# LED Fever....



## capn_kirkl (Jul 4, 2006)

Anyone jumping on the LED bandwagon, I have been researching the "movement" I am excited to jump on the bandwagon as I my current bulbs are all getting old.


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## Brilliant (Jun 25, 2006)

Yep. I significantly reduced my energy usage converting from pc to t5 with slr now I am about to redo everything with leds.


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

I was looking into this and found very little information on what's currently available- when I went to my LFS to look at a fixture they had, the guy said it was for fish-only tanks- they don't make them strong enough yet or in specific spectrums for planted tanks. 

Did you guys find other info? I'm really curious too.


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## ashappard (Jun 3, 2006)

best LED fixtures I've seen so far seem aimed more at reefers and not planted tank, but I'd love to see some links to product info if this is no longer the case. I'd like to try to replace MH with LED and I hope that day is getting close.


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## waruna (Jan 22, 2011)

I bought 4 x 120W LED units from China, custom made. 2 units with 1W x 112 6500k whites, 2 units with 1W x 80 6500k whites and 32 Blue (will run blue lights only for 20 mins each day, i believe they promote algae growth). Almost all LED units are manufactured for Reef aquariums, this is a very good article on lighting:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html

You can also follow my journal here, will post pics of the units tomorrow (all four units are with my cabinet maker atm);

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ums/76280-new-planted-aquaria-1000l-tank.html

I've been following this thread since it started, my units are identical to these units:

http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=209183&hilit=BSLED

From what i understand there's one manufacturer in China who make these units. There's a quite few companies that assemble them.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

I've yet to see a LED system that produced more light at less wattage compared to a MH system.

Infact just about every one I know that has swaped out MH for LEDs that is keeping SPS, has gone back to MH with in a year.


Now Vs tubes, you can get the same ammount of light for slighly less wattage.


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## faltaren (Apr 30, 2010)

Check this out. http://www.pacific-sun.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=73


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## hoplo (May 14, 2007)

This guy's been advertising on the local forum over here.

http://www.inleds.com/inleds_aquarium.htm

Seems pretty easy, just replace your normal T8 FL tubes with this and bypass the ballast. I've yet to see the results though.


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## summitwynds (Jun 3, 2005)

I've got 2 AI Sol Blue modules on my 75 gallon reef and am seriously considering trying 1 AI Sol White module on my 65 gallon cube planted tank. What I love about them besides the lighting, is the controller. You can run them individually (whites and blue) in percentages. The whites have 2 white 6500K LEDs to every 1 blue. So great for moonlighting too. Each module is equivalent to a 400w MH. Im talking to George at ReefGeek about it right now.


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## faltaren (Apr 30, 2010)

And the plants like it?


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## ashappard (Jun 3, 2006)

TAB said:


> I've yet to see a LED system that produced more light at less wattage compared to a MH system.
> 
> Infact just about every one I know that has swaped out MH for LEDs that is keeping SPS, has gone back to MH with in a year.
> 
> Now Vs tubes, you can get the same ammount of light for slighly less wattage.


thats what I've heard from reefers also, and maybe it helps that many reefers also already have chillers and are keen on the MH / have many MH fixtures. reefers that also are into planted tanks seem not too interested in LED so far, but I know the technology has promise. I'm just waiting on good LEDs and controllers that aim at our market.

I'm sold on MH now for performance and appearance (its hard to argue otherwise / intensity and shimmer).. I wish it wasnt true, but I think at this time that MH is still the highest performance per watt. especially for our niche, growing submerged or emergent plants. MH fixture cost is certainly lower if you factor lumens / watt / dollar.

somebody prove us wrong? manufacturers, make a planted tank MH replacement ! What about plasma arc? will that beat LED in the short term for planted tank performance?


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## schg (Dec 22, 2010)

I'm using a boost LED par30 lamp on my 7.5, but I have yet to see how it actually does growth wise. I've used LEDs on a reef before and was pretty satisfied with it, so I figured I would try it for this tank as well. You guys can follow my thread here if you're interested to see how it works out.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

ashappard said:


> thats what I've heard from reefers also, and maybe it helps that many reefers also already have chillers and are keen on the MH / have many MH fixtures. reefers that also are into planted tanks seem not too interested in LED so far, but I know the technology has promise. I'm just waiting on good LEDs and controllers that aim at our market.
> 
> I'm sold on MH now for performance and appearance (its hard to argue otherwise / intensity and shimmer).. I wish it wasnt true, but I think at this time that MH is still the highest performance per watt. especially for our niche, growing submerged or emergent plants. MH fixture cost is certainly lower if you factor lumens / watt / dollar.
> 
> somebody prove us wrong? manufacturers, make a planted tank MH replacement ! What about plasma arc? will that beat LED in the short term for planted tank performance?


Actually halides don't heat tanks that much( unless you have a enclosed top) Its the pumps reefers use that produce the most heat. lets not forget about evap cooling. Every gallon of water lost thru evap = a 1hp chiller running for about a hour. Its not uncommon at all for reefers to actually have thier tank temps go down when thier halides and cooling fans come on.


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