Cheap 48" LED lighting review.

[FreshyFresh]

Just sharing my experience with an inexpensive 48" LED strip light I mail ordered for one of my 55g tanks. Cost was $30.28 shipped. Specs are as follows:
92 PCS 0.50 watt LEDs
· 44x 10000K cool white
· 36x Actinic Blue 460nm
· 6xRed 620-625nm
· 6xGreen 520-525nm
· Lumen : 5520
· Suitable Tank length: 48"
· Cable Length: 6ft
43.76"x1.5"x0.3"
Brand is Aquaneat

As you can see from the pics, it gives off a lot of light, but is a thin, flimsy import special. They come shipped in a square plastic yellow tube. The first unit that was shipped to my house was damaged so badly, It's hard to believe the USPS was able to get it me. The case/box it was shipped in was smashed open in the center and the light was hanging out of it, bent and twisted, with the wiring ripped out. I emailed pics to the seller and they quickly mailed me out a new one. I was able to solder the wiring back in place and somewhat straighten and use the original, but you still see it's tweaked. IMO, it's an OK light for the money. We'll see how it holds up.

The eBay seller is cll_petsupplies out of Madison WI. I've made many purchases from them the past few years for aquarium hardware. Great seller IMO.

 

[myswtsins]

That is cheap! I only paid a little less for my 48" beamswork during a sale. Been hearing about these aquaneat lights, apparently it's the newest branding of the classic china light. People may frown on that but IMO, at that price point, for LED (which I think looks WAY better fluorescent) go ahead and keep rebranding those cheapo lights! lol I love all my cheapo lights SO much. Thanks for the review!

Good job rehabilitating that first light, score.

 

[dougall]

May look into getting a 36" one or two.


maybe once next month is over.

 

[Nicole Martin]

I really like your reviews about all these led lights. Thanks for sharing

 

[Stewart Bowers]

Nice job!

 

[FreshyFresh]

Thanks everyone. I can't say yet if I'd recommend this specific light. Time will tell. It does have some good things going for it, in that it has a relatively high lumen rating and wattage if that's what you're after. I wasn't specifically after those attributes for this tank. It just kind of fit my price range. LOL.

The specs on the AC/AC adapter for this light specs: INPUT 110-250V 60Hz with an unusual output of 69V AC 800mA. If those numbers are true, it's quite overdriven IMO.

The wall wart itself gets slightly warm to the touch, while the strip light itself gets to about 120F with my temp gun, in a room that is about 68F.

It's amazing how the tech is so quickly evolving on these LED lights given how small/compact the circuitry is now. The PC board is a thin as a sticker and is bonded to a thin metal strip. That strip slides into the light housing, then a clear plastic splash guard slides in last.

My first LED fixture was actually a 48" Beamswork from the long gone AquaTraders. It was spec'd for plants and was what appeared to be a nicely built fixture for the ~$60 I paid for it in ~2013. Problem was, within a week or two, banks of LEDs started flickering and going out. It was total junk in a matter of months.

One mod I made to this Aquaneat fixture was when I soldered the power leads back on. The factory setup for how the wires attach to the circuit board looked so weak, I sealed the termination points with epoxy. I wish had measured the output of the wall wart before I did this! Can't now. It's sealed up.

 

[dougall]

Do you have a link to the specific light online? I want to see if I'm looking at something comparable (Looking on Amazon, not eBay for now)

 

[FreshyFresh]

Here's the eBay link Doug:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/48-LED-Lig...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

[dougall]

Thanks sir

 

[why]

Thank you very much for the information and guidance. i found this site and your thread looking for LED lights. I started my aquarium recently, depending on hard ness and softness i have added a red dwarf gourami pair ( of which i am going to donate the male one- as it chasing the female one like hell and i am bit scared), 4 harleyquinn rasboras, 7 neon tetras.. and added some amazon sword plants, some nanas, others i have to check the names .. till now i jsut had a regular floor lamp lighting to it.. read some forums and found a day light bulb with 5000k. Today morning i found T2 CFL bulb day light 6500k in home depot which i am going to pick up soon..

I am looking for more economic option which will help grow the plants.. i love to see more plants.. i am using Seachem flourish, flourish tabs,and trace. please let me know if this light fixture will help my plants.. i am looking for economic option and which i dont have to buy any thing else to fix..and also the lighting dont harm my rasboras and tetras.. Thank you.