# Does anyone use LED lights?



## mikeykc (Apr 17, 2009)

Hi all,

I'm in the process of setting up my first planted tank in about 5 years. Does anyone know about LED lighting? I've never used them but they seem more efficient than your standard fluorescent bulbs that I'm used to. Here's a link to the set I was looking at: link

I can't tell what the wattage is for these types of light, might someone educate me?

Thanks!
Mike


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

I've heard the problem is that they are high in visible spectrums (the easily available bulbs perhaps) but not great for aquaria unless you have quite a few of them, and then you need to know for sure how many watts per bulb. You might try this question specific to the lighting forum at this site and see if there is any updated information. A few folks have been trying them out but I haven't seen any posted reports on how they are doing so far. Davemonkey has a hood for a 10 gallon but didn't use it becuase you could hardly tell the lights were even on and the package did not indicate wattage or spectral output.


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## mikeykc (Apr 17, 2009)

Thanks mudboots. I decided against getting those lights, as each LED is only 1 watt...and there're only 8 bulbs!

I'm actually going with a T5 hood, 48 watts over a 20 long should be good eh?


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## penfold (Dec 7, 2010)

Much better choice. There are a lot of cheapo LED lights trying to cash in on the craze, but any LED fixture worth buying will be considerably more expensive than a comparable fluorescent fixture. They'll probably replace fluorescents eventually, but I'm still waiting for the prices to drop.


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## AquaBarren (Nov 6, 2009)

I have the Marineland double bright fixture. Only been a month, but on a 33g tank crypts, vals, hygro Kompajt doing well as are a couple bunches of stems and sone lotuses.

Very happy with it for low-light application.


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## mikeykc (Apr 17, 2009)

Hi all,

I ended up getting the Hagen T5 GLO 24" light. I've been out of aquariums for over two years now...I think I missed a lot. This light is probably the brightest fluorescent light I have ever seen.

It's a 24 watt 6700K bulb, but it's so bright I had to elevate the fixture quite a bit to disperse the light!


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## redchigh (Jul 10, 2010)

Well, it is quite a paradox. 'Watts' per se would go right out the window.

The best formula I've seen is that LED's produce about 32% more lumens/watt than CFLs. 

"Grow" leds probably wouldn't be that effective, since it's well known that in aquaria Cool white (alone) is better than "grow" lights alone. 
There are some insanely bright CREE hex LEDs... If you had the soldering and circuitry know-how, you could make one pretty easily for cheap.


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## Jeff.:P:. (Nov 20, 2007)

Here's a good start,

http://socalaquascapers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3990

I'm currently setting up a Fluval Edge with 10x3w CREE XR-E Q5'S LEDs, should be able to grow anything I need and want.

Here's the setup I'll be using.
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-35/12-Premium-LED-Do-dsh-It-dsh-Yourself/Detail

with heatsinks from www.Heatsinkusa.com (4"x7.28" profile)

I'll post some photos soon......


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## Jeff.:P:. (Nov 20, 2007)

great info
http://www.reefledlights.com/how-to-diy-led/


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## AquaBarren (Nov 6, 2009)

The marineland futures are new, but I think are quite good. They definitely aren't high light, but seem more than adequate for lower light applications. We're very happy with ours. Plants are doing well, light is a nice, crisp white and the shimmer effect awesome. Ours us installed on. Fluval studio 600 kit that came with a Glo 2x t5ho fixture.

Efficiency is a plus. Low profile is nice. Low heat is a plus. No bulbs to break in kids bedroom is great. Very happy with it and am now sold on LEDs.


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## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

LED are solid state and will not degrade in intensity for a long time. However, the available spectrum will change and degrade. The color is set by the gasses and chemicals in the lens, not the LED itself. The lens and housing degrades at a pace not much different than an H5. So you will have to replace the LEDs once every one or two years. The bulbs are expensive.

I'm watching, but still waiting for LED to become viable.


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## ghostmonk (Jul 6, 2009)

I have a pair of diy led fixtures that i have been using for 2 years and i found that calculating the lux (visible light), color temp and par value (needs more than just some calfs) is more important than calculating wattage. However if you want to figure out wattage find out how much current each led is getting in your circuit (they usually work in a range) and the forward voltage of the bulb, multiply them to get the bulb wattage and sum it for all the bulbs in the fixture.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## Mr Who (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm using a DYI LED array on my tank as well. I used the Cree Q4, 3W led's.
I have a total of 12 LED's over my 20 gal long. So a total of 48 watts, but again, watts on an led fixture is not the same as for other types of lighting. I used the 6500K bulbs and my plants grow like crazy. I can only have them on for about 4 hrs a day or it's just too much and algae takes over everything.

All in all, I love my lighting and am very happy I went with it, though in truth building the light myself was at least half the fun.


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