transformer" circuit need to be bypassed. Do you think this will work for NPTs?

T5 LED tubes typically provide a bit less Lumens, but while old tubes lit 360 degrees, LEDs have a much narrower angle. I guess this is a good thing when it comes to tanks...


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

My guess is that it will, but I haven't tried this, nor researched it that much.

Below is a nice article (in Italian, but Google translation is good) with information on retrofitting. (Until then, I didn't know that I could buy LEDs that would fit into my old CFL fixtures!)

https://www.acquariofiliafacile.it/...78-lampade-led-retrofit.html?showall=&start=1

Since this is an LED thread for NPTs, below is a link to a comprehensive article on LED lighting by the same advanced hobbyist group. (This Italian article was easier for me to understand/swallow -- with a Google translation -- than some articles I've seen published in English!)

https://www.acquariofiliafacile.it/...4-led-in-acquario.html?highlight=WyJsZWQiXQ==

That said, almost any lighting system--with a little tinkering--will work.


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## mysiak (Jan 17, 2018)

zolteeC said:


> I have good old school T5 tubes... but I would like to replace those with T5 LED tubes. The T5 LED tube I found can be put into the T5 socket and only the "transformer" circuit need to be bypassed. Do you think this will work for NPTs?
> 
> T5 LED tubes typically provide a bit less Lumens, but while old tubes lit 360 degrees, LEDs have a much narrower angle. I guess this is a good thing when it comes to tanks...


Check what type of transformer you have in your current lightning. If it's "old school" type (with coils), you should be able to swap T5 with LED directly. Anything with electronic balast needs replacing/rewiring - IMHO not worth doing. Just buy some high power LED light with manual/electronic dimmer, so you can adjust the light output to your needs. I've heard only good words about Chihiros, cheap, powerful and can be used with manual dimmer or fully electronic control to simulate sunrise/sunset (highly recommended, fish love it and you will be amazed by their natural behavior as well). Always try to get the most powerful LED light (don't go with cheap "no name" brands), it's much easier to dim them than to replace/add additional lights if they're barely glowing..


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## zolteeC (Dec 26, 2017)

Thank you for the answers.

I'd like to keep my current tank cover (top) which currently has the traditional T5 tubes built in. I like the cover design and that's why I don't want to buy completely new lights. (This is an old school tank and the top is fully covered. I like this because less water evaporates compared to a fully open tank.) Upgrading to T5 LED tube seems to do the trick, and modifying the electronics seems to be easy: I just need to by-pass (or remove) the electronic ballast (or whatever it is called.) Of course this needs to be done professionally, after all the whole thing is above water and safety must be there.


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## mysiak (Jan 17, 2018)

...or you can use existing T5 fitting only as a holder and purchase LED tubes with separate power input. You don't need to mess up with electronics in your current light fixture. Aquatlantis Easy LED universal is one of those for example. In each case, please share your result once you have it done


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