I am CHEAP. I am in the process of making my own LED light. I think for a 55 gallon 3 or maybe 4, 15 watt LED floodlights wired in series will grow pretty much anything. I've tried one bulb over my 55 so far and it reaches to the bottom and is very bright. The bulbs are pretty tall but I think a fixture that looks nice is possible. I will be using a corrugated polycarbonate greenhouse roofing for the cover.
LED lighting VS Flourescent
- Thread starter Aerial
- Start date
Did you know which floodlights you would use?
I didn't think the height was that much (compared to fluorescent fixtures) and would think you should be able to use a pair of potentially bigger ones to get decent coverage... But I could be thinking of different lights.
These are the bulbs I'm going to use. I bought some because I actually needed floodlight bulbs outside. When I saw the type and intensity of the light they put out I started thinking. They are 6.25 inches tall. If I can find something to use for a reflector that is deep enough to keep the stray light out of my eyes I'll use those and hang them over the tanks otherwise I'll need to make a hood. Using Ebay plastic bulb sockets (really cheap) wired in series.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WNSE9U4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
thanks,
You shouldn't need to worry about reflectors, as the LED light should be pretty directional anyways and already pointing downwards.
I had been thinking you meant something more like these (https://www.amazon.com/Equivalent-Waterproof-Daylight-Security-Floodlight/dp/B00JB12E1C/)
You shouldn't need to worry about reflectors, as the LED light should be pretty directional anyways and already pointing downwards.
I had been thinking you meant something more like these (https://www.amazon.com/Equivalent-Waterproof-Daylight-Security-Floodlight/dp/B00JB12E1C/)
That is an intriguing idea!! I will be "googling" like a crazy person trying to figure out how to go about it. Lol.
I guess those other floods would work too maybe even better but a bit higher cost. Like I said........I'm cheap! Here's my proof of concept. The beam is 120 degrees and as you can see there is some distracting light from just the bulb alone.
When you say "topper" are you talking about just an aquarium cover or a kind of topper,or dry land area for a turtle tank? If it's just a cover the corrugated polycarbonate that I mentioned is cheap and can be cut to size with a pair of scissors.
