hole in the wall
- Thread starter jp80911
- Start date
Zander, you are really a nerd for memorizing all the efficiency, lol
sure post picture of your LED arrays, I've gotten some cheap @ss LED strips for aquarium but they are no where as bright but of course those are not 3W LEDs.
how many LEDs do you plan to get and what size tank are you going to use it on?
I wasn't going for the black water effect but just it happens that way, hopefully over time the water will clear up.
oh I came across this link, you probably seen it already
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html
sure post picture of your LED arrays, I've gotten some cheap @ss LED strips for aquarium but they are no where as bright but of course those are not 3W LEDs.
how many LEDs do you plan to get and what size tank are you going to use it on?
I wasn't going for the black water effect but just it happens that way, hopefully over time the water will clear up.
oh I came across this link, you probably seen it already
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html
i have no idea how many LED's ill be getting yet but atleast 30 of them possibly more. and i'll be usingthem on my 150 gallon piranha tank.jp80911;4441466; said:
i might need less because LED's can be nearly monochromatic (giving off only one wavelength of light) and the ones im getting target the specific peaks of photsynthesis(blue and red but i will also be getting white LED's for viewing purposes) basicaly the wavelengths that the plants can use the most efficiently so it really screws up the WPG rule because not only are LED's very efficient but it giving off the EXACT wavelength plants can use best. so there is less wasted energy in the form of heat and less wasted radiant energy that plants can't use.
not many people have done this so it's going to be alot of trial and error and i may need to buy a PAR meter (photosynthetically active radiation meter) which shows me how much energy is being emitted in a form that plants can use.
heres the site im going to be ordering them from WWW.RapidLED.com
as you can see its going to run a fair bit of money but it'l pay for itself in never having to replace the bubls and the energy savings.
i was looking at the spec sheet of the 3W LEDs, viewing angle is only 90 deg for the white one and 100 deg for the blue one so you'll need a good amount to light up the tank well.
if you look at the intensity chart you can see that the the intensity drops greatly once you are off center (at 0 deg). have you thought of aim the LEDs at a highly reflective reflector to help distribute the light more evenly.
at work we only deal with collimated light source (LED is a pain to collimate unless you have custom lens (lens array) designed for it).
do you know what exact wavelength is needed for plants, in nm instead of just color range?
if you look at the intensity chart you can see that the the intensity drops greatly once you are off center (at 0 deg). have you thought of aim the LEDs at a highly reflective reflector to help distribute the light more evenly.
at work we only deal with collimated light source (LED is a pain to collimate unless you have custom lens (lens array) designed for it).
do you know what exact wavelength is needed for plants, in nm instead of just color range?
620-630 nm is one of the peaks for plants which also happens to be the nm wavelength for the red LED's off of that site 450-460 nm (the "royal blue" LED's) are another peak.jp80911;4441815; said:
hopefully i'll have themn positioned so that just as you go too far off center from one LED (and the intensity starts to really taper off) they'll be another LED there to make sure the intensity stays fairly uniform
also water diffuses light alot more than air so this will be less of a problem then if i was doing it to light a room or something. Not to mention the glass lid they'll be on top of will also diffuse it as well.
i'll consider the reflector idea, Thanks
water doesn't diffuse light that well other wise I wouldn't have spot light effect (dome shape reflector with 10.5" exit diameter}, especially if your water surface has little movement.
a polished glass bends light slightly (depends on refractive index of the glass and enter angle of the light), for better diffusion you'll need a glass with grounded surface and not polished but that will reduce the transmission of light.
a polished glass bends light slightly (depends on refractive index of the glass and enter angle of the light), for better diffusion you'll need a glass with grounded surface and not polished but that will reduce the transmission of light.
