LED lighting - what are my options?

jcardona1

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Jun 5, 2007
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OK!!! Looking into lighting solutions for the new 190g 60x30x24 discus tank I'll be setting up.

I would love to run LED lighting, but I don't want to break the bank or go the DIY route. What options do I have? This wil be a fish-only tank, so I don't need something that has an intense output. I just want something that will light the tank similar to what a 1-2 bulb T5HO fixture would do.

I bought one of these to test it out. While they're great, it would require several of them to give me even light coverage on a 60x30 footprint.
http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=684

I know of the Marineland LED fixtures, but they seem very dim. I know they have the new reef-capable models, but the PAR at 24" seems pitiful for the $470 price tag.

What other lights are out there that don't cost $600+? A 4ft fixture will be fine, since I plan on hanging this over the tank.

Thanks!
 

Danger_Chicken

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May 22, 2008
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jcardona1;4837334; said:
OK!!! Looking into lighting solutions for the new 190g 60x30x24 discus tank I'll be setting up.

I would love to run LED lighting, but I don't want to break the bank or go the DIY route. What options do I have? This wil be a fish-only tank, so I don't need something that has an intense output. I just want something that will light the tank similar to what a 1-2 bulb T5HO fixture would do.

I bought one of these to test it out. While they're great, it would require several of them to give me even light coverage on a 60x30 footprint.
http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=684

I know of the Marineland LED fixtures, but they seem very dim. I know they have the new reef-capable models, but the PAR at 24" seems pitiful for the $470 price tag.

What other lights are out there that don't cost $600+? A 4ft fixture will be fine, since I plan on hanging this over the tank.

Thanks!
About that floodlight you bought, how many do you think it would take to cover a 6x2 tank? MH will give you a 2x2 coverage, I can hang them as high as 20" above the water. Do you think 3 would be enough? Any pic's or vid?

If you're doing fish only then lumens is what you want to look at. PAR is what the plants use, lumens is what the human eye see's.

I thought the Marineland double brights looked pretty bright in the video posted in this section. I know someone that has some and plan on going over there and check them out as soon as the snow clears. The Marinelands are the only ones I've seen that have a reasonable price.
 

jcardona1

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Jun 5, 2007
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Danger_Chicken;4838302;4838302 said:
About that floodlight you bought, how many do you think it would take to cover a 6x2 tank? MH will give you a 2x2 coverage, I can hang them as high as 20" above the water. Do you think 3 would be enough? Any pic's or vid?

If you're doing fish only then lumens is what you want to look at. PAR is what the plants use, lumens is what the human eye see's.

I thought the Marineland double brights looked pretty bright in the video posted in this section. I know someone that has some and plan on going over there and check them out as soon as the snow clears. The Marinelands are the only ones I've seen that have a reasonable price.
On the floodlights, I think it depends on what type of coverage your looking to get. They sent me the wrong color (yellow) so I'll post more details as soon as I get the white one in. But you can see Arttyfish's thread, he's got a video showing what 2 of them look like over his tank.

Marinelands, yeah you're right, lumens is what's important for fish-only. But a 48" fixture puts out 3300 lumens and costs about $470. A single 48" T5HO bulb puts out about 5000 lumens :nilly:

I've been thinking about trying the DIY route. I can build a 48" fixture with 48 LEDs for about $500+. Pricey, but it would be stupid awesome and the light output can grow anything. I could wire in some dimmable drivers to adjust the light output as I please. This is based on what reefers have been doing lately.





 

aclockworkorange

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Jun 24, 2010
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I've bee thinking about getting the marinelands, wonder what the light difference is like between the single and double fixtures? Mine would be going in the 125, and then later maybe the 90.
Maybe we could post some more pics of actual tanks with specific LEDs here?
 

Danger_Chicken

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aclockworkorange;4838466; said:
I've bee thinking about getting the marinelands, wonder what the light difference is like between the single and double fixtures? Mine would be going in the 125, and then later maybe the 90.
Maybe we could post some more pics of actual tanks with specific LEDs here?
Double bright are 1w led's, single bright are .06w leds. The 36-48" single has 102 white, while the double only has 16 white. There are several different types like SMD5050. There is an ebay seller that detailed some of the chip types but I can't find it. I have a home made-ish single bright type that is using 72 leds on a 52g. It works good, not as bright as I'd like it to be, but for the small tank it's good enough.

I've been reading a lot about LED's the past few weeks and there are a lot of horror stories from people buying leds off ebay, from china, only to have half of the led's stop working. Apparently there is a huge difference in the quaility of the chips.

EDIT: found the ebay seller: http://cgi.ebay.com/GU10-White-SMD-...040?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3362418878

I had ebay bucks for $17 so I bought 3 of these shipped for $0.39. Literally on a slow boat from china. I want to replace the halogens on the track lighting that shines on my 220. If the light output is good I'll fork over the money for cree chip dimmables. But at $50 a pop I wasn't willing to roll the dice.

 

Danger_Chicken

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May 22, 2008
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I found arttyfish's thread and video. I'm SOLD! Ordering 3 and if they work out I'm selling all my metal halides and putting these on all my fish only display tanks. That will take my 220g from 450w down to 36w; and the 180g from 190w to 36w.
Thanks!
 

Dan F

Fire Eel
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Dec 10, 2007
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I don't know how much difference it makes, but Petsolutions has the Marineland 48" 56W high output fixture on sale for $359.99 with free shipping.

I have one of the 18" double-bright fixtures on my tank. I got it just to experiment with. It is bright for the wattage, but it would take a lot of them to light a large tank, as the light is very concentrated. I have yet to hear anything about the HO LED fixtures, I would love to see one.
 
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