Light frustration

O

oreo57

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Apr 14, 2013
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Well more than light.. ;) anyways I have been researching lighting for a small (40gal) planted tank. There is a LOT of good info out there BUT
not really enough (at least that I can find) regarding freshwater lighting.. Want to set up a reef.. I can find charts all day re: lights..

My biggest beef is to what I consider critical info is light spectra for various LEDS. And I mean many, not just a few exotic (i.e. expensive) "chips"

Yes I believe LED is the true path, mostly due to the fact that it is easy targeting light bands w/ less "waste" and of course maintenance/equip
costs and failures and TCO including pollution/energy consumption. I could be wrong on some of this.. but "the writing seems to be on the wall" at this time

my biggest problem is "we" in the freshwater arena seem to be the orphan child.. Now adapting "crop lights" to the freshwater tank seems like it is an easy solution except
for 1)current cost 2)anesthetics as in I don't want a red tank.. ;)

Between "blistering blue" (unnecessary for a freshwater shallow tank AFAIKT) and this;
[h=1]TaoTronics TT-GL05 Red Blue Orange 90W (45*3W, 135W Theoretically) UFO LED Plant Grow Light Panel 7:1:1 for Hydroponic and Flowering[/h]The
"in-between" trade off of LED choices is fairly limited (at least so far)

I guess the big question in LED freshwater (for me) is the compromise between blue PAR plus red PAR plus enough in-between to make it "pleasing to the eye" is not so easily researched except by hit and miss..

Any suggestions?? Including known chips at a reasonable price range w/ high red/blue/ PAR and a "neutral" color?

My "holy grail" for awhile there was the Epistar 30w chip w/ red/blue LED and phosphor doping to create warm white but I've found 1)no good way to buy or identify it 2)light spectrum analysis.. (BTW: an FYI anything w/ "phosphors" will degrade over time making doping not so perfect)

Maybe this is more of a rant based on lack of info and large discrepancies in costs and/or the need to mix and match "stuff".. I don't expect "cheap" but I also don't expect to pay $300 for $30 worth of LEDS...

As it is I'm currently thinking about scrapping the LED idea and just getting some HO CFL's with known spectra.. of course even there I need to mix and match.. and I really, really hate ballasts (internal or external. to me they all are "cheap" and prone to failure).. ;)
 
Am I missing something as to an edit your post function???
Anyways for the techy types and an interesting FYI:
http://www.mouser.com/new/osram/osram-OstarStage/
Specifications
  • Dominant wavelength: 625nm (red);
    527nm (true green); 453nm (deep blue)
  • Color coordinates: x = 0.31, y = 0.32 acc.
    to CIE 1931 (ultra white)
  • Typ. color temperature: 6500K (ultra white)
  • Viewing angle: Lambertian Emitter (120°)
  • Radiating surface: typ. 2 x 2mm²
  • ESD-withstand voltage: up to 2kV acc.
    to JESD22-A114-D
Pick your color:
Chip-Position
  • 1) red
  • 2) true green
  • 3) deep blue
  • 4) ultra white

Considering the "market" I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap.. but it is interesting..
 
I agree that LEDs are the wave of the future; I also have to agree that, from the pictures I've seen, the red+blue leds used by the, ummm, "crypto-farmers," would make the tank a really ugly purple.

I haven't switched over from CFLs yet, myself, because they are pretty inexpensive and conveniently sized. if only they lasted more than a tenth of the promised lifetime.

A DIY LED set does seem attractive; maybe when i can sell the need for a 55. I would think that a mix of "soft white" and "cool white" would do the job; I've seen some spectra info online for some specific sources, but don't remember where offhand. I'll see what i can find
 
Don't think any good off the shelf fixtures for planted tanks exist yet but shouldnt be much longer as the priice of the tech comes down it'll eventually make it to the FW side of things. The makers gotta go where the money is and dropping 3 grand on reef lighting ain't a big deal to a lot of people where as its rather pricey for most planted tank keepers.
 
LOL.. seems I always like the, as I call them "orphan hobbies"... I did do a "mock up" of Epistar r/b "chip" and chlorophyll spectra.. It is interesting..Not guaranteeing 100% accuracy..
chlovsepistar.JPG

chlovsepistar.JPG
 
TL1000RSquid said:
Don't think any good off the shelf fixtures for planted tanks exist yet but shouldnt be much longer as the priice of the tech comes down it'll eventually make it to the FW side of things. The makers gotta go where the money is and dropping 3 grand on reef lighting ain't a big deal to a lot of people where as its rather pricey for most planted tank keepers.
Click to expand...

for fun I went to ebay to calculate a simple plant light in "my image".. Oddly enough they had the 10w red LED' plant light types for sale.. 2=10w (9 on chip) red. 3= 10w (9 on chip "cool white") and 50w LED driver .. Est cost $26 roughly for a 50w unit.. w/out dimmer switches ect..
 
