Questions about LED setups

PsyKick

PsyKick

AC Members
Aug 14, 2008
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Arcata Ca
Hi all,
Once again I am considering putting some time and money into my 55 planted and I am once again coming to you all (the experts) for advice!

I need to upgrade the lighting on my tank, right now I am only running a couple of 24 watt spirals which is obviously not nearly enough light for the plants.

Now I have considered building a hood for the tank and putting in 3 or 4 double sockets in order to expand the number of bulbs, thus increasing my wattage, however, while researching that, I came across some sites that talked about using LED's instead.

The thought of using LED's appeals to me because of my PG&E bill, and the lifetime of the LED's. So I was wondering if any of you had some advice on either building my own LED setup, or purchasing an LED setup?

I just found this setup, which is 30% off until the end of the month, which seems like a great deal to me, but it does not say whether or not the LED's are good for planted tanks....
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?category=Marineland_Double_Bright_LED_Light_Fixture_Flexible_Mount_LED_Light_Fixtures&vendor=Instant_Ocean&idProduct=AS32990&IdCategory=FILTFILDFX&tab=0

Any help or thoughts will be much appreciated!!!
 
I guess there are 2 things to consider, what is the lumens output of your current setup, compared to the LEDs.

Also note that the LED lights you linked to are too short for a 55 gallon tank. I would guess you need 2 of these fixtures, to cover a 48" tank.

Let us know what you decide. I keep wanting to buy some, but kinda want to hear how other people work things out with them first!

Thanks,
David
 
Yeah my concern was with the size of the fixture and the color temperature, hadn't even thought about lumens...
I have an email in to the manufacturer asking for some more details on the LED specs, hopefully they will get back to me...

What about DIY LED systems? Anyone have experience putting one together? How are costs?
 
Forgive my ignorance but what is Keno?

I just found this website: http://www.coolerguys.com/840556088707.html
They have some decent pricing for strips, which appear to be in the right kelvin range, but I don't know if the lumens are high enough... but with 30 LED's per meter, I figure 2 strips parallel to each other offset 8 inches lengthwise to compensate for not being 48" long...
 
you could try, the led field as far as planted tanks go is pretty much new territory

keno is a user here who has a tank thread and his own blog detailing what he did, take a look around we had a discussion about trying for a general led per area rule but i dont have a par meter to back up anything. grr

the strips you mentioned are even lower powered than the ones you originally linked to, maybe check out ecolamps for a high powered setup but they will run you a lot, and the color temp isnt going to be very natural for a planted, the options out there for commercial led fixtures are few for reef and just about none for planted. the first one you linked to is the first step in that direction
 
I've been researching this too, looking to upgrade my 55 with some LED's and pressurized CO2, i'm liking this thread, here are my thoughts.
I have a 130 Watt Coralife Compact Fluorescent which is doing good but want a redder color for my rotala and would like a brighter effect. Now, the blue and white LED's work great for a darker setup, making it look like the tank is deeper but my tank looking like the shallows leaves me the question, how will this benefit me. Now I've looked through the threads and noticed DIY but here are my thoughts. First, we have just seen experts (after about 5 years let me remind you) come out with working LEDs. So IMO, DIY LED systems wouldn't work because these larger companies (Marineland, Coralife) must have already tried them. So I would doubt that us (the not LED experts) would be able to create a working method.
However, talking with many other aquarists and an Oliver Knott recommendation has led me to this fixture. http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+21600&pcatid=21600

Now this is supposed to provide 36 watts of light. If you check out the video, you can notice the countless benefits it has. Honestly, I would buy this product and then buy the exocotic Stunner white 8000k for extra light.
Please leave your thoughts.
 
grand conspiracy theory here but who wants to sell you a light fixture that is going to last 5 or 7 or 10 years without any replacement of anything at all? PC bulbs and t5s, mh, all replacement every year, that means every fixture sold means that the person will be buying bulbs every year. okay..im not the santa monica of leds.


i dont see why it cannot be done, i will be retroing my 20 long tonight
the exotic(?) strips are actually some of the better leds out there commercially now i think, whichever one is like a big version of a reefbrite (those 3 led modules)

for the price of two of those strips i bet you could make one that would blow it out of the water and be custom spaced to your tank.
 
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