Has anyone ever made an LED hood from standard LED Light Bulbs?

[apastuszak]

I was looking at various LED lighting projects and most of them are rather expensive. I've seen nothing less than $150 or more.

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to use Edison Screw LED bulbs like the Cree 100W equivalent in a hood?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-100...ght-Bulb-BA21-16050OMF-12DE26-1U100/205054836

 

[Duckie]

I am using a daylight (6500k) bulb 13 watt LED household light with a cheap clamp light on my SW refugium. Works rather well. Only drawback is that it looks butt ugly, promotes algae growth and doesn't cover a lot of area or evenly lit area. For the purpose of growing my macro algae under the cabinet out of sight it is an amazing energy efficient $20 total light fixture. For display tank? Nah, I rather not.

 

[apastuszak]

I am using a daylight (6500k) bulb 13 watt LED household light with a cheap clamp light on my SW refugium. Works rather well. Only drawback is that it looks butt ugly, promotes algae growth and doesn't cover a lot of area or evenly lit area. For the purpose of growing my macro algae under the cabinet out of sight it is an amazing energy efficient $20 total light fixture. For display tank? Nah, I rather not.

What brand of bulbs are you using? Can you provide a link?

 

[Duckie]

What brand of bulbs are you using? Can you provide a link?

Just this one from Walmart: http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Great-...mmable-Daylight-13W-Bulb/39501451?type=search

 

[apastuszak]

I was thinking 4 of these in some kind of custom built hood might work:

http://creebulb.com/products/reflector/65-watt-replacement-daylight-downlight-6-inch-led-bulb

 

[Duckie]

That is hard to say. If you get the floodlight kind like you linked then you don't really need a reflector, just a way to hang or mount them. But it really depends on the content and size of the tank - if it is only fish, that will be fine. For plants it may or may not be sufficient. Color temperature is pretty low too, so everything will look too yellow, IMO. I would try to get at least 6500k bulbs - that is as close to natural sunlight as you can get for a freshwater tank. But then on my FW tanks I am spoiled by the look of the led strips (non diy). Same with my SW display tank which has two 48" led strips.

Personally I would make due with what you got right now until you can save up money to buy the light you wanted in the first place. Cost of entry into LED strips is unfortunately pretty high.

 

[apastuszak]

I don't know if LED strips are worth it for the cost, when you're dealing with an planted freshwater aquarium. Perhaps if you currently have a reef setup with VHO bulbs, there may be a cost savings. But when two daylight fluorescent strips can be bought for under $20 in some places, it's kind of hard to justify the expenditure of a good LED setup when you already have a strip light.

As for the 5000K vs 6500K. Every retail "Daylight" LED I've seen has been 5000K. Even the "Daylight" fluorescent bulbs I have seen are are 5500K.

 

[apastuszak]

Just found these and am thinking about trying them out:

http://www.amazon.com/Light-equivalent-flashlight-Fluorescent-Replacement/dp/B00NO4VFH6

 

[pbeemer]

it's good to see things like those T8 "replacement" tubes on Amazon finally coming out. this is how the LEDs are going to spread thru the market. for an aquarium setup i would think that it would be easier to just get a couple of end pieces and make your own; it's probably less effort than rewiring an existing fixture.

sadly, i haven't got a tank yet that's close to 4 feet long. hmmm ... if i can convince more of the kids to move out, that would free up bedrooms to be converted into fish rooms. that's the ticket!

 

[Gregg]

I don't know if LED strips are worth it for the cost, when you're dealing with an planted freshwater aquarium. Perhaps if you currently have a reef setup with VHO bulbs, there may be a cost savings. But when two daylight fluorescent strips can be bought for under $20 in some places, it's kind of hard to justify the expenditure of a good LED setup when you already have a strip light.

As for the 5000K vs 6500K. Every retail "Daylight" LED I've seen has been 5000K. Even the "Daylight" fluorescent bulbs I have seen are are 5500K.

By standard lighting definition, a 5500K light is a cool white, while a 6500k light is considered a daylight light.
Unfortunately most all available emitters are cool white, but these are often mislabeled as daylight emitters. Most of the true daylight emitters are not generally available to DIYs since they are tied up in exclusive licenses or patents.

Another issue with DIY for a display tank as I see it, is it is important to regulate voltage to all emitters, otherwise the spectrum may be less than optimal and the lifespan of the emitters will be shorter.

Ref:
http://aquarium-digest.com/2010/04/11/led-aquarium-lights-lighting/