Not bad, I'd try to avoid the noname led stuff on ebay though, see if the some DIY led sales places have known brand led's in the spectrum you need assuming they do you should be able to build yourself a nice little unit for a total of around $120.

I haven't done much searching yet for DIY FW LED stuff just yet, I'm switching over my salt tanks then will see what I can do for my FW ones.
 
I've posted something similar on here, in the past month, but it gives you at least something to consider.

I too like the thought of LED for a lot of reasons, but haven't done nearly as much research into things and since I don't plan a heavily stocked tank, nor do I covet a lot of fast growth for increased overall maintenance, I figured this was worth a shot. I'm pretty sure Squid chimed in and compared my unit to a low level lighting situation if they were T5's.

I did the Aqueon Modular LED at 48". At first I did 2 of the day white bulbs and the appearance was much brighter than the old dinosaur that was previously on there, and didn't put off an uncomfortable, noticeable hue of any blues or things, but the spectrum heavily fell into the blue/purple. I wasn't seeing a lot of new growth other than root exposure, and it was such I couldn't tell if it was new root growth I was seeing or previous root that either didn't get covered with substrate (small grade gravel only, no sand/dirt/ADA type materials). The packaging didn't come with much for numbers, so I emailed the company....2 lights were putting off about 27 PAR and each bulb was 9000K. I found a better deal at a different LFS around here for replacement bulbs (better than Amazon even), so I went with the colorMAX bulb for the 3rd expansion slot, which has red LED's visible as well as on the spike chart. It should be putting out 41 PAR for the 3 bulbs to a depth of 12".

I put this 3rd bulb in Thursday, and I've already seen new growth in 3 of my 4 plants that wasn't there previously...and my tank is rather deep at 18" before substrate is considered, and the lights are filtering through a plastic hood.
I feel like its doing the job but expect that it will be a slower growing method than what you or many others may prefer. All total, it was probably about $175 for the setup, but the cost savings in energy should make that back, and the temp of the water is much more regulated than it was before.
 
Dobber said:
I've posted something similar on here, in the past month, but it gives you at least something to consider.

I too like the thought of LED for a lot of reasons, but haven't done nearly as much research into things and since I don't plan a heavily stocked tank, nor do I covet a lot of fast growth for increased overall maintenance, I figured this was worth a shot. I'm pretty sure Squid chimed in and compared my unit to a low level lighting situation if they were T5's.

I did the Aqueon Modular LED at 48". At first I did 2 of the day white bulbs and the appearance was much brighter than the old dinosaur that was previously on there, and didn't put off an uncomfortable, noticeable hue of any blues or things, but the spectrum heavily fell into the blue/purple. I wasn't seeing a lot of new growth other than root exposure, and it was such I couldn't tell if it was new root growth I was seeing or previous root that either didn't get covered with substrate (small grade gravel only, no sand/dirt/ADA type materials). The packaging didn't come with much for numbers, so I emailed the company....2 lights were putting off about 27 PAR and each bulb was 9000K. I found a better deal at a different LFS around here for replacement bulbs (better than Amazon even), so I went with the colorMAX bulb for the 3rd expansion slot, which has red LED's visible as well as on the spike chart. It should be putting out 41 PAR for the 3 bulbs to a depth of 12".

I put this 3rd bulb in Thursday, and I've already seen new growth in 3 of my 4 plants that wasn't there previously...and my tank is rather deep at 18" before substrate is considered, and the lights are filtering through a plastic hood.
I feel like its doing the job but expect that it will be a slower growing method than what you or many others may prefer. All total, it was probably about $175 for the setup, but the cost savings in energy should make that back, and the temp of the water is much more regulated than it was before.
Click to expand...

sometimes I'm not so sure what "NO NAME" REALLY means .. ;) Anyway for an FYI.. I have no connection but did buy a set for fun, since any light I've seen seems to be red deficient.."Sale" ends tomorrow.. Probably not the best price
but hopefully they are honest in their spectral rating..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380511010193?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
 
OK a followup of sorts: (and maybe this should be moved to DIY) Decided to buy 3=10w "super actinic blue hybrid" (6=royal blue, 3= 10000k per die or approx) chips to put w/ the 2=red 10w chips..
As to drivers I figure I should just get 2 1)Mean well 30v (approx) for the 3 blue in series. 2)Mean well 20v "dim-able" driver for the 2 red in series.. Seems to solve 2 problems. red and blue chips are Vf mismatched and 2)might need to "cut" the red to make the tank look more presentable. I have no clue what this is going to look like colorwise (well sort of)..hoping a combo of blue/white hybrids and red dimming will give me a more pleasing tone.. we shall see

Found hocky puck fanless heat sinks for $5/each..
So grand total so far (approx) $25/fanless heat sinks, $15 "blue" chips $12 "red" chips.. Driver est. about $55 for both.. but I'm still checking that out since this is the techy/electrical part I'm not too familiar with..
Planning on mounting the hocky pucks to shelving rails and mo8nt the drivers on those as well on top.. Now just need to figure out how to make it "wife presentable"... :0
 
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