LED lighting - what are my options?

[cichlid2006]

I have just received a 20w LED light today, it is Cool White (5500-6000k according to the listing). It does look a bit yellow but I think a 30w in the centre with a 20w either side will be enough to brighten it up to my taste. My tank is a 5x2x2 so you guys can see light penetration on a 24" deep tank. Here are the results:



I will post the whole process in this thread if that is ok with the OP and maybe we can see about getting this put as a sticky because it is quite informative.

 

[NOLAGT]

Thanks for the pics! Where did you get it from...the color temp is more to the yellow end than some of the other ones I have seen. The others are 6-6500 or 6500-7000K and I bet that would be a little more white.

 

[cichlid2006]

I agree with you on the colour temp, it does seem more yellow. I got it from a dealer on Ebay, he has 3 different ones for sale and this is the most white light at 5500-6000k or so the listing states. I have optiwhite for my front panel so it isn't the glass, maybe I just need more of them to make a proper impact.
I am going to get the 30w and see what that is like.
I will also hunt for other lights from other dealers to see if the kelvin has been labelled wrong.

I definitely think we are onto a winner with these lights as a decent and far cheaper "aquarium" LED substitute.

 

[cichlid2006]

I have requested a refund for that light on the grounds it may be a mistake on paperwork or wrong chip inserted at the manufacturers. I will use the refund to buy the 30w that is listed at 6500-7000k and I will see what that is like. Should have it in a few days hopefully. I will post pics when it comes.

 

[Danger_Chicken]

All of the ebay sellers say the color can vary depending on the batch. My 30w's are more to the blue side than my 10w's. That really sucked for me because one of the biggest selling points was having the same lighting on all my tanks instead of the mix-match lighting I had before. Now I have one tank (the biggest one) that's different and all the rest look the same. Fish room continuity...missed it by that much!

I don't think we can expect much in the way of quaility control from these manufacturers. I have around 30 of these and several didn't have the lens screws tighened all the way or they where put in crocked. I figure for the price I'll check the screws before mounting them. There were some other assembly issues but I can't recall them now. If I was holding one of the lights it might come back to me, but like the screws it wasn't a deal breaker for me.

 

[JamesF]

Someone dropped a unit down a flight of steps and it still worked, so occassional flaws aside, they are rather rugged units. Try that with a HOT5 unit. I can guarantee it won't work after.

 

[NOLAGT]

Do you remember the eBay sellers name?

 

[cichlid2006]

The sellers shop name is uetuk and the real name is Yulan Jiang. I am in the UK so it is probably irrelevant to you.
I am going to look at a cheaper lighting system Cree LED bulbs (9w) with a standard es27 screw fitting. Common as muck and very cheap to set up the electrics for it. It is just the bulbs that are more expensive.
I have a es14 48 led bulb coming to try in a lamp just so I know what is availible and what they are capable of.

 

[NOLAGT]

Ahhh yes you are in the uk arnt you lol. Thanks tho.

 

[cichlid2006]

I have had a different led light delivered now. I have decided that I am going to make a suspended light using E27 fittings (screw fit) which are cheap as chips and really common so replacement bulbs will not be an issue. I had a 48 led bulb (6000-6500k) delivered and the results are below; the light is actually white this time, my camera just hasn't picked it up properly and a lot of the light is lost. If you compare the light on the top of the wood side by side you will notice the colour difference between this bulb and the floodlight.
Bare in mind that there is no reflector so there is a lot of the light lost as this is just a normal lamp it is in, however, the results are ok for one bulb that cost less than a fiver. I think I will need maybe 10 at most as the unit will have mirrors in to reflect any lost light. Please ignore the fish poop, I know I need to do a water change.