| | LED lighting | |
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+8Jax sassynurse2 08can-am fishface30 BFinley cwhip strikingthematch Meredith 12 posters | |
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Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 2:56 pm | |
| I'm seriously considering switching to the LED lights... I didn't really think too much about them until I saw them in use in the frag tanks at my LFS. I was really impressed! What size would I need for my 55? I don't know/understand much about how those work, so I need help in choosing the correct one. power! YESSSS! | |
| | | strikingthematch Captain
Posts : 1118 Location : Virginia Beach, VA Favorite Fish: : Discus, Stingrays, Arowana, Rams, and Angels
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 3:22 pm | |
| I love LED lighting. The only down side to LED lighting is initial cost. Over the course of a life time all other forms of light are far more expensive. Just think of the cost to replacing MH bulbs every 6 months compared to 50,000+ hours for an LED. If one LED goes out you just replace that bulb and it's good as new. LEDs do not have spectrum shift as they age unlike all other lights. You can also buy an LED that puts out the exact spectrum you want. On that note not all the LEDs have to be the same spectrum. You can have a mix to fit whatever needs you have unlike traditional lighting systems. Not to mention energy saving.
I found a good write up here. but long story short... initial cost is high but big life time savings. This writeup is back in 2007 and if you search around a bit you will find that as LED tech has increased they have only become more and more efficient and powerful.
http://www.aquaristsonline.com/blog/aquarium-equipment/aquarium-lighting/aquarium-led-lighting-a-major-advance-or-is-metal-halide-still-the-light-of-choice/ | |
| | | Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 5:01 pm | |
| Awesome! Thanks!! I'm sure I will have more questions, so be prepared! LOL! | |
| | | strikingthematch Captain
Posts : 1118 Location : Virginia Beach, VA Favorite Fish: : Discus, Stingrays, Arowana, Rams, and Angels
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 5:10 pm | |
| Their is a ton of information out there. It is still a budding technology in the aquarium world so the price is as such. To be honest though if you compare the price to a high end MH system it is not that far off. Then factor in bulb replacement costs over the course of the 5+ years it could take the LEDs to burn out and you can easily see the savings that are to be had. When it first started they had some quirks and bugs but they have been worked out and honestly become the new standard. It is a bit overwhelming at first and the more you look the more you will find but once you become well versed in LEDS it really does make sense. Just be careful when you go to buy an LED system. There are many knockoff brands that still use 1watt LED instead of 3watt and they also don't use lenses to properly focus the light. If you feel really brave you can look into the DIY systems people have come up with. It will be one of my next undertakings and I can't wait to see the results!
Last edited by strikingthematch on 9/26/2011, 5:20 pm; edited 1 time in total | |
| | | cwhip Moderator
Posts : 1453 Location : Md Favorite Fish: : Maroon clownfish,Tangs,bluespot jaw fish,Bangaii,Mandarins etc.......I love all fish really.
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 5:14 pm | |
| 3 words REEF BRITE STRIPS! I have them on 2 tanks and WOW love them! I've been using them about a year to supplement my T5 and Metal Halides for"color"so I went all blue if you wanted them to be the only light source I would go with the blue/white. I buy a lot of my equipment from Aquarium Specialty they run about 219.00 ea, LED's are great I haven't looked at prices since I bought mine so they may have gone down in price. my pic. the light spectrum is intence. you dont want to go less than 3 watts ea. | |
| | | BFinley Admin
Posts : 4498 Location : Fort Worth,Tx Favorite Fish: : Frontosa and Red Tail Catfish and All Africans
| | | | cwhip Moderator
Posts : 1453 Location : Md Favorite Fish: : Maroon clownfish,Tangs,bluespot jaw fish,Bangaii,Mandarins etc.......I love all fish really.
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 5:18 pm | |
| my matto is buy cheap buy twice. | |
| | | strikingthematch Captain
Posts : 1118 Location : Virginia Beach, VA Favorite Fish: : Discus, Stingrays, Arowana, Rams, and Angels
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 5:33 pm | |
| http://aquariumdigest.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/led-aquarium-lights-lighting/
Another good write up I found. It goes over most of everything you could want to know to get started. Including the cautions of buying LEDs fixtures not intended as primary lighting. Most of the good fixtures have fewer LEDs that are much brighter and much more intense instead of 100's of LEDs that don't put out that much. | |
| | | fishface30 First Lieutenant
Posts : 614 Location : St, Louis, MO Favorite Fish: : Discus, Angelfish, Rummynose Tetras
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 5:35 pm | |
| I'm a tad leery about LEDs because of the knockoff poor quality ones out there. I've read things about some decent fixtures going out, some are flickering, etc. It's kinda like LED technology is still new and products are still expensive(think prices of PC laptops in the last 15 years?). Right now only a handful of manufacturers make quality LED fixtures, so they have a marketshare. Maybe if I had better DIY experience I'd try it, but anything electrical I tend to avoid putting my DIY skills to the test.
At 3 watts per LED, is it any better as far as electric efficiency?
I guess I'm just waiting for China to make better quality LED lights LOL | |
| | | Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 6:26 pm | |
| Sweet! How do I know what size I will need and how do I determine what color spectrum(s) are best for my tank? I just want to make sure that my fish, inverts, and corals have the proper amount and type of lighting... I just don't know how to figure it out. I'm such a sad, sad noob. LOL! Fishface: I had just been reading about some of those issues as well. AAAAK! Why does it have to be so difficult? | |
| | | Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 6:30 pm | |
| OH wow! Cwhip I totally missed your post....but that is awesome!!! I would be using them as the primary lighting so I can chuck the ones I have now (yeah, don't ask me what they are cuz I have NO idea ). Where do I find these amazing Reef Brite Strips??? Neva mind! I found 'em! LOL! How do I know what size I need??
