# LED lighting



## Maichel (Jul 5, 2011)

Hi there,

I presently have a reef tank which I want to re-build to a Discus biotope aquarium.
This means the future tank setup will only have a few motherplants Echinodorus species as it is in their natural habitat (and even then...)
Now I invested quite a lot of money in LED lighting for my reef tank, with success I may add

The big question is, as I love the LED's, would I be able to use them above the fresh water tank??

The Kelvin range varies from min 13300 kelvin to max22000 kelvin.
So I guess I will have to put them on Minimum and then dim the light to about 35 %

Fyi; the LED's I'm talking about are the Pacific Sun Black Phyton 3x 160 watt.

Hope to learn more from you guys.

greetings,
Maichel


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## RWalleyTX (Apr 17, 2011)

yes I dont see why not as long as the par is good


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## supert (Jun 12, 2011)

I agree. You just remember you would probably need to buy more led lights vs of just getting a t5HO setup.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Maichel,

Believe it or not noone here or on any other planted tank forum can give you a definite opinion. You will soon see that as a whole planted tank folk do not spend a lot of money for their hobby. LED aquarium lights have been around for some time now and yet we have not really gotten into them. Because they "cost too much".

There are a few people that have experimented with LED lights for planted tanks. The verdict as of today is that one needs to find the correct mix of wavelengths since the LED have pretty narrow spectrum. If someone gives you an informed opinion it will be about the mix of LEDs. And I hope they respond, I'm interested to hear it too.

Aside of fancy LED lights please do know that you can grow aquatic plants with virtually any light. It all depends on how you setup the tank, do you have enough patience, and what kinds of plants you have.

--Nikolay


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## rod (Aug 10, 2005)

I have never used them myself. However the LFS guy has tried them in the store. He said that they didn't seem to work as well as other types for plants. He said he sells them because people like the look of them. He is the only person I've ever known that has tried them.


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## H2OAggie (Jan 10, 2011)

I just recently built an LED fixture for my 29 gallon. I used 12 cool white (5,000-8,300K) CREE XP-G LED's, mounted in two rows of 6. The light I receive from this fixture is definitely superior to the 2x24W T5HO fixture I was using previously. I say this because it appears to be a more natural light to my eye, and I really like the shimmer effect of the LED's. Plants pearl quicker and more intensely than before.

Here is a rather crummy iPhone image:


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

H2O, that is a very nice LED DIY. Have you put a PAR meter under it? I am guessing that the tank is 18" tall, and it looks like the light is mounted about 12" above the tank.

If it is not rude to ask, about how much did you spend on components?


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## H2OAggie (Jan 10, 2011)

Michael said:


> H2O, that is a very nice LED DIY. Have you put a PAR meter under it? I am guessing that the tank is 18" tall, and it looks like the light is mounted about 12" above the tank.
> 
> If it is not rude to ask, about how much did you spend on components?


Unfortunately, I do not have access to a PAR meter. I am going to double check and see if there is one I can get a hold of at the university I work for.

I spent $130 on the LEDs and electronics, which includes the 12 CREEs, 40 degree optics for each, a dimmable driver, wire and potentiometer. I spent another $30 or so on everything for the fixture, including aluminum channel and angle.


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## IwannaGoFast (Jan 11, 2011)

I have LEDs over every single planted tank now. They work great and can grow any plant.

A lot of folks have been building LEDs over at TPT, and have been having success with them.

Here are a few of my set ups.

24 cree xp-g cool white, with 60 degree optics, mounted in 2 rows of 12, each row about 3.5 inches apart, using meanwell dimmable drivers. There's also 8 blue LEDs ran at 350ma, used as moonlight and to make the tank a little bluer.

This tank has been going for a bout a month now with this light, but it's been on LEDs for about 6 months now.









This tank has 11 stevesleds ran at 700ma. The light is lifted about 2.5 feet off the tank. The light level is pretty low, but I am able to get about 20umol of par at the substrate. This is a riparium tank so the light is pretty intense at the top to grow the emmersed plants









Lastly, this tank has 4 cree xp-g cool whites and 2 xp-e royal blues all ran at 350ma with no optics. I get about 50-60umols of par at the substrate.









Planted tanks with LEDs are the future! Sure they are expensive compared to some other options out there but they are an investment. The LEDs will last a long time and the shimmer they produce looks very pleasing to the eyes.


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## cidly (Aug 10, 2011)

nowadays many people use led lighting for planted tanks, led lighting is more popular


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## cidly (Aug 10, 2011)

see this tank with led lighting


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## chunkypeanutlove (Sep 2, 2009)

If you want to move into freshwater i would consider selling your LED. I have been doing freshwater for a good number of years and salt for less but for freshwater you need less light. Yes even for "high light tanks" you are usually using the lighting used to grow softies. For reef we have light too deep into the blue. I would say that getting into the 6500k you would be best. As you know with your set up, you need to mix spectrums. Reef is too blue to most plants. If you sell one you can do a rapid LED diy for cheap and have the pars needed for a nice high light freshwater.


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