LED lighting review

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
gatekeeper;4886720; said:
I talked to my lfs guy about the led's and he said he had a friend do a study on them. He is an engineer. He did a 1 1/2 year study on them. Granted this was a year or two ago. He found that after about 6 months the led's lost most of their spectrum light. (Think that is what he called it.) Anyone else hear of anything like this?
Click to expand...

LEDs lose lighting intensity, not spectrum. They are not like fluorescents.
 
Got my LEDS today and not disappointed!!! I love the look. Not dim one bit and very clean look. I took some pics of my 225 with the just the LEDS and with just the T5s. I have to go to work but when i come home tonight ill post the comparison pics.
 
Thanks for doing that.

I actually just watched another of your videos (flame polishing) last night randomly, then saw this link today. Pretty funny.

Anyway, it looks like your 2x20w fluorescents were AquaGlo? How old were they?

I love the color temp of the AquaGlos and how they really bring out reds and oranges nicely. They're what I use over all my tanks. They're also plenty bright enough for me. I don't need a ton of light.

But I'm very interested in energy savings, and wonder how you'd compare the two in terms of what effect it has on the color of your Aro (it was hard to see in the video... the brightness difference was obvious, but not the color, due to it being so dark!). You covered brightness excellently, of course.

I also wonder which you think would look better, overall, with respect to color, if one was trying not to have a super brightly-lit tank... 40w of AquaGlo fluorescent, or ~8w of those LED?

This would be for a tank of wild discus... Goal would be to get the orange/red to really pop out nicely, but without being way too bright and annoying the fish. The less overall light, the better. If you're familiar with those exact bulbs, I would very much like to hear your thoughts on the color.

Thanks,

-Dave
 
DaveB;4888447; said:
Thanks for doing that.

I actually just watched another of your videos (flame polishing) last night randomly, then saw this link today. Pretty funny.

Anyway, it looks like your 2x20w fluorescents were AquaGlo? How old were they?

I love the color temp of the AquaGlos and how they really bring out reds and oranges nicely. They're what I use over all my tanks. They're also plenty bright enough for me. I don't need a ton of light.

But I'm very interested in energy savings, and wonder how you'd compare the two in terms of what effect it has on the color of your Aro (it was hard to see in the video... the brightness difference was obvious, but not the color, due to it being so dark!). You covered brightness excellently, of course.

I also wonder which you think would look better, overall, with respect to color, if one was trying not to have a super brightly-lit tank... 40w of AquaGlo fluorescent, or ~8w of those LED?

This would be for a tank of wild discus... Goal would be to get the orange/red to really pop out nicely, but without being way too bright and annoying the fish. The less overall light, the better. If you're familiar with those exact bulbs, I would very much like to hear your thoughts on the color.

Thanks,

-Dave
Click to expand...

The aqua glos in the video are approx 4-6 months old, but i dont run my lights often, or for very long. To me, they looked the same as they did when i bought them new.

For color wise, the temperature of the LEDs are 6000K. I would have preferred something a little higher, like 6500K. I think thats the only thing these LEDs are lacking.

I think if your looking for color specifically, then stick to fluorescents. While the LEDs do look good, they dont look as good as some of the flourescents available.

It would be a tough call to say what would look better over your discus tank between the two though..

LEDS = bright(unles using the single bright model), ok color, "crisp" looking water, sparkling effect, low watts, no replacing bulbs.

Aqua glo = dim, great color, high watts vs LED, have to replace bulbs.

So if you want something dim, but a good color, go with the aquaglos.

Better yet, buy the LEDs, try them out and see what they look like on your tank and if you dont like them, take them back.

Here is a very recent video of my arowana, under these lights:

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OK so after debating a few weeks i finally ordered the LEDs. I finally got them in today and must say i was impressed. I currently was running 2 x 36" coralife aqualight T5s. It came with the colormax/6700k combo but i switched out the 6700k for the 10k bulbs. I liked the look but didnt like the fact that the fixtures would get really hot. Also i felt that the lights were a little too bright. When i started the hobby i always thought the brighter the better for viewing but never took into consideration how my fish felt..haha

Any ways i took some comparison shots of the LEDs alone and the T5s alone. I have to replumb my tank so i havent done a water change in a few weeks. I had some cichla that i sold but currently only have 2 yoyo loaches in the tank. Anyways.....here are the shots.


LED
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T5
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LED
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T5
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LED
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T5
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After comparing the pics, it seems like the LEDs are not as "white" as the T5s. It makes my water look dirty..haha. Im sure other LEDs owners would agree but the LEDs look alot better in person. To me the pics dont do them justice. But i like it that its not too bright but bright enough. Im more than happy with them.
 
I had one 24-36in dbl bright on my 36in 50gal and wasn't supper happy with the light output. 2 months later I added a 2nd one and am very happy with that. I love the nature shimmer the led's add to the tank. I bought them at petmountain.com for under $100ea.

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50gal-tank.jpg
 
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