Trying to Measure LED lights ??

perok

Feeder Fish
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Feb 20, 2012
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pompano beach FL
I want to switch my planted tank to at least partial LED lighting.

The problem I have is last time I bough an LED light off ebay, it was so dim it was worthless. I have a 100 gallon, 26 deep inch tank. So I'm looking for a roughly 48 inch light, probably 10000k for adequate penetration. I will probably combine it at least part of the day with my standard T5 156W 6500K that I have been using forever with slow, steady growth.. However, I love the look of LED lights, so for at least a few hours I will probably run just the LED's. and probably add the 6500 T5 for about 8 hours, and run the LED only for about 2-3 hours.

Without going into a book long description of the technicalities of lighting, how can I know how bright a LED plant light will be? Can I just use "lumens" and get an idea of a Watt comparison?

In other words 100W of brightness would equal about how many lumens on an LED? for visualization purposes?

Right now I have 252 watts of 6500K lighting on the tank.
I will change that to 156 watts of t5 6500K + how much LED?


any help is appreciated, thanks.
 

HybridHerp

Fire Eel
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May 18, 2012
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How high is the light from the bottom of the substrate?

Only real way to know your lighting strength is to see if anyone has any PAR data values for it, which not a lot of LED's have readily available information on.

How high of lighting are you aiming for? High light (which requires co2), medium light (can get away without co2), or low light (co2 need not apply).
 

Pharaoh

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The actual lumens per watt output is relative to the specific fixture and components they are using. You would have to measure it to get that info.

I could get higher lumens per watt out of a Philips LED over a CREE LED any day. Its all relative.
 

F1 VET

THE serrasalmus rhom
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Nov 3, 2011
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You already have pretty decent lighting. With a tank that deep I would just use leds as a "sun up" / "sun down" fixture!

Instead of just 150+Watts blasting on at once a suttle led strip that comes on an hour before the t5's will look better and adjust the fish to a more natural photo period! then have the led come back on an hour before the timer shuts off the t5's and let it stay on maybe 30min after.

A tank that deep needs high powered leds to make a difference! BTW you can also overdrive or over power your cheap leds! Find out the wattage of them, say their 2.5 Watts, look around for an old phone charger or internet router that has a transformer on the plug that is about 3.5-4watts. Make sure the amperage is in the same ballpark, think of amps as resistance, more amps will just make it a little brighter.

Do post your find if you choose to overdrive the leds before snipping the the power and ground wires on both transformers before trying so we can make certain your save! Over driving them will just make then not last as long.

I've used the cell phone charger method on so many moonlight and other projects. We all have a heap in the "junk drawer!" I like making my own fixtures and mods tho.


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Pharaoh

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You already have pretty decent lighting. With a tank that deep I would just use leds as a "sun up" / "sun down" fixture!

Instead of just 150+Watts blasting on at once a suttle led strip that comes on an hour before the t5's will look better and adjust the fish to a more natural photo period! then have the led come back on an hour before the timer shuts off the t5's and let it stay on maybe 30min after.

A tank that deep needs high powered leds to make a difference! BTW you can also overdrive or over power your cheap leds! Find out the wattage of them, say their 2.5 Watts, look around for an old phone charger or internet router that has a transformer on the plug that is about 3.5-4watts. Make sure the amperage is in the same ballpark, think of amps as resistance, more amps will just make it a little brighter.

Do post your find if you choose to overdrive the leds before snipping the the power and ground wires on both transformers before trying so we can make certain your save! Over driving them will just make then not last as long.

I've used the cell phone charger method on so many moonlight and other projects. We all have a heap in the "junk drawer!" I like making my own fixtures and mods tho.

This isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do. LEDs are design to operate at the specific currents in order to meet the thermal requirements and the lumen maintenance promises. Overdriving your LEDs can lead to premature failure and decreased lumen output.
 

perok

Feeder Fish
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Feb 20, 2012
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pompano beach FL
Thanks, that is some interesting info.
It is about 4"probably to the substrate. and it's medium lighting. I have hair grass in there, it doesn't grow fast, but it grows. I should use CO2, but I just does with Excell and live with the occassional Brush Algae. If I start to feel algae coming on, I usually throw in some Hornwort on the surface and that clears it up, but that is rare. It's is rather well grown tank with plenty of Christmas moss and Wysteria along the back which keep the algae in check.

It's really just about achieving the cool visual effect of LED's while making sure enough light is in the tank.
 

perok

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 20, 2012
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pompano beach FL
Wow... I expected more from Marineland, not sure why I thought they were better. I'm almost limited to just something reef capable, or maybe the
TMC AquaBeam 1500XG Ocean White or TMC GroBeam 1000 Natural Daylight

I have a feeling that is going to be more costly than I wanted to spend.

I think a better answer might be just to switch a couple of my t5 6700K bulbs for 10000K, and then just use some LED's for a "twilight style" illumination and take them out of the plant equation.
 

brich999

Jack Dempsey
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Jul 3, 2010
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All leds are not created equal. Sounds like you are looking to add shimmer to your tank. Look for some decent output leds maybe 1-3w leds or pendant style leds. Example: a 10w fixture using 100 .1w leds will be more even and have less shimmer than a 10w led pendant. For ultimate seizure inducing shimmer look into kessil.
 
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