Plants slowly dying with LED hood.


Those look sweet!

Problem is, I see a 12" and a 24". You'd either have to go too small or too large for a 20" wide 10gal tank. At this point I'm glad I've only got ~$40 invested in a light strip and two 6500K CFLs to see how it goes for me. If it works out and I enjoy it, there's all kinds options available.
 
I'm running the Marineland double led on one of my 29's..with low light and the plants are doing fine
plants are java fern , crypts, anubias and subwassertang.
the java moss is doing well but I've pull it out.. removing it...
 
Those look sweet!

Problem is, I see a 12" and a 24". You'd either have to go too small or too large for a 20" wide 10gal tank. At this point I'm glad I've only got ~$40 invested in a light strip and two 6500K CFLs to see how it goes for me. If it works out and I enjoy it, there's all kinds options available.

With the right optics 12" would cover a 20" tank. I'm putting a 16" LED fixture over a 30" tank.
 
How do you know those have the right optics? I don't see that on the 'build your own' options..
 
Those look sweet!

Problem is, I see a 12" and a 24". You'd either have to go too small or too large for a 20" wide 10gal tank. At this point I'm glad I've only got ~$40 invested in a light strip and two 6500K CFLs to see how it goes for me. If it works out and I enjoy it, there's all kinds options available.

They apparently do custom sizes too. BTW, I have no connection to this company whatsoever :)

I just think its super cool to be able to choose the type of light color. When my T-5's die, I will replace with this over my 40G.
 
Um, yeah...12" light strip for $119? No thanks.

I do love an incandescent strip hood. I'm glad to see they sell them that way now, I've had to retrofit my fluorescent hoods...thankfully I've got a handy friend who is happy to help :) It is a great, low cost option...I find two 23 watt daylight bulbs (5-5.5k range) grow plants about as well as a dual T5 strip.

Walmart sells their "economy hood" which is incandescent - used to be around $22 or so. I had it on a couple of 10 gallons.

Joel, let me know if you decide to sell your fixture! I am doing a plantless tank and am considering using LEDs for it.
 
The buildyourleds have different optics available. Just an FYI. I also like the idea of using incandescent hoods. I use a desk lamp with a 5600K fluorescent bulb over my 1G planted betta tank. Works great.

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15W of output from 1 watt LEDs for $119? No thank you! http://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Aquarium-Coral-White-Light/dp/B0058RWF12

If you look on Ebay you can find them with red & green emitters, with optics, etc. Even better pricing too. 2 units will light a 48" 90 gal reef tank and let you keep whatever you want on the bottom. That's more light than any FW tank really needs. It's comparable to a a pair of 250 halides, but they have manual dimmers that allow you to run them at any output from about 10% - 100%. And being two channels, you can run the blues and whites on separate timers to give a dawn/daylight/dusk effect. Plus they fit on a standard 10 gal tank! Tough to beat from a bang for the buck standpoint. You'd have to diy your own unit with the more efficient Cree emitters, or if you're willing to forgo the two channels and dimmability (better have lots of CO2!!!) and spend a bit more this unit has potential: http://www.rapidled.com/onyx-by-rapid-led/
 
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