Last edited by Meredith on 9/26/2011, 10:13 pm; edited 1 time in total | |
| | | 08can-am Chief Wrnt. Off. 3
Posts : 435 Location : bowling greenvirginia Favorite Fish: : Any thing reef friendl
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 10:12 pm | |
| Check out apollo leds. I am thinking about leds for when i go big next year. Im looking at atleast a 200 deep dimension and want to run leds. The initial cost is alot but they look amazing, last a long time, you dont have the heat issue. If you research different companies and look, they are dropping alot in price. | |
| | | Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/26/2011, 10:17 pm | |
| Yeah, from a couple of articles I'd read and from pricing the ones I'd found so far I can see that they're not nearly as expensive...but hopefully alot more reliable.
I would LOVE to have a tank that size...or bigger! However, my husband would not be nearly as excited about that as I would! So for now it's just my 55....but I'm okay with that. hehehe! | |
| | | sassynurse2 Moderator
Posts : 789 Location : Grand Prairie Texas Favorite Fish: : 2 Clown Loaches...
Blue Dolphins 10.
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 4:04 pm | |
| I would like to know about led lights as well. The benefits to your tank. | |
| | | cwhip Moderator
Posts : 1453 Location : Md Favorite Fish: : Maroon clownfish,Tangs,bluespot jaw fish,Bangaii,Mandarins etc.......I love all fish really.
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 4:29 pm | |
| I keep a lot of SPS and run LED's and Metal halides+T5's I'm not bold enough to go all LED yet:) the benefits are they run cooler, they require a lot less eletricity,the bulbs last a very long time compared to changing out MH bulbs and T5 bulbs every 6-8 months at a cost for me of around 300.00 in bulbs alone. they make corals POP! thats just to name a few. the down side is the up front cost can be pricey lots of people make the mistake of buying cheap fixtures with less wattage, I call those glorified moon lights and they don't grow coral. the other down side is I haven't seen an SPS tank growing with my own eye's with LED's alone when and if I do I may switch but now they have the Plasma lights out on the market so we'll see what happens with those. | |
| | | strikingthematch Captain
Posts : 1118 Location : Virginia Beach, VA Favorite Fish: : Discus, Stingrays, Arowana, Rams, and Angels
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 4:35 pm | |
| Bingo, also read the writeups posted in this thread. They help explain a lot in the way of what to look/lookout for. Cwhip not to be nitpicking but LEDs are not bulbs hehe. Coincidentally this is one of the reasons they last so long. | |
| | | cwhip Moderator
Posts : 1453 Location : Md Favorite Fish: : Maroon clownfish,Tangs,bluespot jaw fish,Bangaii,Mandarins etc.......I love all fish really.
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 4:44 pm | |
| I know there "LIGHT EMMITING DIODES" however they don't last forever and will need to be changed like a BULB at some point.... smart azzz:) | |
| | | strikingthematch Captain
Posts : 1118 Location : Virginia Beach, VA Favorite Fish: : Discus, Stingrays, Arowana, Rams, and Angels
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 4:49 pm | |
| haha I know what you meant. :) Just for the sake of people trying to search for LED bulb and not getting anything but the light fixtures they now make. Nice thing is depending on manufacture they can be just as easy to replace as a light bulb. | |
| | | cwhip Moderator
Posts : 1453 Location : Md Favorite Fish: : Maroon clownfish,Tangs,bluespot jaw fish,Bangaii,Mandarins etc.......I love all fish really.
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 4:54 pm | |
| yup! | |
| | | Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 5:59 pm | |
| Oh goodness.... I have sooo much to learn/figure out here. I'm not sure how old the bulbs are that came with the tank set up. *sigh* | |
| | | strikingthematch Captain
Posts : 1118 Location : Virginia Beach, VA Favorite Fish: : Discus, Stingrays, Arowana, Rams, and Angels
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 6:14 pm | |
| Don't worry we ALL started somewhere. I still put stickers next to my light fixtures to remind me when I replaced them lol. | |
| | | Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 6:40 pm | |
| LOL! glad to know I'm not the only one... | |
| | | Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 7:47 pm | |
| Do you guys think maybe I should just get a couple of strips (maybe a white/blue and a blue) to supplement my current lighting? My current lights already have a blue that I use for dawn/dusk.... GEEZ...all this noob stuff is beginning to grate on my one, single, solitary nerve. I wanna KNOW it all, and know it all NOW! Where's that genie when you need him?! | |
| | | Jax Staff Sergeant
Posts : 176 Location : Arlington, Tx Favorite Fish: : Frontosa, Plecos
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/27/2011, 8:59 pm | |
| Im thinking about getting a Blue strip to leave on at night for the 55g in my bedroom. Would give it a cool look.
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| | | Meredith Chief Wrnt. Off. 4
Posts : 472 Location : Kingston, Missouri Favorite Fish: : As far as fresh water goes, it's Bettas!
For marine fish; Firefish, Cardinalfish, Gobies, Dragonets, and Sharks...
| Subject: Re: LED lighting 9/28/2011, 11:45 am | |
| Jax, I keep having the urge to smack my screen...then I realize it's your avatar. Bwahahahahaha!!!! | |
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