# LED lighting questions



## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

Hello,
I am in need of light fixtures for a 75 gallon long, and a 150 gallon tall aquarium. The dimensions of the 75 are 48" side to side, 21" top to bottom, and 18" front to back. The 150 is 48" side to side, 31" top to bottom, and 23.25" front to back. The 75 gallon has been up and running for over a year, and is a planted community tank with mostly south american inhabitants. The 150 is currently empty, but will have discus, some other smaller fish, and plants.

I would really like to get LED lights for these, but am concerned they won't grow plants very well. Does anyone know what light spectrum they emit? I noticed they have "blue" led's and "red" led's but I am unsure if this refers to spectrum or just merely it's color. Also, I am concerned that the light won't be strong enough to get to the bottom of that 150.

If LED's work, can anyone give me some suggestions for the least expensive brands? I would also like suggestions as to how many strips I would need for each tank. At the LFS today, they suggested 8, 12" Panorama LED light strips for the 150, and 6 of these for the 75 gallon. At the prices they had listed, this would cost me close to $1500 or more, and I do not want to spend anywhere near that much if I can help it, and I REALLY don't want to spend it if I don't know for sure if they will grow plants.

Thanks in advance,
Cat


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## bamboosharkbark (Dec 27, 2010)

Ok I'll try and explain this to you, first yes leds can grow plants very well, as long as you plan it correct. I have a 6 gallon tank with three white leds on top and the plants are doing great. 
For a large tank like yours it will be important to make sure to use lenses to make sure the light penetrates to the bottom.
I use 3w cree leds which are widely used for both freshwater and reef tanks. The whit leds are the ones best suited for planted tanks and they come in three different types of color temperature:
cool white
neutral white
warm white

All three will grow plants well. I use 2 cool white for each warm white but I hear that the neutral white have the best color. I comes down to preference. The warm whites are pretty yellow~3600K, the neutral whites are ~5000K and the cool whites are like 7500K

Here is a link to where I buy my leds from: http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/StoreFront

Dont ask me exactly how many you'll need though, do a google search or something


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## CatG (Apr 10, 2010)

Thanks for your reply! I contacted the company and asked them some questions.

I am still not too sure why lighting has to be so complicated. From what I have read, it seems like most plants require the same kind of light - blue spectrum at such and such NM, and red spectrum at such and such NM. The only variables I have come across is tank depth, and whether the plants require low, moderate, or high light. It seems to me that someone could develope a bulb/type of light that met these requirements, with different models for different tank depths. Then all you would have to do is pick the right model for the depth of tank you had, and choose how many of them based on the light requirements for the plants you want to keep. I am assuming I am missing something very important, since it is definitely not that simple once you actually try to find lights. I just wish this wasn't so frustrating.

Cat


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## bamboosharkbark (Dec 27, 2010)

Make sure you look at these threads!!! Only differences between an leds array for a reef tank and one for a planted tank are:

-reef tanks usually use at least half blue leds, you'd probly go all white

-reef tanks need more light than planted so if you use the same amount of leds as they do in a similar tank size you would have a high light tank. easy way around this is to buy a driver for youre leds that you can dim. Easy to find on the website where I buy my leds and youll be able to adjust the amount of light

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=186982

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=261164

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=200335


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## bamboosharkbark (Dec 27, 2010)

good luck!


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